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BA was born on November 5th 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Over his career he has toured the world, been nominated for several Oscars, been awarded the honour of British Columbia, sold millions of albums, campaigned to help save the whales and so much more... but it wasn't always that way... He grew up in a military family with his brother Bruce and throughout his childhood travelled the world with his family going to school in Portugal for 4 years in the early 70's and also countries like Israel too. As Adams neared his teens the family settled in Vancouver, Canada…that's where it all started to begin.
Fed up with school, Adams showed a greater interest in music and initially wanted to be a drummer but never got a drum kit because he could never afford one. He set his heart on a playing the guitar and eventually saved up enough money to buy a Fender Stratocaster by working at the Tomahawk restaurant washing dishes. Adams started writing his own music but started going into clubs performing with friends as a band called 'Shock' doing covers. As Adams recalls from an interview in 1996 "we were shocking!". By this time at around the age of 17 to 18 Adams' songs were getting better which included 'Straight From The Heart' which was written when he was just 18.
In 1979 he got a deal with A&M records who signed him for just $1! (He always said he wasn't in it or the money!). He released his first single that year which was a disco tune called 'Let Me Take You Dancing'…not Adams' style and it was a massive flop! He returned the following year though in 1980 with his first self titled solo album…'Bryan Adams'. In the same interview mentioned earlier from 1996 Bryan refers to this album as "just a bunch of glorified demos!". Granted by his standards today it could be better, but back then it was a massive improvement from the awful disco tune the previous year, and was more Adams' style. He had teamed up with fellow Vancouver resident Keith Scott on lead guitar because as he says "we decided to ask Keith to come in the band because all the women loved him, and you would always get those extra people in the club every night who would just be there for Keith!". Better songs off the album included a ballad called 'Give Me Your Love', a rocker called 'Remember' and 'Wastin' Time'. The album was put together in about a week and isn't that bad considering.
1983 saw the release of the 'Cuts Like A Knife' album, which gained Adams major recognition in Canada at the Juno awards where he stole the show picking up numerous awards. The album included 'Straight From The Heart', 'This Time', 'The Best Was Yet To Come', 'I'm Ready' and of course 'Cuts Like A Knife'. He was now a star in rock circles and his touring proved that…gigging across the globe. He also got his first taste of stadium life supporting 'Journey' on a massive stadium tour across the USA. His live performances were energetic, raw sounding and unlike anything people were used to at the time. Everyone could see there was something special about him and that was about to be confirmed! 'Reckless' was released in 1984 and it instantly made Adams a household name throughout the world. It was the first million seller by a Canadian Artist and was very ahead of it's time…in my opinion still rocking harder than any album released today. Literally EVERY track is awesome. Nearly the entire album was a released as a single or promo item at sometime or other and Adams regularly performs 8 out of the total 10 tracks live at each gig to this day. MTV loved airing tunes like 'Run To You' while 'Heaven' and 'It's Only Love' increased his profile yet further with the latter being a duet with Tina Turner (who he also toured Europe with). Other songs on the album such as 'Kids Wanna Rock', 'Somebody' and 'Summer Of '69' instantly became rock anthems.
After such a big album though the pressure was on him to produce another one. Along came 'Into The Fire' in 1987 which sold a few million copies but in not the same way that 'Reckless' did…because of this the album was considered a flop by his standards although remains a favourite with many fans. It takes a more political view on life than other albums and doesn't have the 'feel good factor' that 'Reckless' did…still a very good album though. 1987 was once again full of soldout tourdates though with everyone knowing that he was an amazing live act to go and see. Bryan was very quiet from then on from 1988-1990 apart from the odd tourdates here and there because he was working on the next album, which had to be good. He did however play 'The Wall' gig though in Berlin infront of 120,000 people…the most people he has ever played infront of. They played the famous 'Live! Live! Live!' gig in 1988 at Werchter Festival also. The next album was coming along very slowly meanwhile and Bryan was getting pressured by his record company for it to arrive…he worked with Steve Lillywhite for a while and nearly got a full albums worth of songs….but he ditched them all because he didn't feel they were good enough and started all over again with Def Leppard guy Robert John 'Mutt' Lange. Finally in 1991 the album was nearly ready…Adams had wrote one song though as a b-side for the album, but it eventually made it onto the record via the film soundtrack of 'Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves'…. That song was '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You' and it became one of the biggest singles of all time in music history. It notched up a record 16 weeks at #1 in the UK and 7 weeks at #1 in the US as well as topping the chart in literally nearly every country in the world. Bryan Adams was now a megastar around the world and the whole planet it seemed was waiting for the new album to be released. 'Waking Up The Neighbours' was released in September 1991 and like it's leading single went straight to the top of the charts around the world again. The media was going crazy over Bryan and wrote a lot of crazy stories about him (which explains his reluctance to do interviews today) but he just let the music do the talking and started a world tour that would last for 4 years none stop around the world. The album produced great rock hits like 'Can't Stop This Thing We Started', 'Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven' and 'There Will Never Be Another Tonight' as well as many more. 1992 started where 1991 left off…on tour! The band ploughed through mega-sized venues around the world night after night after night stopping off at places like the Werchter Festival, Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Garden. Every single concert was soldout and the demand was unreal. This prompted a 'best of' album the following year in 1993 with 'So Far So Good' and the continuation of the world tour. 2 new singles were also released, 'Please Forgive Me' and 'All For Love (from 'The 3 Musketeers' soundtrack with Rod Stewart & Sting) By 1994 'So Far So Good' was still a success, a proven one at that having notched up in excess of 25 million sales. The world tour carried on although Bryan was thinking about the next new album already and infact penned one of the new tracks in Australia during a soundcheck that January. The tour was taking the band to places where nobody had even played before, let alone Bryan. He became the first western artist to perform in Vietnam since the war early on in the year and by May he played at Wembley 6 sellout nights in a row, other stops on the tour were in Malaysia, New Zealand, USA, Germany and finally Canada where Adams soldout the Vancouver Coliseum infront of thousands and thousands of adoring fans. 1995 saw Adams go to Jamaica in his mobile studio unit to write and record the next album. With all the touring the past few years the fans had got no new material to listen to since 1991 so it was time to deliver again. 'Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?' was released for the film soundtrack 'Don Juan De Marco' which kept fans amused but the actual album was still some time off yet. Finally in May 1996 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You' was aired on MTV and radio stations around the world, it was the rock track the fans had been waiting for. A full world tour was announced and BA hit the road again with a new colourful look and a full set of new rock tracks under his belt. The album '18 Til I Die' was released on June 4th to a mixed reception from the critics…Bryan let the sales do the talking though once again hitting #1 around the world. In July he played the best gig he admits to this day was his best ever in Wembley Stadium…his favourite venue. Further singles from the album followed including 'Let's Make A Night To Remember', '18 Til I Die' and 2 other soundtracks songs from the album, 'Star' and 'I Finally Found Someone'. The tour continued in 1997 once more with stops in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, UK (including another 5 soldout nights at Wembley!), Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Russia, Denmark, France, Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Norway, USA, Japan the list goes on and on and on…the guy is just a touring machine! By the end of the year a surprise new album came in the form of 'MTV Unplugged' including 3 new songs…the best of which, 'Back To You' was an instant hit. 'I'm Ready' was resurrected from the 'Cuts Like A Knife' album for the show and was released as a single in 1998 before the band went into the studio again for the next album… ….which came about pretty quickly in comparison to other long waits for albums. Bryan said he realised with the 'MTV Unplugged' record that it shouldn't take that long to write an album! 'On A Day Like Today' was released in the fall of 1998 with the title track of the album being the leading single. 'When You're Gone' was released sooner after reaching #3 in the UK and staying in the top 10 for weeks and weeks well into the next year.
Bryan hadn't toured with the release of the new album which was to become apparent when he did start in 1999….there were only 3 of them! From now on until late 2002 Bryan and the band would perform as a trio with Bryan on bass, Keith Scott on guitar and Mickey Curry on drums. They started with small clubs around Europe until they felt confident to take the album on the road in big venues. In May Bryan and the band performed to big sellout gigs in South Africa at the same time that 'Cloud #9' was released…this was another big hit in the UK, but it seems Bryan's popularity had dwindled in the fickle US market. This is down to Bryan's record company not giving him the promotion he deserves. For the rest of the world though it was business as normal…particularly in Europe where he did another monster tour through every major city and festival ground. The end of that year resulted in another 'best of' album…'The Best Of Me' which contained a new song of the same name, and a secret track 'Don't Give Up' with Chicane. In May 2000 this was released as a single and became a massive hit throughout Europe topping the charts at #1 in most places including the UK. One highlight of this year was Bryan playing to 80,000 at Slane Castle in Ireland…the most people they had played to so far since the trio band started.
(Above) BA having fun with guitar best mate Keith Scott 2001 saw Bryan on tour constantly again like most years, however by the end of the year he had a side project going…'Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron' which was an animated film about a horse. Bryan had to provide the whole soundtrack. He did an amazing job and actually got nominated for another Oscar. 'Here I Am' was released in July 2002 and got to #5 in the UK charts with no airplay at all…it was clear the fans were still there.
(Above) Bryan still tours the world and sells out huge arenas and stadiums 2003 saw Bryan on the road again while recording his next studio album, hence the name.... 'Room Service'. It reflects life on the road and was recorded in hotelrooms while touring in 2003 and 2004. It was released on September 20, 2004 with 'Open Road' being its first single followed by 'Flying' and 'Room Service'. May '05 saw the album released in the states with leading single 'This Side Of Paradise'. By the end of '05 'Anthology' was released to celebrate 25 years in the business as a solo artist. Bryan is currently working on getting a new studio album out by early 2007. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Bryan growing up while living in Israel
Bryan's high school photo!
Bryan posing in his Sweeney Todd days... click on the image for a better view (if you are of a nervous disposition do not do so!)
Oh dear!
Bryan with a ginger permed mullet at the Junos in '77 and the Sweeney Todd producer (must have had a thing for chipmunks!)
Bryan's first single in 1979... the disco song 'Let Me Take You Dancing'
A young Bryan in the early solo days post disco era... well at least the hair had gone!
Tina Turner helped break Bryan as a live act in Europe when he supported her on her 'Private Dancer Tour'
Sting and Bryan in '93 working on the song they did with Rod Stewart
At the Oscars
Bryan says his show at Wembley Stadium '96 was his best ever
Bryan and Mel C at TOTP's in Sheffield performing their hit 'When You're Gone'
Despite breaking his arm in 2002 Bryan is the type of artist that loves the stage... nothing will stop him going onstage.
Bryan in the pouring rain above. He frequently ignores everyones advice and goes out onstage despite risk of electrocution. If the audience gets wet... so does he!
Bryan is a keen photographer and often photos his own album sleeves and many celebrities
Forever raising money for charity, Bryan's 'American Women' book helps people with breast cancer
Bryan uses his photography for other things such as 'Zoo Magazine' in Germany which he publishes for
Bryan and Nick Bracegirdle (Chicane) hit #1 in the UK with Don't Give Up
Bryan with childhood hero Paul McCartney
Onstage with The Who in 2001 |
