Bryan Adams

Adams was born on November 5, 1959, in Kingston, Ontario and from the early '80s to the present, the Canadian singer/songwriter/guitarist is one of the most successful recording artists in popular music worldwide. Usually dressed in blue jeans, boots, and T-shirts, the energetic performer stalks stages around the globe, electric guitar in hand, singing his own up-tempo pop/rock songs and ballads with his raspy voice, simple compositions, and straightforward musical approach. In January 1978, Adams formed a song-writing partnership with drummer Jim Vallance which led to A&M records signing him and they released Adams debut LP, the self titled "Bryan Adams" on February 12, 1980. The album was not released initially in the U.S., although "Hiding from Love" was issued as a single and reached number 43 in the dance chart. In May 1980, Adams assembled a backup band and embarked on his first tour as a solo act, spending four months playing clubs and colleges across Canada. This was the foundation for his second album, “You Want It, You Got It”, which was recorded in NYC in two weeks and released in the spring of 1981. (The original album title was “...hasn’t heard of you either” but was that title was rejected by A&M as being to provocative). The album was Adams' first ‘official’ release in the U.S. He toured America for six months starting in October, earning opening spots with the Kinks and Foreigner and the album broke into the Billboard chart in January 1982, peaking at number 118 in 13 weeks. Adams' single "Lonely Nights" hit number 3 in the mainstream rock chart and became his first Hot 100 entry at number 84. Humble beginnings. His third album, Cuts Like a Knife, was released in 1983, with "Straight from the Heart," released as a single in December. It broke his career open, peaking in the Top Ten of the Hot 100 and setting up the LP, which followed in January 1983 and eventually reached the Top Ten and went platinum, spawning further Top 40 hits in the title song and "This Time." The album's success was stimulated by Adams' extensive touring in support of it, which began in Canada in January and February and continued from March to August in the U.S., where he opened for Journey, with a six-week tour of Europe in the fall and dates in Japan in November, followed by another round of shows in Canada. Adams was also one of the first artists ever played on MTV. His fourth album, Reckless, was released on his 25th birthday, November 5, 1984, and was preceded by the single "Run to You," which reached the Top Ten. It was followed by no less than five Top 20 singles drawn from the album: "Somebody," "Heaven" (which hit number one), "Summer of '69" (Top Ten), "One Night Love Affair," and a duet with Tina Turner, "It's Only Love." The LP, which hit number one in the U.S. on August 10, 1985, sold five million copies in America and a reported three million more in the rest of the world. (Adams also earned his first two Grammy nominations, best male rock performance for the album as a whole, and best rock performance by a duo or group for "It's Only Love.") As usual, Adams toured extensively to support it, his World Wide in '85 tour launching in late December and continuing through November 1, 1985. He also opened the American side of the Live Aid concert on July 13, 1985. Into the Fire, was released in March 1987, prefaced by the single "Heat of the Night," which became Adams' fifth Top Ten hit in the U.S. The album also spawned the Top 40 hits "Hearts on Fire" and "Victim of Love," and reached the Top Ten in the U.S. and sold a million copies, with another million sold overseas. Adams' worldwide tour in support of the album went on for more than a year, starting in May 1987 and continuing until July 1988. (One of the final shows, in Werchter, Belgium, was filmed for a television special, Bryan Adams: Live in Belgium, broadcast on television in Canada January 15, 1989.) Live! Live! Live!, a concert album drawn from the 1988 Belgium show, was released only in Japan (it later gained release elsewhere), and Adams did a couple of New Year's shows in Japan to promote it, but spent much of his time in England that year with writer/producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, to produce his next album. On June 8, 1991, he had gone back on the road in Europe co-headlining with ZZ Top and this coincided with the release of the single, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" which topped the U.S. charts for seven weeks, the longest any song had remained at number 1 for eight years. It’s international success was even greater; spending 16 weeks at number 1 in the U.K., making it the longest-running chart-topper in the history of the British charts. “Waking Up the Neighbours” was released on September 24, 1991, and Adams supporting it with his Waking Up the World tour, which ran through July 1993. The album also featuring 2 Top Ten hits "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" and of course, "[Everything I Do] I Do It for You"), and three other Top 40 hits, "There Will Never Be Another Tonight," "Do I Have to Say the Words?", "Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven". “Waking Up the Neighbours” sold four million copies in the U.S. and another six million in the rest of the world. It also earned Adams Grammy and Academy Award nominations. As he began to look forward to his next album, he released a hits compilation, So Far So Good, in November 1993 and the single "Please Forgive Me," a new Adams/Lange track, which reached the Top Ten. Within weeks came the Adams' theme song for the movie The Three Musketeers, "All for Love" (co-written with Lange and Michael Kamen), recorded with Rod Stewart and Sting, which hit number 1 in the U.S. on January 22, 1994. The same month, Adams embarked on an ambitious tour of the Far East, including countries rarely visited by a Western pop artist, among them Vietnam. Adams maintained a low profile through 1994 and the fall, he contributed "Rock Steady" (co-written with Gretchen Peters) to Bonnie Raitt's live album Road Tested, performing the song as a duet with her, and the two shared a chart single with the song. At beginning of 1996 Adams released a new album “18 'Til I Die”. The album featured the flamenco-tinged "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (once again co-written with Lange and Kamen) from the Johnny Depp/Marlon Brando film Don Juan DeMarco. And he was rewarded with another number 1 hit on June 3, 1995, as well as a Grammy nomination for best male pop vocal performance and another Oscar nomination for best song. An 18-month world tour to promote the album followed and the album went platinum in the U.S. The singles “Lets Make A Night To Remember” charted briefly in the top 40 and the provocatively titled “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You” proved to do well outside of the US, but didn’t dent the US charts, perhaps due to the fact that his record company (A&M) transferred his contract in the middle of the release to Independent rap label, Interscope Records, who failed to deliver a single chart single for Adams in the years they had him (1996-2004). Adams filmed an appearance for MTV's popular Unplugged series on September 26, 1997, and it was released as an album in December. It was a modest success, and served as a stopgap until the appearance of his next studio album, On a Day Like Today, which was released in October 1998. This album spent only two weeks in the US charts, peaking at number 102. Overseas, the disc fared better, with "When You're Gone", (featuring Melanie C.) reaching the UK number 3 spot in December 1998 and spent 10 weeks in the Top 10, this was followed by the top 10 dance re-mix of “Cloud Number Nine”. The album also hit number three in Canada. In November 1999, Adams issued a second hits compilation, “The Best of Me”, but the American branch of A&M/Interscope declined to release it. The title track “The Best Of Me” (co-written with Lange) charted all over Europe and in Canada as well. Adams was absent from the American charts, but oddly returned via the dance charts, with his vocals and song-writing being faintly heard on Chicane's "Don't Give Up," which was a number 3 dance hit in the spring of 2000. Adams himself, meanwhile, was collaborating with Hans Zimmer on his first full-length song score for a film, the animated DreamWorks feature Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which appeared in the spring of 2002, its soundtrack making the Top 40. Adams and Zimmer earned an Golden Globe Nomination for their work on the soundtrack. His most recent work is entitled "Room Service", is his 14th release and on the 30 September, 2004 it debuted at #1 on the Billboard European Top 100 albums Chart. "Room Service" is currently pending a USA release date in 2005. For more info go to: bryanadams.com