Concert Ticket Stubs 73 80s 90s DETROIT RUSH DIO AEROSMITH OZZY BON JOVI BOSTON

  

1980'S-1990'S DETROIT TICKET ROCK AND ROLL TICKET STUB COLLECTION. 73 ticket stubs ALL IN FAIR SHAPE and some appear to be FULL TICKETS (ONE ticket stud IS FROM 2000's Sonny Rollins).

October 26, 1984 black & blue. August 23, 1990 ronnie JAMES DIO.

JULY 27, 1985 SHOOTING STAR. AUG 19, 1988 MOLLY HATCHETT BAND. NOV 17, 1994 BRYAN FERRY. JULY 30, 1988 RONNIE MONTROSE.

FEB 7, 1992 BLUE OYSTER CULT. APRIL 4, 1985 WHITE WOLF. JANUARY 30, 1986 TWISTED SISTER.

MAR 2, 1993 BON JOVI. JULY 5, 1986 LIBERTY FEST.

FEB 18, 1989 SAM KINISON. DEC 30, 1990 TED NUGENT. JULY 13, 1989 OZZY OSBOURNE. NOV 14, 1986 CHEAP TRICK.

OCT 5, 1984 CHEQUERED PAST. AUG 28, 1990 BRUCE HORNSBY AND THE RANGE X2.

AUG 30, 1985 RONNIE JAMES DIO. SEPT 25, 1992 MOODY BLUES.

JAN 30, 1988 BLUE OYSTER CULT. NOV 19, 1985 SHOOTING STAR.

DEC 8, 1987 JAMES TAYLOR. DEC 30, 1984 REO SPEEDWAGON. FEB 12, 1985 PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS.

MAR 22, 1986 KNWW TREMBELERS/WISHBON ASH/FOG HAT. MAR 14, 1986 AUTOGRAPH / KICK AXE. SEP 28, 1984 ADRENALIN X2. SEP 21, 1984 SANTERS X2.

FEB 13, 1987 ALICE COOPER. JULY 1, 1998 IRON MAIDEN, DIO, W. OCT 3, 1987 LYNYRD SKYNYRD. MAR 26, 1987 REO SPEEDWAGON.

AUG 28, 1990 BRUCE HORNSBY AND THE RANGE X6. JULY 4 , 1991 DAMN YANKEES / BAND COMPANY. JULY 22, 1988 BLACKFOOT AND LESLIE WEST AND MOUNTAIN. JULY 22, 1986 STEVIE NICKS / PETER FRAMPTON.

JAN 28, 1989 (TORN) RATT. AUG 8 , 1991 MOODY BLUES. JULY 1, 1988 IRON MAIDEN X2.

OCT 1, 2005 SONNY ROLLINS. JUNE 25, 1990 DAVID BOWIE. Bowie in Tinley Park, Illinois. During the Heathen Tour, 2002. 10 January 2016 (aged 69).

Ashes scattered in Bali[1]. Tony ViscontiCarlos Alomarthe Riot SquadArnold CornsTin Machinethe HypeQueenIggy PopArcade FireBrian EnoRyuichi SakamotoLou ReedAdrian BelewMick RonsonReeves GabrelsJohn LennonNine Inch NailsMick JaggerTina TurnerMott the Hoople. David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie (/boi/), [2] was an English singer, songwriter and actor who is often considered to be one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He was a leading figure in popular music and was acclaimed by critics and fellow musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, with his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music.

In the UK, he was awarded ten platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, releasing eleven number-one albums. In the US, he received five platinum and nine gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music, and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963.

"Space Oddity" became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969. After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single "Starman" and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted radically towards a sound he characterised as "plastic soul", initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the album Young Americans. In 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg, and released Station to Station.

The following year, he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low (1977), the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that would come to be known as the "Berlin Trilogy". "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and "Under Pressure", a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, with its title track topping both UK and US charts. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr.

Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He stopped concert touring after 2004 and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006. He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar (2016). 19621967: Early career to debut album. 19681971: Space Oddity to Hunky Dory.

19741976: "Plastic soul" and the Thin White Duke. 19801988: New Romantic and pop era. Bowie was born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947 in Brixton, London. His mother, Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns; 19132001), [3][4] was born at Shorncliffe Army Camp near Cheriton, Kent. [5] Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants who had settled in Manchester.

[6] She worked as a waitress at a cinema in Royal Tunbridge Wells. [7] His father, Haywood Stenton "John" Jones (19121969), [3][4] was from Doncaster, which was then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, [8] and worked as a promotions officer for the children's charity Barnardo's.

The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, on the boundary between Brixton and Stockwell in the south London borough of Lambeth. Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded childand a defiant brawler. In 1953, Bowie moved with his family to Bromley. Two years later, he started attending Burnt Ash Junior School.

His voice was considered "adequate" by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder. [10] At the age of nine, his dancing during the newly-introduced music and movement classes was strikingly imaginative: teachers called his interpretations "vividly artistic" and his poise "astonishing" for a child. [10] The same year, his interest in music was further stimulated when his father brought home a collection of American 45s by artists including the Teenagers, the Platters, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley, and Little Richard.

[11][12] Upon listening to Little Richard's song "Tutti Frutti", Bowie would later say that he had "heard God". Presley's impact on Bowie was likewise emphatic: I saw a cousin of mine dance to'Hound Dog' and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything.

It really impressed me, the power of the music. I started getting records immediately after that. "[12] By the end of the following year, he had taken up the ukulele and tea-chest bass, begun to participate in skiffle sessions with friends, and had started to play the piano; meanwhile, his stage presentation of numbers by both Presley and Chuck Berrycomplete with gyrations in tribute to the original artiststo his local Wolf Cub group was described as "mesmerizing...

Like someone from another planet. [12] After taking his eleven-plus exam at the conclusion of his Burnt Ash Junior education, Bowie went to Bromley Technical High School. It was an unusual technical school, as biographer Christopher Sandford wrote. Despite its status it was, by the time David arrived in 1958, as rich in arcane ritual as any [English] public school.

There were houses named after eighteenth-century statesmen like Pitt and Wilberforce. There was a uniform, and an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. There was also an accent on languages, science and particularly design, where a collegiate atmosphere flourished under the tutorship of Owen Frampton.

In David's account, Frampton led through force of personality, not intellect; his colleagues at Bromley Tech were famous for neither, and yielded the school's most gifted pupils to the arts, a regime so liberal that Frampton actively encouraged his own son, Peter, to pursue a musical career with David, a partnership briefly intact thirty years later. Bowie studied art, music, and design, including layout and typesetting. After his half-brother Terry Burns introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him a Grafton saxophone in 1961.

He was soon receiving lessons from baritone saxophonist Ronnie Ross. [15][16] He received a serious injury at school in 1962 when his friend George Underwood punched him in the left eye during a fight over a girl. After a series of operations during a four-month hospitalisation, [17] his doctors determined that the damage could not be fully repaired and Bowie was left with faulty depth perception and a permanently dilated pupil, which gave a false impression of a change in the iris' colour; the eye would later become one of Bowie's most recognisable features.

[18] Despite their altercation, Bowie remained good friends with Underwood, who went on to create the artwork for Bowie's early albums. Bowie looking to the camera. A trade ad of Bowie in 1967. In 1962, Bowie formed his first band at the age of 15, named the Konrads.

Playing guitar-based rock and roll at local youth gatherings and weddings, the Konrads had a varying line-up of between four and eight members, Underwood among them. [20] When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star. His mother promptly arranged his employment as an electrician's mate. Frustrated by his bandmates' limited aspirations, Bowie left the Konrads and joined another band, the King Bees. He wrote to the newly successful washing-machine entrepreneur John Bloom inviting him to do for us what Brian Epstein has done for the Beatlesand make another million.

Bloom did not respond to the offer, but his referral to Dick James's partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract. Conn quickly began to promote Bowie.

The singer's debut single, "Liza Jane", credited to Davie Jones with the King Bees, was not commercially successful. Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon covers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Mannish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul"I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger", Bowie was to recall. [21] Their cover of Bobby Bland's "I Pity the Fool" was no more successful than "Liza Jane", and Bowie soon moved on again to join the Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by The Who.

"You've Got a Habit of Leaving" fared no better, signaling the end of Conn's contract. Declaring that he would exit the pop music world "to study mime at Sadler's Wells", Bowie nevertheless remained with the Lower Third. His new manager, Ralph Horton, later instrumental in his transition to solo artist, soon witnessed Bowie's move to yet another group, the Buzz, yielding the singer's fifth unsuccessful single release, "Do Anything You Say". While with the Buzz, Bowie also joined the Riot Squad; their recordings, which included one of Bowie's original songs and material by The Velvet Underground, went unreleased. Ken Pitt, introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager. Dissatisfied with his stage name as Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees, Bowie renamed himself after the 19th-century American pioneer James Bowie and the knife he had popularised. [23] His April 1967 solo single, "The Laughing Gnome", using speeded-up thus high-pitched vocals, failed to chart.

Released six weeks later, his album debut, David Bowie, an amalgam of pop, psychedelia, and music hall, met the same fate. It was his last release for two years. Bowie met dancer Lindsay Kemp in 1967 and enrolled in his dance class at the London Dance Centre.

[25] He commented in 1972 that meeting Kemp was when his interest in image "really blossomed". [25] He lived on his emotions, he was a wonderful influence. His day-to-day life was the most theatrical thing I had ever seen, ever. It was everything I thought Bohemia probably was.

[26] Studying the dramatic arts under Kemp, from avant-garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte, Bowie became immersed in the creation of personae to present to the world. Satirising life in a British prison, meanwhile, the Bowie-penned "Over the Wall We Go" became a 1967 single for Oscar; another Bowie composition, "Silly Boy Blue", was released by Billy Fury the following year.

[27] In January 1968, Kemp choreographed a dance scene for a BBC play, The Pistol Shot, in the Theatre 625 series, and used Bowie with a dancer, Hermione Farthingale;[28][29] the pair began dating, and moved into a London flat together. Playing acoustic guitar, Farthingale formed a group with Bowie and guitarist John Hutchinson; between September 1968 and early 1969 the trio gave a small number of concerts combining folk, Merseybeat, poetry, and mime. [30] Bowie and Farthingale broke up in early 1969 when she went to Norway to take part in a film, Song of Norway;[31] this affected him, and several songs, such as "Letter to Hermione" and Life on Mars? " reference her, [32][33] and for the video accompanying "Where Are We Now? ", he wore a T-shirt with the words "m/s Song of Norway.

[34] They were last together in January 1969 for the filming of Love You till Tuesday, a 30-minute film that was not released until 1984: intended as a promotional vehicle, it featured performances from Bowie's repertoire, including "Space Oddity", which had not been released when the film was made. After the break-up with Farthingale, Bowie moved in with Mary Finnigan as her lodger. [36] During this period he appeared in a Lyons Maid ice cream commercial, and was rejected for another by Kit Kat.

[35] In February and March 1969, he undertook a short tour with Marc Bolan's duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, as third on the bill, performing a mime act. [37] On 11 July 1969, "Space Oddity" was released five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch, and reached the top five in the UK. [35] Continuing the divergence from rock and roll and blues begun by his work with Farthingale, Bowie joined forces with Finnigan, Christina Ostrom and Barrie Jackson to run a folk club on Sunday nights at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham High Street. Influenced by the Arts Lab movement, this developed into the Beckenham Arts Lab, and became extremely popular. The Arts Lab hosted a free festival in a local park, the subject of his song "Memory of a Free Festival".

[38] Bowie's second album followed in November; originally issued in the UK as David Bowie, it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and the early US release was instead titled Man of Words/Man of Music; it was reissued internationally in 1972 by RCA Records as Space Oddity. Featuring philosophical post-hippie lyrics on peace, love, and morality, its acoustic folk rock occasionally fortified by harder rock, the album was not a commercial success at the time of its release. Bowie met Angela Barnett in April 1969. They married within a year.

Her impact on him was immediate, and her involvement in his career far-reaching, leaving manager Ken Pitt with limited influence which he found frustrating. [40] Having established himself as a solo artist with "Space Oddity", Bowie began to sense a lacking: "a full-time band for gigs and recordingpeople he could relate to personally".

[41] The shortcoming was underlined by his artistic rivalry with Marc Bolan, who was at the time acting as his session guitarist. [41] A band was duly assembled. John Cambridge, a drummer Bowie met at the Arts Lab, was joined by Tony Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on electric guitar. Known as the Hype, the bandmates created characters for themselves and wore elaborate costumes that prefigured the glam style of the Spiders from Mars.

After a disastrous opening gig at the London Roundhouse, they reverted to a configuration presenting Bowie as a solo artist. [41][42] Their initial studio work was marred by a heated disagreement between Bowie and Cambridge over the latter's drumming style.

Matters came to a head when an enraged Bowie accused the drummer of the disturbance, exclaiming You're fucking up my album. Cambridge summarily quit and was replaced by Mick Woodmansey. [43] Not long after, the singer fired his manager and replaced him with Tony Defries.

This resulted in years of litigation that concluded with Bowie having to pay Pitt compensation. [44] Characterised by the heavy rock sound of his new backing band, it was a marked departure from the acoustic guitar and folk rock style established by Space Oddity. To promote it in the US, Mercury Records financed a coast-to-coast publicity tour across America in which Bowie, between January and February 1971, was interviewed by radio stations and the media. Exploiting his androgynous appearance, the original cover of the UK version unveiled two months later depicted the singer wearing a dress: taking the garment with him, he wore it during interviewsto the approval of critics, including Rolling Stone's John Mendelsohn who described him as "ravishing, almost disconcertingly reminiscent of Lauren Bacall" and in the street, to mixed reaction including laughter and, in the case of one male pedestrian, producing a gun and telling Bowie to "kiss my ass". During the tour, Bowie's observation of two seminal American proto-punk artists led him to develop a concept that eventually found form in the Ziggy Stardust character: a melding of the persona of Iggy Pop with the music of Lou Reed, producing "the ultimate pop idol".

[45] A girlfriend recalled his "scrawling notes on a cocktail napkin about a crazy rock star named Iggy or Ziggy", and on his return to England he declared his intention to create a character "who looks like he's landed from Mars". [45] The "Stardust" surname was a tribute to the "Legendary Stardust Cowboy", whose record he was given during the tour. Hunky Dory (1971) found Visconti, Bowie's producer and bassist, supplanted in both roles by Ken Scott and Trevor Bolder respectively. The album saw the partial return of the fey pop singer of "Space Oddity", with light fare such as "Kooks", a song written for his son, Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones, born on 30 May. [48] His parents chose "his kooky name"he was known as Zowie for the next 12 yearsafter the Greek word zoe, life. [49] Elsewhere, the album explored more serious subjects, and found Bowie paying unusually direct homage to his influences with "Song for Bob Dylan", "Andy Warhol", and "Queen Bitch", a Velvet Underground pastiche. It was not a significant commercial success at the time. Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust Tour from 197273. Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with the Spiders from MarsRonson, Bolder, and Woodmanseyat the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth on 10 February 1972.

[51] The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the next six months and creating, as described by Buckley, a "cult of Bowie" that was uniqueits influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom. "Starman", issued as an April single ahead of the album, was to cement Bowie's UK breakthrough: both single and album charted rapidly following his July Top of the Pops performance of the song. The album, which remained in the chart for two years, was soon joined there by the 6-month-old Hunky Dory.

At the same time the non-album single "John, I'm Only Dancing", and "All the Young Dudes", a song he wrote and produced for Mott the Hoople, were successful in the UK. The Ziggy Stardust Tour continued to the United States. Bowie contributed backing vocals, keyboards, and guitar to Lou Reed's 1972 solo breakthrough Transformer, co-producing the album with Mick Ronson. [53] The following year, Bowie co-produced and mixed The Stooges album Raw Power alongside Iggy Pop.

[54] His own Aladdin Sane (1973) topped the UK chart, his first number-one album. Described by Bowie as "Ziggy goes to America", it contained songs he wrote while travelling to and across the US during the earlier part of the Ziggy tour, which now continued to Japan to promote the new album.

Aladdin Sane spawned the UK top five singles "The Jean Genie" and "Drive-In Saturday". Bowie's love of acting led his total immersion in the characters he created for his music. Offstage I'm a robot.

It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David. With satisfaction came severe personal difficulties: acting the same role over an extended period, it became impossible for him to separate Ziggy Stardustand, later, the Thin White Dukefrom his own character offstage. Ziggy, Bowie said, wouldn't leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to go sour... My whole personality was affected.

I really did have doubts about my sanity. [57] His later Ziggy shows, which included songs from both Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane, were ultra-theatrical affairs filled with shocking stage moments, such as Bowie stripping down to a sumo wrestling loincloth or simulating oral sex with Ronson's guitar. [58] Bowie toured and gave press conferences as Ziggy before a dramatic and abrupt on-stage "retirement" at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973. Footage from the final show was released the same year for the film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Sample of "Ziggy Stardust" (1972).

A pioneer of glam rock, Bowie performed as the character Ziggy Stardust, backed by the Spiders from Mars. After breaking up the Spiders from Mars, Bowie attempted to move on from his Ziggy persona.

, from Hunky Dory, was released in June 1973 and peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. Entering the same chart in September, Bowie's novelty record from 1967, "The Laughing Gnome", reached No. [60] Pin Ups, a collection of covers of his 1960s favourites, followed in October, producing a UK No. It brought the total number of Bowie albums concurrently on the UK chart to six.

Bowie filming a video for "Rebel Rebel" in 1974. Bowie moved to the US in 1974, initially staying in New York City before settling in Los Angeles.

[62] Diamond Dogs (1974), parts of which found him heading towards soul and funk, was the product of two distinct ideas: a musical based on a wild future in a post-apocalyptic city, and setting George Orwell's 1984 to music. [63] The album went to number one in the UK, spawning the hits "Rebel Rebel" and "Diamond Dogs", and No. To promote it, Bowie launched the Diamond Dogs Tour, visiting cities in North America between June and December 1974. Choreographed by Toni Basil, and lavishly produced with theatrical special effects, the high-budget stage production was filmed by Alan Yentob. The resulting documentary, Cracked Actor, featured a pasty and emaciated Bowie: the tour coincided with the singer's slide from heavy cocaine use into addiction, producing severe physical debilitation, paranoia, and emotional problems. [64] He later commented that the accompanying live album, David Live, ought to have been titled "David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory". David Live nevertheless solidified Bowie's status as a superstar, charting at No. 2 in the UK and No. It also spawned a UK No.

10 hit in Bowie's cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood". After a break in Philadelphia, where Bowie recorded new material, the tour resumed with a new emphasis on soul. Bowie performing during Diamond Dogs Tour, 1974. The fruit of the Philadelphia recording sessions was Young Americans (1975).

Biographer Christopher Sandford writes, Over the years, most British rockers had tried, one way or another, to become black-by-extension. Few had succeeded as Bowie did now. "[66] The album's sound, which the singer identified as "plastic soul, constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. [67] Young Americans yielded Bowie's first US number one, "Fame", co-written with John Lennon, who contributed backing vocals, and Carlos Alomar. Lennon called Bowie's work "great, but it's just rock'n'roll with lipstick on".

[68] Earning the distinction of being one of the first white artists to appear on the US variety show Soul Train, Bowie mimed "Fame", as well as "Golden Years", his November single, [69] which was originally offered to Elvis Presley, who declined it. [69] Young Americans was a commercial success in both the US and the UK, and a re-issue of the 1969 single "Space Oddity" became Bowie's first number-one hit in the UK a few months after "Fame" achieved the same in the US.

[70] Despite his by now well established superstardom, Bowie, in the words of Sandford, for all his record sales (over a million copies of Ziggy Stardust alone), existed essentially on loose change. [71] In 1975, in a move echoing Ken Pitt's acrimonious dismissal five years earlier, Bowie fired his manager. At the culmination of the ensuing months-long legal dispute, he watched, as described by Sandford, "millions of dollars of his future earnings being surrendered" in what were "uniquely generous terms for Defries", then shut himself up in West 20th Street, where for a week his howls could be heard through the locked attic door. [71] Michael Lippman, Bowie's lawyer during the negotiations, became his new manager; Lippman in turn was awarded substantial compensation when Bowie fired him the following year.

Bowie performing with Cher on the variety show Cher, 1975. Station to Station (1976), produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, [73] introduced a new Bowie persona, "The Thin White Duke" of its title-track. Visually, the character was an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton, the extraterrestrial being he portrayed in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth the same year. [74] Developing the funk and soul of Young Americans, Station to Station's synthesizer-heavy arrangements prefigured the krautrock-influenced music of his next releases. The extent to which drug addiction was now affecting Bowie was made public when Russell Harty interviewed the singer for his London Weekend Television talk show in anticipation of the album's supporting tour. Shortly before the satellite-linked interview was scheduled to commence, the death of theish dictator Francisco Franco was announced.

Bowie was asked to relinquish the satellite booking, to allow theish Government to put out a live newsfeed. This he refused to do, and his interview went ahead. In the ensuing lengthy conversation with Harty, Bowie was incoherent and looked "disconnected".

[75] His sanityby his own later admissionhad become twisted from cocaine; he overdosed several times during the year, and was withering physically to an alarming degree. This era saw the debut of Bowie's famous Diamond Dogs logo, reused as a general logo for the musician. Station to Station's January 1976 release was followed in February by a 3½-month-long concert tour of Europe and North America. Featuring a starkly lit set, the Isolar 1976 Tour with its iconic color newsprint Isolar concert program, highlighted songs from the album, including the dramatic and lengthy title track, the ballads "Wild Is the Wind" and "Word on a Wing", and the funkier "TVC 15" and "Stay".

The core band that coalesced to record this album and tourrhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar, bassist George Murray, and drummer Dennis Daviscontinued as a stable unit for the remainder of the 1970s. The tour was highly successful but mired in political controversy. Bowie as the Thin White Duke at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, 1976.

Matters came to a head in London in May in what became known as the "Victoria Station incident". Arriving in an open-top Mercedes convertible, Bowie waved to the crowd in a gesture that some alleged was a Nazi salute, which was captured on camera and published in NME. Bowie said the photographer simply caught him in mid-wave. [78] He later blamed his pro-fascism comments and his behaviour during the period on his addictions and the character of the Thin White Duke. [79] I was out of my mind, totally crazed. The main thing I was functioning on was mythology... That whole thing about Hitler and Rightism... I'd discovered King Arthur. [76] According to playwright Alan Franks, writing later in The Times, he was indeed'deranged'. He had some very bad experiences with hard drugs. [80] Bowie's cocaine addiction, which had motivated these controversies, had much to do with his time living in Los Angeles, a city which alienated him. Discussing his flirtations with fascism in a 1980 interview with NME, Bowie explained that Los Angeles was where it had all happened. The fucking place should be wiped off the face of the Earth.

To be anything to do with rock and roll and go and live in Los Angeles is, I think, just heading for disaster. After recovering from addiction, Bowie apologized for these statements, and throughout the 1980s and'90s criticized racism in European politics and the American music industry. [82] Nevertheless, Bowie's comments on fascism, as well as Eric Clapton's alcohol-fueled denunciations of Pakistani immigrants in 1976, led to the establishment of Rock Against Racism. Bowie moved to Switzerland in 1976, purchasing a chalet in the hills to the north of Lake Geneva. In the new environment, his cocaine use decreased and he found time for other pursuits outside his musical career.

[84] He devoted more time to his painting, and produced a number of post-modernist pieces. When on tour, he took to sketching in a notebook, and photographing scenes for later reference. Visiting galleries in Geneva and the Brücke Museum in Berlin, Bowie became, in the words of biographer Christopher Sandford, a prolific producer and collector of contemporary art. Not only did he become a well-known patron of expressionist art: locked in Clos des Mésanges he began an intensive self-improvement course in classical music and literature, and started work on an autobiography. Apartment building at 155, Hauptstraße, Schöneberg, Berlin, where Bowie lived from 1976 to 1978. Before the end of 1976, Bowie's interest in the burgeoning German music scene, as well as his drug addiction, prompted him to move to West Berlin to clean up and revitalise his career. There he was often seen riding a bicycle between his apartment on Hauptstraße in Schöneberg and Hansa Tonstudio, the recording studio he used, located on Köthener Straße in Kreuzberg, near the Berlin Wall. [86] While working with Brian Eno and sharing an apartment with Iggy Pop, he began to focus on minimalist, ambient music for the first of three albums, co-produced with Tony Visconti, that became known as his Berlin Trilogy. [87] During the same period, Iggy Pop, with Bowie as a co-writer and musician, completed his solo album debut The Idiot and its follow-up Lust for Life, touring the UK, Europe, and the US in March and April 1977. Bowie performing in Oslo, Norway, 1978. The album Low (1977), partly influenced by the Krautrock sound of Kraftwerk and Neu! Evinced a move away from narration in Bowie's songwriting to a more abstract musical form in which lyrics were sporadic and optional. Although he completed the album in November 1976, it took his unsettled record company another three months to release it.

[86] It received considerable negative criticism upon its releasea release which RCA, anxious to maintain the established commercial momentum, did not welcome, and which Bowie's former manager, Tony Defries, who still maintained a significant financial interest in the singer's affairs, tried to prevent. Despite these forebodings, Low yielded the UK No. 3 single "Sound and Vision", and its own performance surpassed that of Station to Station in the UK chart, where it reached No. Leading contemporary composer Philip Glass described Low as "a work of genius" in 1992, when he used it as the basis for his Symphony No.

1 "Low"; subsequently, Glass used Bowie's next album as the basis for his 1996 Symphony No. [89][90] Glass has praised Bowie's gift for creating "fairly complex pieces of music, masquerading as simple pieces". [91] Also in 1977, London released Starting Point, a ten-song LP containing releases from Bowie's Deram period (196667). One of the ambient rock songs to emerge from Bowie's Berlin Trilogy era, "Heroes" gained lasting popularity. Echoing Low's minimalist, instrumental approach, the second of the trilogy, "Heroes" (1977), incorporated pop and rock to a greater extent, seeing Bowie joined by guitarist Robert Fripp.

Like Low, "Heroes" evinced the zeitgeist of the Cold War, symbolised by the divided city of Berlin. [93] Incorporating ambient sounds from a variety of sources including white noise generators, synthesisers and koto, the album was another hit, reaching No. Its title-track, though only reaching No. 24 in the UK singles chart, gained lasting popularity, and within months had been released in both German and French.

[94] Towards the end of the year, Bowie performed the song for Marc Bolan's television show Marc, and again two days later for Bing Crosby's final CBS television Christmas special, when he joined Crosby in "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy", a version of "The Little Drummer Boy" with a new, contrapuntal verse. Five years later, the duet proved a worldwide seasonal hit, charting in the UK at No. 3 on Christmas Day, 1982. After completing Low and "Heroes", Bowie spent much of 1978 on the Isolar II world tour, bringing the music of the first two Berlin Trilogy albums to almost a million people during 70 concerts in 12 countries.

By now he had broken his drug addiction; biographer David Buckley writes that Isolar II was Bowie's first tour for five years in which he had probably not anaesthetised himself with copious quantities of cocaine before taking the stage. Without the oblivion that drugs had brought, he was now in a healthy enough mental condition to want to make friends. [96] Recordings from the tour made up the live album Stage, released the same year. The final piece in what Bowie called his "triptych", Lodger (1979), eschewed the minimalist, ambient nature of the other two, making a partial return to the drum- and guitar-based rock and pop of his pre-Berlin era.

The result was a complex mixture of new wave and world music, in places incorporating Hijaz non-Western scales. [98] The album was recorded in Switzerland. Ahead of its release, RCA's Mel Ilberman stated, It would be fair to call it Bowie's Sergeant Pepper...

A concept album that portrays the Lodger as a homeless wanderer, shunned and victimized by life's pressures and technology. " As described by biographer Christopher Sandford, "The record dashed such high hopes with dubious choices, and production that spelt the endfor fifteen yearsof Bowie's partnership with Eno. 4 in the UK and No.

20 in the US, and yielded the UK hit singles "Boys Keep Swinging" and "DJ". [99][100] Towards the end of the year, Bowie and Angie initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980. Scary Monsters and Super Creeps (1980) produced the number-one hit "Ashes to Ashes", featuring the textural work of guitar-synthesist Chuck Hammer and revisiting the character of Major Tom from "Space Oddity". The song gave international exposure to the underground New Romantic movement when Bowie visited the London club "Blitz"the main New Romantic hangoutto recruit several of the regulars (including Steve Strange of the band Visage) to act in the accompanying video, renowned as one of the most innovative of all time. [102] While Scary Monsters used principles established by the Berlin albums, it was considered by critics to be far more direct musically and lyrically.

The album's hard rock edge included conspicuous guitar contributions from Robert Fripp, Chuck Hammer, and Pete Townshend. [103] As "Ashes to Ashes" hit number one on the UK charts, Bowie opened a three-month run on Broadway on 24 September, starring as John Merrick in The Elephant Man. Bowie paired with Queen in 1981 for a one-off single release, "Under Pressure". The duet was a hit, becoming Bowie's third UK number-one single. Bowie was given the lead role in the BBC's 1982 televised adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's play Baal.

Coinciding with its transmission, a five-track EP of songs from the play, recorded earlier in Berlin, was released as David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht's Baal. In March 1982, the month before Paul Schrader's film Cat People came out, Bowie's title song, "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)", was released as a single, becoming a minor US hit and entering the UK Top 30. Bowie reached his peak of popularity and commercial success in 1983 with Let's Dance. [106] Co-produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers, the album went platinum in both the UK and the US. Its three singles became Top 20 hits in both countries, where its title track reached number one.

"Modern Love" and "China Girl" each made No. 2 in the UK, accompanied by a pair of "absorbing" promotional videos that biographer David Buckley said activated key archetypes in the pop world. Let's Dance', with its little narrative surrounding the young Aborigine couple, targeted'youth', and'China Girl', with its bare-bummed (and later partially censored) beach lovemaking scene (a homage to the film From Here to Eternity), was sufficiently sexually provocative to guarantee heavy rotation on MTV.

[107] Stevie Ray Vaughan was guest guitarist playing solo on "Let's Dance", although the video depicts Bowie miming this part. [108] By 1983, Bowie had emerged as one of the most important video artists of the day.

Let's Dance was followed by the Serious Moonlight Tour, during which Bowie was accompanied by guitarist Earl Slick and backing vocalists Frank and George Simms. The world tour lasted six months and was extremely popular.

[109] At the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards Bowie received two awards including the inaugural Video Vanguard Award. Bowie performing during the Glass Spider Tour, 1987. Tonight (1984), another dance-oriented album, found Bowie collaborating with Tina Turner and, once again, Iggy Pop. It included a number of cover songs, among them the 1966 Beach Boys hit "God Only Knows". The album bore the transatlantic Top 10 hit "Blue Jean", itself the inspiration for a short film that won Bowie a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, Jazzin' for Blue Jean.

Bowie performed at Wembley Stadium in 1985 for Live Aid, a multi-venue benefit concert for Ethiopian famine relief. [111] During the event, the video for a fundraising single was premiered, Bowie's duet with Mick Jagger. "Dancing in the Street" quickly went to number one on release. The same year, Bowie worked with the Pat Metheny Group to record "This Is Not America" for the soundtrack of The Falcon and the Snowman.

Released as a single, the song became a Top 40 hit in the UK and US. Bowie was given a role in the 1986 film Absolute Beginners.

It was poorly received by critics, but Bowie's theme song, also named "Absolute Beginners", rose to No. 2 in the UK charts. He also appeared as Jareth, the Goblin King, in the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth, for which he wrote five songs. His final solo album of the decade was 1987's Never Let Me Down, where he ditched the light sound of his previous two albums, instead offering harder rock with an industrial/techno dance edge. 6 in the UK, the album yielded the hits "Day-In, Day-Out" (his 60th single), "Time Will Crawl", and "Never Let Me Down". Bowie later described it as his "nadir", calling it "an awful album". [113] Supporting Never Let Me Down, and preceded by nine promotional press shows, the 86-concert Glass Spider Tour commenced on 30 May. Bowie's backing band included Peter Frampton on lead guitar. Contemporary critics maligned the tour as overproduced, saying it pandered to the current stadium rock trends in its special effects and dancing, [114] although years after the tour's conclusion, critics acknowledged that the tour influenced how other artists performed concerts, including Britney Spears, Madonna, and U2.

Bowie shelved his solo career in 1989, retreating to the relative anonymity of band membership for the first time since the early 1970s. A hard-rocking quartet, Tin Machine came into being after Bowie began to work experimentally with guitarist Reeves Gabrels. The line-up was completed by Tony and Hunt Sales, whom Bowie had known since the late 1970s for their contribution, on bass and drums respectively, to Iggy Pop's 1977 album Lust for Life. Bowie in Chile during the Sound+Vision Tour, 1990.

Although he intended Tin Machine to operate as a democracy, Bowie dominated, both in songwriting and in decision-making. [118] The band's album debut, Tin Machine (1989), was initially popular, though its politicised lyrics did not find universal approval: Bowie described one song as "a simplistic, naive, radical, laying-it-down about the emergence of Neo-Nazis"; in the view of biographer Christopher Sandford, It took nerve to denounce drugs, fascism and TV... In terms that reached the literary level of a comic book.

"[119] EMI complained of "lyrics that preach" as well as "repetitive tunes" and "minimalist or no production. [120] The album nevertheless reached No.

3 and went gold in the UK. Tin Machine's first world tour was a commercial success, but there was growing reluctanceamong fans and critics aliketo accept Bowie's presentation as merely a band member. [121] A series of Tin Machine singles failed to chart, and Bowie, after a disagreement with EMI, left the label. [122] Like his audience and his critics, Bowie himself became increasingly disaffected with his role as just one member of a band. [123] Tin Machine began work on a second album, but Bowie put the venture on hold and made a return to solo work.

Performing his early hits during the seven-month Sound+Vision Tour, he found commercial success and acclaim once again. In October 1990, a decade after his divorce from Angie, Bowie and Somali-born supermodel Iman were introduced by a mutual friend.

Bowie recalled, I was naming the children the night we met... [125] Tin Machine resumed work the same month, but their audience and critics, ultimately left disappointed by the first album, showed little interest in a second.

Tin Machine II's arrival was marked by a widely publicised and ill-timed conflict over the cover art: after production had begun, the new record label, Victory, deemed the depiction of four ancient nude Kouroi statues, judged by Bowie to be "in exquisite taste", "a show of wrong, obscene images", requiring air-brushing and patching to render the figures sexless. [126] Tin Machine toured again, but after the live album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby failed commercially, the band drifted apart, and Bowie, though he continued to collaborate with Gabrels, resumed his solo career. On 20 April 1992, Bowie appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, following the Queen singer's death the previous year. As well as performing "Heroes" and "All the Young Dudes", he was joined on "Under Pressure" by Annie Lennox, who took Mercury's vocal part; during his appearance, Bowie knelt and recited the Lord's Prayer at Wembley Stadium.

[128][129] Four days later, Bowie and Iman were married in Switzerland. Intending to move to Los Angeles, they flew in to search for a suitable property, but found themselves confined to their hotel, under curfew: the 1992 Los Angeles riots began the day they arrived. They settled in New York instead. Bowie performing in Turku, Finland, 1997. In 1993, Bowie released his first solo offering since his Tin Machine departure, the soul, jazz, and hip-hop influenced Black Tie White Noise.

Making prominent use of electronic instruments, the album, which reunited Bowie with Let's Dance producer Nile Rodgers, confirmed Bowie's return to popularity, hitting the number-one spot on the UK charts and spawning three Top 40 hits, including the Top 10 single "Jump They Say". [131] Bowie explored new directions on The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), ostensibly a soundtrack album of his music composed for the BBC television adaptation of Hanif Kureishi's novel. Only the title track had been used in the television adaptation, although some of his themes for it were also present on the album.

[132] It contained some of the new elements introduced in Black Tie White Noise, and also signalled a move towards alternative rock. The album was a critical success but received a low-key release and only made No.

87 in the UK charts. Reuniting Bowie with Eno, the quasi-industrial Outside (1995) was originally conceived as the first volume in a non-linear narrative of art and murder.

Featuring characters from a short story written by Bowie, the album achieved UK and US chart success, and yielded three Top 40 UK singles. [134] In a move that provoked mixed reaction from both fans and critics, Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his tour partner for the Outside Tour. Visiting cities in Europe and North America between September 1995 and February 1996, the tour saw the return of Gabrels as Bowie's guitarist. [135] On 7 January 1997, Bowie celebrated his half century with a 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden, New York, at which he was joined in playing his songs and those of his guests, Lou Reed, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, Robert Smith of the Cure, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, Black Francis of the Pixies, and Sonic Youth.

Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 17 January 1996. [137] Incorporating experiments in British jungle and drum'n' bass, Earthling (1997) was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US, and two singles from the album "Little Wonder" and "Dead Man Walking" became UK Top 40 hits. Bowie's song "I'm Afraid of Americans" from the Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls was re-recorded for the album, and remixed by Trent Reznor for a single release. The heavy rotation of the accompanying video, also featuring Trent Reznor, contributed to the song's 16-week stay in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 12 February 1997. [138] The Earthling Tour took in Europe and North America between June and November 1997.

[139] In November 1997, Bowie performed on the BBC's Children in Need charity single "Perfect Day", which reached number one in the UK. [140] Bowie reunited with Visconti in 1998 to record "(Safe in This) Sky Life" for The Rugrats Movie. Although the track was edited out of the final cut, it was later re-recorded and released as "Safe" on the B-side of Bowie's 2002 single "Everyone Says'Hi'". [141] The reunion led to other collaborations including a limited-edition single release version of Placebo's track "Without You I'm Nothing", co-produced by Visconti, with Bowie's harmonised vocal added to the original recording. Bowie Bonds, an early example of celebrity bonds, were asset-backed securities of current and future revenues of the 25 albums (287 songs) that Bowie recorded before 1990.

Bowie Bonds were pioneered by rock and roll investment banker David Pullman. [144][145] The bonds paid an interest rate of 7.9% and had an average life of ten years, [146] a higher rate of return than a 10-year Treasury note (at the time, 6.37%). [145] Royalties from the 25 albums generated the cash flow that secured the bonds' interest payments. [148][149] The downgrade was prompted by lower-than-expected revenue "due to weakness in sales for recorded music" and that an unnamed company guaranteed the issue. [150] Nonetheless, the bonds liquidated in 2007 as originally planned, without default, and the rights to the income from the songs reverted to Bowie. In September 1998, Bowie launched an Internet service provider, BowieNet, developed in conjunction with Robert Goodale and Ron Roy. [152] The service was closed by 2006. Bowie on stage with Sterling Campbell during the Heathen Tour, 2002. Bowie, with Reeves Gabrels, created the soundtrack for Omikron: The Nomad Soul, a 1999 computer game in which he and Iman also voiced characters based on their likenesses. Released the same year and containing re-recorded tracks from Omikron, his album Hours featured a song with lyrics by the winner of his "Cyber Song Contest" Internet competition, Alex Grant. [154] Making extensive use of live instruments, the album was Bowie's exit from heavy electronica. [155] Sessions for the planned album Toy, intended to feature new versions of some of Bowie's earliest pieces as well as three new songs, commenced in 2000, but the album was never released. Bowie and Visconti continued their collaboration, producing a new album of completely original songs instead: the result of the sessions was the 2002 album Heathen. On 25 June 2000, Bowie made his second appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in England, playing 30 years after his first. [157] On 27 June, Bowie performed a concert at BBC Radio Theatre in London, which was released in the compilation album Bowie at the Beeb, which also featured BBC recording sessions from 1968 to 1972.

[158] Bowie and Iman's daughter was born on 15 August. In October 2001, Bowie opened the Concert for New York City, a charity event to benefit the victims of the September 11 attacks, with a minimalist performance of Simon & Garfunkel's "America", followed by a full band performance of "Heroes". [160] 2002 saw the release of Heathen, and, during the second half of the year, the Heathen Tour.

Taking place in Europe and North America, the tour opened at London's annual Meltdown festival, for which Bowie was that year appointed artistic director. Among the acts he selected for the festival were Philip Glass, Television, and the Dandy Warhols. As well as songs from the new album, the tour featured material from Bowie's Low era. [161] Reality (2003) followed, and its accompanying world tour, the A Reality Tour, with an estimated attendance of 722,000, grossed more than any other in 2004. Onstage in Oslo, Norway, on 18 June, Bowie was hit in the eye with a lollipop thrown by a fan; a week later he suffered chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel, Germany. Originally thought to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, the pain was later diagnosed as an acutely blocked coronary artery, requiring an emergency angioplasty in Hamburg. The remaining 14 dates of the tour were cancelled.

[162] That same year, his interest in Buddhism led him to support the Tibetan cause by performing at a concert to support the New York Tibet House. Bowie with his son Duncan Jones at the premiere of Jones's directorial debut Moon, 2009. In the years following his recuperation from the heart attack, Bowie reduced his musical output, making only one-off appearances on stage and in the studio. He sang in a duet of his 1971 song "Changes" with Butterfly Boucher for the 2004 animated film Shrek 2.

During a relatively quiet 2005, he recorded the vocals for the song "(She Can) Do That", co-written with Brian Transeau, for the film Stealth. [166] He contributed backing vocals on TV on the Radio's song "Province" for their album Return to Cookie Mountain, [167] made a commercial with Snoop Dogg for XM Satellite Radio[168] and joined with Lou Reed on Danish alt-rockers Kashmir's 2005 album No Balance Palace.

Bowie was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award on 8 February 2006. [170] In April, he announced, I'm taking a year offno touring, no albums. [171] He made a surprise guest appearance at David Gilmour's 29 May concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The event was recorded, and a selection of songs on which he had contributed joint vocals were subsequently released. [172] He performed again in November, alongside Alicia Keys, at the Black Ball, a benefit event for Keep a Child Alive at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York.

[173][174] The performance marked the last time Bowie performed his music on stage. Bowie was chosen to curate the 2007 High Line Festival, selecting musicians and artists for the Manhattan event, including electronic pop duo AIR, surrealist photographer Claude Cahun, and English comedian Ricky Gervais.

[176][177] Bowie performed on Scarlett Johansson's 2008 album of Tom Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head. [178] On the 40th anniversary of the July 1969 moon landingand Bowie's accompanying commercial breakthrough with "Space Oddity"EMI released the individual tracks from the original eight-track studio recording of the song, in a 2009 contest inviting members of the public to create a remix. [179] A Reality Tour, a double album of live material from the 2003 concert tour, was released in January 2010.

In late March 2011, Toy, Bowie's previously unreleased album from 2001, was leaked onto the internet, containing material used for Heathen and most of its single B-sides, as well as unheard new versions of his early back catalogue. On 8 January 2013, his 66th birthday, his website announced a new album, to be titled The Next Day and scheduled for release 8 March for Australia, 12 March for the United States, and 11 March for the rest of the world.

[183] Bowie's first studio album in a decade, The Next Day contains 14 songs plus 3 bonus tracks. [184][185] His website acknowledged the length of his hiatus.

[186] Record producer Tony Visconti said 29 tracks were recorded for the album, some of which could appear on Bowie's next record, which he might start work on later in 2013. The announcement was accompanied by the immediate release of a single, Where Are We Now? , written and recorded by Bowie in New York and produced by longtime collaborator Visconti. A music video for Where Are We Now? Was released onto Vimeo the same day, directed by New York artist Tony Oursler.

[186] The single topped the UK iTunes Chart within hours of its release, [187] and debuted in the UK Singles Chart at No. 6, [188] his first single to enter the Top 10 for two decades (since "Jump They Say" in 1993). A second video, "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)", was released 25 February. Directed by Floria Sigismondi, it stars Bowie and Tilda Swinton as a married couple. [189] On 1 March, the album was made available to stream for free through iTunes.

[190] The Next Day debuted at No. [191] The music video for the song "The Next Day" created some controversy, initially being removed from YouTube for terms-of-service violation, then restored with a warning recommending viewing only by those 18 or over. According to The Times, Bowie ruled out ever giving an interview again.

[193] An exhibition of Bowie artefacts, called "David Bowie Is", was organised by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and shown there in 2013. [194] The London exhibit was visited by 311,956 people, making it one of the most successful exhibitions ever staged at the museum. [195] Later that year the exhibition began a world tour, starting in Toronto and including stops in Chicago, Paris, Melbourne, and Groningen.

[196] Bowie was featured in a cameo vocal in the Arcade Fire song "Reflektor". [197] A poll carried out by BBC History Magazine, in October 2013, named Bowie as the best-dressed Briton in history. At the 2014 Brit Awards on 19 February, Bowie became the oldest recipient of a Brit Award in the ceremony's history when he won the award for Best British Male, which was collected on his behalf by Kate Moss. I think it's a great way to end the day. Thank you very, very much and Scotland stay with us.

[199] Bowie's reference to the forthcoming September 2014 Scottish independence referendum garnered a significant reaction throughout the UK on social media. [200][201] On 18 July, Bowie indicated that future music would be forthcoming, though he was vague about details. New information was released in September 2014 regarding his next compilation album, Nothing Has Changed, which was released in November.

The album featured rare tracks and old material from his catalogue in addition to a new song titled "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)". [203] In May 2015, "Let's Dance" was announced to be reissued as a yellow vinyl single on 16 July 2015 in conjunction with the "David Bowie is" exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, Australia. In August 2015, it was announced that Bowie was writing songs for a Broadway musical based on the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon series.

[205] Bowie wrote and recorded the opening title song to the television series The Last Panthers, which aired in November 2015. [206] The theme that was used for The Last Panthers was also the title track for his January 2016 release Blackstar which is said to take cues from his earlier krautrock influenced work.

[207] According to The Times: "Blackstar may be the oddest work yet from Bowie". [208] On 7 December 2015, Bowie's musical Lazarus debuted in New York. His last public appearance was at opening night of the production.

Blackstar was released on 8 January 2016, Bowie's 69th birthday, and was met with critical acclaim. [210] Following his death on 10 January, producer Tony Visconti revealed that Bowie had planned the album to be his swan song, and a "parting gift" for his fans before his death. [211][212][213] Several reporters and critics subsequently noted that most of the lyrics on the album seem to revolve around his impending death, [214][215] with CNN noting that the album "reveals a man who appears to be grappling with his own mortality". [214] Visconti later said that Bowie had been planning a post-Blackstar album, and had written and recorded demo versions of five songs in his final weeks, suggesting that Bowie believed he had a few months left. [216] The day following his death, online viewing of Bowie's music skyrocketed, breaking the record for Vevo's most viewed artist in a single day.

[217] On 15 January, Blackstar debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart; nineteen of his albums were in the UK Top 100 Albums Chart, and thirteen singles were in the UK Top 100 Singles Chart. [218][219] Blackstar also debuted at number one on album charts around the world, including Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, and the US Billboard 200. As of 11 January 2016, more than 1.3 million people had visited the "David Bowie Is" exhibition, making it the most successful exhibition ever staged by the Victoria and Albert Museum in terms of worldwide attendance. [222][223] The museum stated that the exhibition would continue to tour, with confirmed travel to Japan in 2017.

[222] At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Bowie won all five nominated awards: Best Rock Performance; Best Alternative Music Album; Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical; Best Recording Package; and Best Rock Song. The wins marked Bowie's first ever in musical categories.

An EP, No Plan, was released on 8 January 2017, which would have been Bowie's 70th birthday. [225] Apart from "Lazarus", the EP includes three songs that Bowie had recorded during the Blackstar sessions, but were left off the album and subsequently appeared on the soundtrack album for the Lazarus musical in October 2016. [226] A music video for the title track was also released.

The beginnings of Bowie's acting career predate his commercial breakthrough as a musician. Studying avant-garde theatre and mime under Lindsay Kemp, he was given the role of Cloud in Kemp's 1967 theatrical production Pierrot in Turquoise (later made into the 1970 television film The Looking Glass Murders). [228] In the black-and-white short The Image (1969), he played a ghostly boy who emerges from a troubled artist's painting to haunt him. [229] The same year, the film of Leslie Thomas's 1966 comic novel The Virgin Soldiers saw Bowie make a brief appearance as an extra.

[229] In 1976 he earned acclaim for his first major film role, portraying Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien from a dying planet, in The Man Who Fell to Earth, directed by Nicolas Roeg. Just a Gigolo (1979), an Anglo-German co-production directed by David Hemmings, saw Bowie in the lead role as Prussian officer Paul von Przygodski, who, returning from World War I, is discovered by a Baroness (Marlene Dietrich) and put into her Gigolo Stable.

Bowie's costume from Labyrinth at the Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle. Bowie played Joseph Merrick in the Broadway theatre production The Elephant Man, which he undertook wearing no stage make-up, and which earned high praise for his expressive performance. He played the part 157 times between 1980 and 1981. We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, a 1981 biographical film focusing on a young girl's drug addiction in West Berlin, featured Bowie in a cameo appearance as himself at a concert in Germany. Its soundtrack album, Christiane F. (1981), featured much material from his Berlin Trilogy albums. [231] Bowie starred in The Hunger (1983), with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon. In Nagisa Oshima's film the same year, Merry Christmas, Mr.

Lawrence, based on Laurens van der Post's novel The Seed and the Sower, Bowie played Major Jack Celliers, a prisoner of war in a Japanese internment camp. Bowie had a cameo in Yellowbeard, a 1983 pirate comedy created by Monty Python members, and a small part as Colin, the hitman in the 1985 film Into the Night. He declined to play the villain Max Zorin in the James Bond film A View to a Kill (1985). Absolute Beginners (1986), a rock musical film adapted from Colin MacInnes's book of the same name about life in late 1950s London, featured Bowie's music and presented him with a minor acting role. The same year, Jim Henson's dark fantasy Labyrinth found him with the part of Jareth, the king of the goblins.

[233] Two years later, he played Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese's 1988 film The Last Temptation of Christ. Bowie portrayed a disgruntled restaurant employee opposite Rosanna Arquette in The Linguini Incident (1991), and the mysterious FBI agent Phillip Jeffries in David Lynch's Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He took a small but pivotal role as Andy Warhol in Basquiat, artist/director Julian Schnabel's 1996 biopic of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and co-starred in Giovanni Veronesi's Spaghetti Western Il Mio West (1998, released as Gunslinger's Revenge in the US in 2005) as the most feared gunfighter in the region. [234] He played the ageing gangster Bernie in Andrew Goth's Everybody Loves Sunshine (1999), and appeared in the television horror series of The Hunger. Rice's Secret (2000), he played the title role as the neighbour of a terminally ill 12-year-old, and the following year appeared as himself in Zoolander.

Bowie portrayed physicist Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan's film The Prestige (2006), which was about the bitter rivalry between two magicians in the late 19th century. In the same year, he voice-acted in the animated film Arthur and the Invisibles as the powerful villain Maltazard and appeared as himself in an episode of the Ricky Gervais television series Extras.

In 2007, he lent his voice to the character Lord Royal Highness in the SpongeBob's Atlantis SquarePantis television film. In the 2008 film August, directed by Austin Chick, he played a supporting role as Ogilvie, alongside Josh Hartnett and Rip Torn, with whom he had worked in the 1976 film The Man Who Fell to Earth. In a 2017 interview with Consequence of Sound, director Denis Villeneuve revealed his intention to cast Bowie in Blade Runner 2049 as the lead villain, Niander Wallace, but when news broke of Bowie's death in January of the same year, Villeneuve was forced to look for talent with similar "rock star" qualities. He eventually cast actor and lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jared Leto. Talking about the casting process, Villeneuve said: Our first thought [for the character] had been David Bowie, who had influenced Blade Runner in many ways.

When we learned the sad news, we looked around for someone like that. He [Bowie] embodied the Blade Runner spirit. Bowie's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Berlin Memorial Plaque, Hauptstraße 155, in Schöneberg, Germany.

Bowie's songs and stagecraft brought a new dimension to popular music in the early 1970s, strongly influencing both its immediate forms and its subsequent development. Bowie was a pioneer of glam rock, according to music historians Schinder and Schwartz, who credited Marc Bolan and Bowie with creating the genre. [239] At the same time, he inspired the innovators of the punk rock music movement. [240] When punk musicians were "noisily reclaiming the three-minute pop song in a show of public defiance", biographer David Buckley wrote that Bowie almost completely abandoned traditional rock instrumentation.

"[241][242] Bowie's record company promoted his unique status in popular music with the slogan, "There's old wave, there's new wave, and there's David Bowie. [243] Musicologist James Perone credited him with having "brought sophistication to rock music", and critical reviews frequently acknowledged the intellectual depth of his work and influence. [239][244][245] Human League founder Martyn Ware remarked on the depth of his pervasive artistry that he had lived his life as though he were an art installation. As described by John Peel, The one distinguishing feature about early-70s progressive rock was that it didn't progress. Before Bowie came along, people didn't want too much change.

Buckley called the era "bloated, self-important, leather-clad, self-satisfied"; then Bowie "subverted the whole notion of what it was to be a rock star". After Bowie there has been no other pop icon of his stature, because the pop world that produces these rock gods doesn't exist any more.

The fierce partisanship of the cult of Bowie was also uniqueits influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom. Buckley called Bowie both star and icon. The vast body of work he has produced... Has created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture. His influence has been unique in popular culturehe has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure. Through continual reinvention, his influence broadened and extended. [248] Biographer Thomas Forget added, Because he has succeeded in so many different styles of music, it is almost impossible to find a popular artist today that has not been influenced by David Bowie. "[249] In 2000, Bowie was voted by other music stars as the "most influential artist of all time in a poll by NME.

[250][251] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that Bowie was confirmed by 1980 to be "the most important and influential artist since the Beatles". [252] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph stated that Bowie had "one of the supreme careers in popular music, art and culture of the 20th century" and "he was too inventive, too mercurial, too strange for all but his most devoted fans to keep up with". [253] The BBC's Mark Easton argued that Bowie provided fuel for "the creative powerhouse that Britain has become" by challenging future generations "to aim high, to be ambitious and provocative, to take risks". Easton concluded that Bowie had changed the way the world sees Britain.

And the way Britain sees itself. [254] Annie Zaleski of Alternative Press wrote, "Every band or solo artist who's decided to rip up their playbook and start again owes a debt to Bowie". [255] In 2016, he was dubbed "The Greatest Rock Star Ever" by Rolling Stone magazine. Numerous figures from the music industry whose careers Bowie had influenced paid tribute to him following his death; panegyrics on Twitter (tweets about him peaked at 20,000 a minute an hour after his death)[246] also came from outside the entertainment industry and pop culture, such as those from the Vatican, namely Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who quoted "Space Oddity", and the Federal Foreign Office, which thanked Bowie for his part in the fall of the Berlin Wall and referenced "Heroes". On 7 January 2017 the BBC broadcast the 90-minute documentary David Bowie: The Last Five Years, taking a detailed look at Bowie's last albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, and his play Lazarus.

[259] On 8 January 2017, which would have been Bowie's 70th birthday, a charity concert in his birthplace of Brixton was hosted by the actor Gary Oldman, a close friend. [260] A David Bowie walking tour through Brixton was also launched, and other events marking his birthday weekend included concerts in New York, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Tokyo. On 6 February 2018 the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carried Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster and a mannequin affectionately named Starman into space. "Space Oddity" and Life on Mars?

Were looping on the car's sound system during the launch. Bowie's Vox Mark VI guitar in the Hard Rock Cafe, Warsaw, Poland. From the time of his earliest recordings in the 1960s, Bowie employed a wide variety of musical styles. His early compositions and performances were strongly influenced by rock and rollers like Little Richard and Elvis Presley, and also the wider world of show business.

He particularly strove to emulate the British musical theatre singer-songwriter and actor Anthony Newley, whose vocal style he frequently adopted, and made prominent use of for his 1967 debut release, David Bowie (to the disgust of Newley himself, who destroyed the copy he received from Bowie's publisher). [24][263] Bowie's music hall fascination continued to surface sporadically alongside such diverse styles as hard rock and heavy metal, soul, psychedelic folk, and pop.

Musicologist James Perone observes Bowie's use of octave switches for different repetitions of the same melody, exemplified in his commercial breakthrough single, "Space Oddity", and later in the song "Heroes", to dramatic effect; Perone notes that in the lowest part of his vocal register... His voice has an almost crooner-like richness.

Voice instructor Jo Thompson describes Bowie's vocal vibrato technique as "particularly deliberate and distinctive". [266] Schinder and Schwartz call him a vocalist of extraordinary technical ability, able to pitch his singing to particular effect. "[267] Here, too, as in his stagecraft and songwriting, the singer's role playing is evident: historiographer Michael Campbell says that Bowie's lyrics "arrest our ear, without question.

But Bowie continually shifts from person to person as he delivers them... His voice changes dramatically from section to section. "[268] In a 2014 analysis of 77 "top artists' vocal ranges, Bowie was 8th, just behind Christina Aguilera and just ahead of Paul McCartney. [269] In addition to the guitar, Bowie also played a variety of keyboards, including piano, Mellotron, Chamberlin, and synthesizers; harmonica; alto and baritone saxophones; stylophone; viola; cello; koto (in the Heroes track "Moss Garden"); thumb piano; drums (on the Heathen track "Cactus"), and various percussion instruments. Main article: David Bowie's art collection.

Bowie was also a painter and artist. [275] His first solo show was at The Gallery, Cork Street in 1995, entitled'New Afro/Pagan and Work: 19751995'. [276][277] He was invited to join the editorial board of the journal Modern Painters in 1998, [278] and participated in the Nat Tate art hoax later that year.

In 1998 during an interview with Michael Kimmelman for The New York Times he said Art was, seriously, the only thing I'd ever wanted to own. After his death his family decided to sell most of the collection because they "didn't have the space" to store it. [278] On 10 and 11 November three auctions were held at Sotheby's in London, first with 47 lots and second with 208 paintings, drawings, and sculptures, third with 100 design lots. [282] The items on sale represented about 65 percent of the collection. Bowie and wife Iman, 2009. Bowie married his first wife, Mary Angela Barnett on 19 March 1970 at Bromley Register Office in Bromley, London. Their son Duncan, born on 30 May 1971, was at first known as Zowie. [285] Bowie and Angela divorced on 8 February 1980 in Switzerland. On 24 April 1992, Bowie married Somali-American model Iman in a private ceremony in Lausanne. The wedding was later solemnised on 6 June in Florence. [287] They had one daughter, Alexandria "Lexi" Zahra Jones, born in August 2000.

[288][289] The couple resided primarily in New York City and London, as well as owning an apartment in Sydney's Elizabeth Bay. [290][291] and Britannia Bay House on the island of Mustique, [292] now renamed Mandalay Estate. Bowie declared himself gay in an interview with Michael Watts for a 1972 issue of Melody Maker, [293] coinciding with his campaign for stardom as Ziggy Stardust. [58] According to Buckley, If Ziggy confused both his creator and his audience, a big part of that confusion centred on the topic of sexuality.

But I can't deny that I've used that fact very well. I suppose it's the best thing that ever happened to me. [295] His first wife, Angie, supports his claim of bisexuality and alleges that Bowie had a relationship with Mick Jagger.

In a 1983 interview with Rolling Stone, Bowie said his public declaration of bisexuality was "the biggest mistake I ever made" and I was always a closet heterosexual. [298] On other occasions, he said his interest in homosexual and bisexual culture had been more a product of the times and the situation in which he found himself than of his own feelings. Blender asked Bowie in 2002 whether he still believed his public declaration was his biggest mistake. After a long pause, he said, I don't think it was a mistake in Europe, but it was a lot tougher in America.

I had no problem with people knowing I was bisexual. But I had no inclination to hold any banners nor be a representative of any group of people.

" Bowie said he wanted to be a songwriter and performer rather than a headline for his bisexuality, and in "puritanical" America, "I think it stood in the way of so much I wanted to do. Buckley wrote that Bowie "mined sexual intrigue for its ability to shock", [302] and was probably "never gay, nor even consistently actively bisexual", instead experimenting out of a sense of curiosity and a genuine allegiance with the'transgressional'. "[303] Biographer Christopher Sandford said, according to Mary Finniganwith whom Bowie had an affair in 1969the singer and his first wife Angie "created their bisexual fantasy. [304] Sandford wrote that Bowie made a positive fetish of repeating the quip that he and his wife had met while'fucking the same bloke'...

Gay sex was always an anecdotal and laughing matter. That Bowie's actual tastes swung the other way is clear from even a partial tally of his affairs with women. "[304] The BBC's Mark Easton wrote in 2016 that Britain was "far more tolerant of difference" and that gay rights, such as same-sex marriage, and gender equality would not have "enjoyed the broad support they do today without Bowie's androgynous challenge all those years ago. Over the years, Bowie made numerous references to religions and to his evolving spirituality.

Beginning in 1967, he showed an interest in Buddhism; after a few months' study at Tibet House in London, he was told by a Lama, You don't want to be Buddhist. "[305] By 1975, Bowie admitted, "I felt totally, absolutely alone.

And I probably was alone because I pretty much had abandoned God. After Bowie married Iman in a private ceremony in 1992, he said they knew that their "real marriage, sanctified by God, had to happen in a church in Florence".

[306] Earlier that year, he knelt on stage at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and recited the Lord's Prayer before a television audience. [129][b] In 1993, Bowie said he had an "undying" belief in the "unquestionable" existence of God. [300] Interviewed in 2005, Bowie said whether God exists is not a question that can be answered. I'm not quite an atheist and it worries me. There's that little bit that holds on:'Well, I'm almost an atheist.

Give me a couple of months. I've nearly got it right. "[307] In his will, Bowie stipulated that he be cremated and his ashes scattered in Bali "in accordance with the Buddhist rituals.

"Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane" to Bowie's songwriting. [307] "Station to Station" is "very much concerned with the Stations of the Cross"; the song also specifically references Kabbalah. Bowie called the album extremely dark... The nearest album to a magick treatise that I've written. [309][c] Earthling showed the abiding need in me to vacillate between atheism or a kind of gnosticism...

What I need is to find a balance, spiritually, with the way I live and my demise. "[311] Released shortly before his death, "Lazarus"from his final album, Blackstarbegan with the words, "Look up here, I'm in Heaven while the rest of the album deals with other matters of mysticism and mortality. In 1976, speaking as The Thin White Duke, Bowie's persona at the time, and "at least partially tongue-in-cheek", he made statements that expressed support for fascism and perceived admiration for Adolf Hitler in interviews with Playboy, NME, and a Swedish publication. Bowie was quoted as saying: Britain is ready for a fascist leader...

I think Britain could benefit from a fascist leader. After all, fascism is really nationalism... I believe very strongly in fascism, people have always responded with greater efficiency under a regimental leadership. " He was also quoted as saying: "Adolf Hitler was one of the first rock stars" and "You've got to have an extreme right front come up and sweep everything off its feet and tidy everything up. "[313][314] Bowie later retracted these comments in an interview with Melody Maker in October 1977, blaming them on mental instability caused by his drug problems at the time, saying: "I was out of my mind, totally, completely crazed. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bowie's public statements shifted sharply towards anti-racism and anti-fascism. In an interview with MTV in 1983, Bowie criticised the channel for not providing enough coverage of black musicians, [316][317] and the music videos for "China Girl" and "Let's Dance" were described by Bowie as a "very simple, very direct" statement against racism. [318] The album Tin Machine took a more direct stance against fascism and Neo-Nazism, and was criticised for being too preachy. In 2016, filmmaker and activist Michael Moore said he had wanted to use "Panic in Detroit" for his 1998 documentary The Big One; denied at first, he was given the rights after calling Bowie personally. I've read stuff since his death saying that he wasn't that political and he stayed away from politics. But that wasn't the conversation that I had with him. Main article: Death of David Bowie. A woman places flowers outside Bowie's apartment in New York on Lafayette Street the day after his death was announced.

On 10 January 2016, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of the album Blackstar, Bowie died from liver cancer in his New York City apartment. [320] He had been diagnosed 18 months earlier but had not made the news of his illness public.

[321] The Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove, who had worked with the singer on his Off-Broadway musical Lazarus, explained that Bowie was unable to attend rehearsals due to the progression of the disease. He noted that Bowie had kept working during the illness. Bowie's producer Tony Visconti wrote. He always did what he wanted to do.

And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life a work of art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. I knew for a year this was the way it would be.

I wasn't, however, prepared for it. He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry. Following Bowie's death, fans gathered at impromptu street shrines.

[325] At the mural of Bowie in his birthplace of Brixton, south London, which shows him in his Aladdin Sane character, fans laid flowers and sang his songs. [326] Other memorial sites included Berlin, Los Angeles, and outside his apartment in New York.

[327] After news of his death, sales of his albums and singles soared. [328] Bowie had insisted that he did not want a funeral, and according to his death certificate he was cremated in New Jersey on 12 January. [329] As he wished in his will, his ashes were scattered in Bali, Indonesia. Main article: List of awards and nominations received by David Bowie.

Variety of Bowie's outfits on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bowie's 1969 commercial breakthrough, the song "Space Oddity", won him an Ivor Novello Special Award For Originality. [330] For his performance in the 1976 science fiction film The Man Who Fell to Earth, he won a Saturn Award for Best Actor. In the ensuing decades he was honoured with numerous awards for his music and its accompanying videos, receiving, among others, six Grammy Awards[331][332][224] and four Brit Awardswinning Best British Male Artist twice; the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1996; and the Brits Icon award for his "lasting impact on British culture", given posthumously in 2016. In 1999, Bowie was made a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. [336] He received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music the same year.

[337] He declined the royal honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000, and turned down a knighthood in 2003. [338] Bowie later stated I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. I seriously don't know what it's for.

It's not what I spent my life working for. The Telegraph in 2016 estimated Bowie's total worldwide sales at 140 million records.

[340][d] In the United Kingdom, he was awarded 9 platinum, 11 gold, and 8 silver albums, and in the United States, 5 platinum and 9 gold. In 2003, six of Bowie's albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [343] In 2004, four of Bowie's songs appeared on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Additionally, four of Bowie's songs are included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. A mural of Bowie in different guises in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, he was ranked 29. [345] In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 39th on their list of the 100 Greatest Rock Artists of All Time. [346] Bowie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 17 January 1996[137] and named a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in June 2013.

[347][348] In 2016, Rolling Stone proclaimed Bowie "the greatest rock star ever". In 2008, the spider Heteropoda davidbowie was named in Bowie's honour. [350] On 5 January 2015, a main-belt asteroid was named 342843 Davidbowie.

[351] On 13 January 2016, Belgian amateur astronomers at MIRA Public Observatory created a "Bowie asterism" of seven stars which had been in the vicinity of Mars at the time of Bowie's death; the "constellation" forms the lightning bolt on Bowie's face from the cover of his Aladdin Sane album. On 25 March 2018 a statue of Bowie was unveiled in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the town where he debuted Ziggy Stardust. [353] The statue features a likeness of Bowie in 2002 accompanied with his alter egos, with Ziggy at the front.

Main article: David Bowie discography. David Bowie (also released as Space Oddity) (1969). The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980). Never Let Me Down (1987).

Black Tie White Noise (1993). The Buddha of Suburbia (1993). Their 1970s catalogue included five Top 40 albums and six US Top 40 singles (eleven in Canada). Many of their songs, including "Let It Ride, " "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, " "Takin' Care of Business, " "Hey You" and "Roll on Down the Highway, " still receive play on classic-rock stations.

The original lineup consisted of Randy Bachman (lead guitar, lead vocals), Fred Turner (bass guitar, lead vocals), Tim Bachman (guitar, vocals) and Robbie Bachman (drums). This lineup released two albums in 1973.

The second and most commercially successful lineup featured Blair Thornton (lead guitar), in place of Tim Bachman. This lineup released four albums between 1974 and 1977, including two that reached the Top 5 in the U. Pop charts, as well as the band's only U. 1 single ("You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"). Subsequent lineups enjoyed only moderate success.

After the band went into a hiatus in 2005, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner reunited in 2009 to tour and collaborate on a new album. In 2010, they played the halftime show at the Grey Cup in Edmonton and continue to tour as of summer 2014. On March 29, 2014, the classic Not Fragile line-up reunited for the first time since 1991 to mark BachmanTurner Overdrive's induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and participated in performing in a tribute version of Takin' Care of Business.

Randy's departure and the new "BTO" 19771979. Disbandment, side projects, and reunions 19791991. Trial by Fire era (19912005). Bachman and Turner reunion 2009present.

Awards and recognition and other achievements. After leaving The Guess Who at the height of that band's success, Randy Bachman recalled being labelled "a lunatic and a loser" and that nobody wanted to work with me.

The exception was Chad Allan, former Guess Who lead singer/keyboardist who had left that band four years before Randy. The two agreed to explore a musical project, and Randy then turned to family. [3] The result was the band Brave Belt, formed in Winnipeg in 1971 with the additions of Randy's brother Robin "Robbie" Bachman on drums, and Gary Bachman acting as band manager. Brave Belt's self-titled first album, which saw Randy playing both lead guitar and bass, did not sell particularly well.

The record label still wanted Brave Belt to tour, so Randy (at the suggestion of Neil Young) hired fellow Winnipeg bassist/vocalist C. "Fred" Turner to perform in the band's scheduled gigs.

Turner was soon asked to be a full-time member and sing lead for the recording of Brave Belt II in 1972. Chad Allan appeared as a vocalist on two Brave Belt II songs, but left the band shortly after the album's recording.

During the tour to support this album, another Bachman sibling, Tim Bachman, was added as a second guitarist because the band had felt their three-piece arrangement was too restrictive. [4] Brave Belt II also failed to achieve any notable chart success, and in mid-1972 their supporting tour was cancelled halfway through. But Turner's influence had started to make itself felt, as he composed five songs for the Brave Belt II album. Brave Belt II had a harder, more guitar-heavy sound than its predecessor, complemented by Turner's throaty, powerful voice. According to Randy Bachman's autobiography, the seeds of the BTO sound were sown at a university gig in Thunder Bay, Ontario shortly after Allan's departure.

A promoter, disheartened with reactions to Allan's country-flavoured songs, which the band was still playing, decided to sack Brave Belt for the Saturday night show and bring in a more rock-oriented replacement from Toronto. When that didn't materialize, he begged Brave Belt to stay on and play a set of classic rock cover songs.

As the band played songs like "Proud Mary, " "Brown Sugar" and "All Right Now, " the dance floor filled up and, according to Randy, We instantly saw the difference between playing sit-down music people could talk over and playing music they would jump out of their seats and dance to. After Reprise Records dropped Brave Belt from their label, Randy emptied his own bank account to finance another set of recordings, and began to shop around the next album. The band eventually landed a new record deal from Mercury Records, one which Randy Bachman proclaimed as a pure stroke of luck. After their demo tape had been rejected 26 times (sometimes more than once by the same label), Bachman was prepared to tell the other band members that they would no longer be able to remain on salary, And they had to go and get the dreaded day jobs. Wanting to start completely fresh, he took a trash can and slid all the tapes into it except one which missed the can and fell onto the floor.

Fach picked up the tape and noticed Bachman's name on it. He remembered talking to him the previous year and had told Bachman that if he ever put a demo together to send it to him. Coincidentally, Mercury had just lost Uriah Heep and Rod Stewart to other labels, and Fach was looking for new rock acts to replace them.

[3] Fach called Bachman, and Randy describes the conversation from there. Back then, you sent out two 7½ -inch reels of your album, an A-side and a B-side, and that was side one, cut one.

He said,'Randy, this is fabulous. Is the rest of the album like this? And I said,'Yeah, it's all just good ol', dancing rock-and-roll. So he said,'Well, I have a meeting with my A&R people, but as far as I'm concerned, this is great and I want to sign it. At this point the bands demo tape was still called Brave Belt III.

Fach convinced the band that a brand new name was needed; one that capitalized on the name recognition of the band members. The band had already mulled over using their surnames (à la Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young). While on their way back from a gig in Toronto, the group had spotted a copy of a trucker's magazine called Overdrive while dining at the Colonial Steak House in Windsor, Ontario, run by Colonial Jim Lambros. After this, Turner wrote "BachmanTurner Overdrive" and the initials B. The rest of the band decided the addition of "Overdrive" was the perfect way to describe their music. BTO released their eponymous first album in May 1973. The album broke through in the US via border towns such as Detroit[8] and Buffalo and stayed on the charts for many weeks despite lacking a hit single.

The Turner-penned "Blue Collar" reached No. 21 on the Canadian RPM charts, but stalled at No.

68 on the US charts. The album's eventual success was very much the result of the band's relentless touring.

Reportedly, Fach had agreed to put this album on the Mercury label only if the band would promote it with a heavy concert schedule. Wherever the band was getting significant airplay, BachmanTurner Overdrive immediately traveled there regardless of the tour routing to build momentum, and it paid off. I would later be certified gold in 1974 by the Recording Industry Association of America. BTO's second album, BachmanTurner Overdrive II, was released in December 1973 and became a massive hit in the US peaking at No. 4 in 1974 and their native Canada peaking at No. 6 on the RPM albums chart. It was originally to be titled Adrenaline Rush. " It also yielded two of their best-known hit singles, "Let It Ride" and "Takin' Care of Business. " Randy had already written the core of "Takin' Care of Business" several years earlier as "White Collar Worker while in The Guess Who, but that band had felt it was not their type of song.

It reappeared in BTO's repertoire during the supporting gigs for the first album primarily, as Randy put it, To give Fred Turner a chance to rest his voice. " Randy had heard DJ Darryl Burlingham say the day before a gig, "We're takin' care of business on C-Fox radio, " and he decided to insert the lyrics "takin' care of business" into the chorus where "white collar worker previously existed.

Tim Bachman left the band in early 1974 shortly after the release of BachmanTurner Overdrive II. Randy Bachman had very strong religious beliefs and established rules to be in BTO. Among them was a rule that drugs, alcohol and premarital sex were prohibited on tour, and Tim is alleged to have broken all of these. It is said that he was given opportunities to change his lifestyle and did, at least temporarily. There are other differing accounts of the reasons for his departure. Some accounts state he left because he was getting married and wanted to study record engineering and concert promotion. [4] But in a 2002 interview, brother Robbie said, He was basically asked to leave. He wasn't BTO caliber [and] it was difficult to rely on him.

I guess the band was conflicting with his whole life. BTO continued a very busy tour schedule and during the supporting tour for BTO II, Tim was replaced by Blair Thornton.

Thornton had been in the Vancouver-based band Crosstown Bus, which released one album on MCA records. The first BTO album with the modified line-up, 1974's Not Fragile (a play on the hit album Fragile by Yes), was a huge success and reached No.

1 on the Canadian and US album charts. 1 single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet"[11] and AOR favourite Roll on Down the Highway. With management pressure to capitalize on their growing success, BTO quickly recorded Four Wheel Drive in May 1975, which included the single Hey You.

Though reaching no higher than No. 21 on the US charts, "Hey You" would become BTO's second No. 1 single on the Canadian RPM charts. Meanwhile, the album charted in the Top Five in both the US and Canada. Four Wheel Drive's release was followed by a highly successful tour of Europe and the US, wherein BTO was supported by Thin Lizzy, an emerging band also on the Mercury Records label.

Said Randy Bachman, Lizzy were just opening in England, but our label wanted to bust them in the rest of Europe and break them wide open in the States, so we toured with Phil and the boys for seven or eight months. The band went on to record and release Head On in late 1975. This album produced the 1976 Top 40 single "Take It Like a Man, " which featured a guest appearance by Little Richard who wailed away on his piano.

Head On also featured the jazzy Randy Bachman composition "Lookin' Out for #1, " which garnered considerable airplay on both traditional rock stations and also soft rock stations which normally did not play bands like BTO. In between the latter two albums, BTO released their only non-album single Down to the Line. This song would appear on some of the later compilation CD's, as well as on re-issues of the Head On album in CD format. Head On would be the last BTO studio album to chart in the US Top 40, peaking at No. The first BTO compilation album, Best of B.

(So Far), was released in 1976 and featured songs from each of the band's first five studio albums. Though peaking at only No. BTO in Örebro, Sweden, April 1991. L-R: Randy Bachman, Fred Turner, Blair Thornton, Robbie Bachman. Freeways, BTO's sixth studio album, was released in February 1977, and signalled the end of BTO's most successful line-up.

Facing some criticism for the "sameness" of the band's songs on the two follow-up albums to Not Fragile, Randy Bachman pondered reinventing and updating BTO's sound, but the rest of the band seemed to disagree. Since he (Randy) was funding the whole thing, everything went on his and Mercury's timetable. It finally came to a head for Freeways when Blair, Rob and myself told Randy we were burnt out, didn't like the songs we were writing, didn't like the songs he was writing, and that we wanted to take some time to regroup especially since all the other bands were taking a year or two between albums, not doing two a year like we were. Randy told us his songs were fine and forced the album. It ended that version of the band.

Years later, Randy seemed to agree with Turner, stating, Looking at it now, we should have taken four, five, six months off... Live a little, and then come back together with new ideas. In retrospect, that's what a lot of great bands do. Randy Bachman left the group following Freeways.

His initial intention was to temporarily disband while he worked on a solo project, But it was decided by management it wouldn't work. " He conceded, "We also ran out of common interests. Randy was replaced by bassist Jim Clench, formerly of April Wine. Bassist Turner moved to rhythm guitar with Thornton becoming the primary lead guitarist.

Even though this line-up included drummer Robbie Bachman, the band had to record and tour only as "BTO" because of an agreement with Randy who wanted to retain the rights to his surname for his solo career. [9] While Randy kept the rights to the full Bachman name, the remaining band members bought the rights to "BTO" and the gear logo. [10] The re-structured BTO released Street Action in February 1978.

The album became a commercial failure, spawning no hit singles. The band also released Rock n' Roll Nights in March 1979. It was the first BTO album to prominently feature outside songwriters, particularly Prism's Jim Vallance, who also co-produced the album.

Vallance had taken over as main producer after Barry Mraz was fired by the band, and would later score huge success in the 80s with Bryan Adams. The album did, however, produce a moderately successful single called Heartaches. Written by Turner, it cracked the Top 40 in Canada and reached number 60 on the US charts, making it the first BTO single in three years to chart in the US. [13] BTO played this song on American Bandstand in February 1979 (with producer Vallance guesting on piano), along with another single from the same album called Jamaica. Fred Turner and Jim Clench also appeared on Bryan Adams' debut album in 1980 as session musicians.

[citation needed] (Adams had likewise contributed one song, "Wastin' Time, " for BTO for the Rock n' Roll Nights album). On November 3, 2010, Jim Clench died in a Montreal hospital after a battle with stage-four lung cancer. BTO disbanded in late 1979, after the supporting tour for Rock n' Roll Nights had finished. After Randy recorded the solo album Survivor in 1978, he went on to form the short-lived Ironhorse in 1979.

Ironhorse released two albums, Ironhorse and Everything Is Grey, before disbanding. Tom Sparks was the vocalist for the first Ironhorse album, along with Randy, but was replaced by Frank Ludwig for the second album in 1980. Sparks reportedly did not like the constant touring and being away from home for such long amounts of time. A reformed version of Ironhorse, renamed as "Union, " released one album in 1981 entitled On Strike. Fred Turner was a member of Union along with Randy Bachman. Their line-up for their first studio LP in five years (released in 1984) consisted of Randy and Tim Bachman, Fred Turner, and former Guess Who drummer Garry Peterson. When Randy wanted to get back together again, I said,'Okay, let's have a publishing company with the band.

Let's all write the tunes. We'll all share equally and there won't be any more animosity. He said no, so I got up and left. Blair wasn't asked to rejoin because Randy knew that Blair wouldn't take any crap like Timmy would.

So Blair and I sued him and we won. They had to pay us royalties. In Randy's 2000 autobiography, Takin' Care of Business, he counters that Robbie declined to participate in the reunion when he and Fred refused to share in the publishing royalties of the hit BTO songs Randy and Fred authored. The new album, simply (and confusingly) titled BTO, was released in September 1984 on Charlie Fach's new Compleat label.

Billy Chapman, their drum tech, contributed keyboards to their stage shows. "For the Weekend, " a song from this album, was released as a single, along with a companion music video, and dented the US charts at No. It was the first chart appearance by a BTO song in five years, and would also be the last. In 1986 they released a live album culled from their 1985 tour called Live! Which featured two new tracks, "Bad News Travels Fast" and Fragile Man. The latter was actually a studio recording with the audience sound added to it. A studio version of "Bad News Travels Fast" was released on the soundtrack for the movie Body Slam. They were the opening band for the new Sammy Hagar-fronted Van Halen on their 5150 tour in 1986.

This plum opening slot was done by a trio line-up of Randy, Tim and Garry Peterson (allegedly with some bass parts and Fred's voice provided via tapes) since Fred Turner had been unavailable when the group was first contacted by Van Halen's management. [10] Chapman later stepped in as drummer for Peterson after the latter severely injured his leg while playing softball during the group's downtime on the road.

After the Van Halen tour ended, Randy split and Tim kept going briefly as BTO (see line-ups below). The others reluctantly gave him permission to do so to get his way out of debt. Billy Chapman later became the drummer for Randy Bachman's band and drummed on Randy's 1993 solo album Any Road. In 1988 the 197477 Not Fragile line-up (Randy, Fred, Blair, Robbie) reformed once again, took to the road and recorded an unknown number of songs together.

The only song to make it out into the public by this version of the band was a cover of the song Wooly Bully, which is only available on the American Boyfriends movie soundtrack. But by late 1991, Randy Bachman had left the group again. Two explanations exist for this happening. The first, according to Randy Bachman, was that the band agreed to take a break. Randy stated they asked him to tour with them but he was working on another project and had to decline. The others then chose to go on as BTO without him. In the second explanation, the other members (particularly Robbie and Blair) have maintained that Randy quit. Randy Bachman was replaced by Randy Murray after his last departure from the band in late 1991.

Murray had been in Tim Bachman's 198788 touring incarnations of BTO. This reconstituted version of BTO (Murray with Robbie Bachman, Fred Turner and Blair Thornton) proved to be its most enduring as they toured together from 1991 until December 2004.

Trial by Fire: Greatest and Latest was released in 1996 and was their last album to contain any new material. The sibling rivalry between Robbie and Randy that had started with the 1984 reunion album continued during this era. Said Randy in a 1999 interview, They said,'We'll just call ourselves BTO. People will know you're not there.

The problem is when BTO pulls into town, the radio, the press people, call them Bachman-Turner Overdrive. It's like Coke and Coca-Cola, two names that go hand in hand.

[And] they've got another guy to take my place who unfortunately is named Randy. So there's this inference that I'm there and I'm not there, which is a disservice to the fans.

"[18] Replied brother Robbie, "Randy Murray doesn't fill anyone's shoes. In 2003, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame voted to induct BachmanTurner Overdrive into the museum. However, the band would have had to play as the Not Fragile line-up, meaning the inclusion of Randy Bachman to the band for that performance. The current version of BTO at the time declined the invitation unless they could be inducted as "BTO" without Randy Bachman playing on stage.

The Hall refused and the band was not inducted. In an interview in 2004, Rob Bachman had stated that BTO was working on nine or ten new songs.

[20] It has been reported from numerous sources that the band could not get a good label to release the project and wanted this album to be distributed and publicized well, unlike what happened to the Trial by Fire CD. There was also a plan to release a live DVD/CD from a show in 2003 in their hometown of Winnipeg, but thus far this has not happened. Since the last disbandment of the band in 2005, several of their albums have been reissued.

The first one to be made available again since the disbandment was Freeways in 2005, followed by BachmanTurner Overdrive II in 2006 and Four Wheel Drive in 2008. Brave Belt I and Brave Belt II were re-released on a single CD March 17, 2009. Although Rob and Blair have remained very reticent about BTO since late 2004, Rob has been rumoured to state he no longer wishes to play in the band and has hung up his drum sticks. On January 23, 2009, Tim Bachman played on stage at one of Randy Bachman's shows, the first time they had played on stage together since 2003. Randy Bachman, who already hosted the successful radio show "Randy's Vinyl Tap, " was slated to be the host of a new television show called "Road to Guitar, " which was set to air on the Discovery Channel.

He was on tour with Burton Cummings during the summer of 2009, and played dates for the Randy Bachman Band in the United States and Canada for August and September. Randy Murray still plays occasional shows around the Vancouver area.

He is the only Trial by Fireera member of BTO, besides Fred Turner, to have played shows after the disbandment in January 2005. Like Rob, Murray has also stated he no longer wishes to be in BTO. Further information: Bachman & Turner.

Due to the intense interest in a Bachman-Turner reunion, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner announced their reteaming on December 8, 2009 in their hometown of Winnipeg. Information on the 2010 Bachman & Turner tour and the new album was provided at their then-new website bachmanandturner. As Randy wrote on the site, the project started with his request to Turner that he sing lead on the song, Rock'n Roll Is the Only Way Out. But after hearing the track with Turner's vocals, Randy asked if his former bandmate could contribute more vocals and some original compositions and offered to put his solo project on hold in favour of a Bachman-Turner album.

It morphed into a full-blown collaboration. On September 12, 2009, the Winnipeg Free Press had already reported that Randy Bachman and C. Turner would reunite to play concert dates in Europe, Canada and the US in 2010 backed by Randy's current band of Marc LaFrance, Mick Dalla-Vee and Brent Howard, billed simply as Bachman & Turner. Some early confirmed tour dates announced were June 2010 at the Sweden Rock Festival and the High Voltage Festival in July 2010 at London UK; the story added that there was also interest from agents as far away as South America and Australia. The tour and album plans of'Bachman & Turner' resulted in a lawsuit by Rob Bachman and Blair Thornton regarding ownership of the band name and related trademarks. [26][27] Randy Bachman is said to have registered the names "Bachman-Turner, " "BTU, " "Bachman-Turner United" and "Bachman-Turner Union" in both the United States and Canada. [28] These names are said to cause confusion with the names "Bachman-Turner Overdrive" and "BTO, " resulting in potential damages to Rob Bachman and Blair Thornton. [29] There appeared to be general legal agreement that one could perform under one's own legal names such as "Bachman & Turner, " so the newly reunited pair were billed as such for the 2010 tour and album. The band played the halftime show at the 2010 Grey Cup in Edmonton. The rock duo's self-titled album, Bachman & Turner, was released September 7, 2010 in North America and on September 20, 2010 in Europe. In November 2010, they performed at the famous Roseland Ballroom in New York City as part of their North American tour. A double live album (Live at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC) was recorded at that show, which was also filmed and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray later in the year. / Line-up: Randy Bachman (guitars, vocals); C. Turner (bass, vocals); Marc LaFrance (drums, percussion, vocals); Brent Howard Knudsen (guitars, vocals); Mick Dalla-Vee (guitars, vocals). Capitalizing on the recent Bachman & Turner album and supporting shows, BTO released another compilation set in 2013: BachmanTurner Overdrive: 40th Anniversary. It has 26 songs on two CDs.

Much of the collection had been released before, but there were four previously unreleased songs, including "Rough Ride" that many of their Gearhead fans had been waiting to be officially released. [citation needed] The CD set also features one Brave Belt song ("Never Comin' Home"), and eight songs on disc two are from the long out-of-print B.

Live Japan Tour album from 1976. BTO has been recognized in many music circles for carrying on the torch of guitar-heavy rock and roll at a time when soft rock was dominating the Top 40 charts, and progressive and glam acts were getting an increasing share of FM radio play.

As drummer Rob Bachman put it: We were basically fans of all kinds of music, but really liked the old kind of rock-and-roll... Like Elvis and the funky kinds of rock bands like The Stones. Luckily for us, Creedence had just called it quits, and we came out with three- and four-chord rock-and-roll with Fred Turner's gruff voice.

So it was basically this working man's kind of rock-and-roll. A reviewer assesses, however, that critics are divided over BTO's legacy. Dave Marsh noted that the band peaked with Not Fragile, an album that'seemed to exhaust Bachman's imagination; everything before and since is simply sluggish. The band's entry in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock acknowledges BTO's limitations, while properly assessing their assets:'However much it might be open to derision as formula cash-register boogie, BTO's rock is at least dexterously played and arranged, with dynamics reminiscent of mid-period Led Zeppelin. Stephen King derived his Richard Bachman pen name from BachmanTurner Overdrive when he was listening to the band's song "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" at the time his publisher asked him to choose a pseudonym on the spot.

The band was featured in The Simpsons episode Saddlesore Galactica. The band also appeared in the comedy movie The Campaign, making a cameo performing the song Taking Care of Business. The song "Takin' Care of Business" was also the title of a 1990 movie starring Jim Belushi as an escaped convict who wins tickets to see the Chicago Cubs in the World Series and finds the Filofax of businessman Charles Grodin. The song serves as the theme song to the movie.

The track "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" was featured as part of a running joke in the Harry Enfield sketch "Smashie and Nicey" in the early 1990s, with the duo playing the song to end almost every show. Dio was an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member Vinny Appice, the band's drummer. [1] The name Dio was chosen because it made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well known at that time.

The band released ten studio albums and had numerous line-up changes over the years with Dio himself being the only constant member. Guitarists included Craig Goldy, Doug Aldrich, Vivian Campbell, Warren DeMartini, [2] Tracy G, Jake E.

The band dissolved in 2010 when Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer at the age of 67. Origins and Holy Diver (19821983). The Last In Line to Dream Evil (19841989).

Master of the Moon and Split (20042010). Death of Ronnie James Dio. In 1982, disagreements originating over the mixing of Black Sabbath's Live Evil resulted in the departure of Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice from the band. [3] Wanting to continue together as a band, the two formed Dio in October 1982 in the United States with Vivian Campbell (guitars) and Jimmy Bain (bass); The following May, the band released their debut album, Holy Diver. It featured two hit singles, "Rainbow in the Dark" and "Holy Diver", which gained popularity from MTV.

Ronnie James Dio and Jimmy Bain played keyboards in the studio, but recruited keyboardist Claude Schnell for live shows in 1983 prior to the Holy Diver tour. Claude Schnell played to the side of the stage on the first two tours before coming out front in 1985. [4] Dio had this to say of the band's origins.

It was a good time to be in that band. It was perfect for us. Everything just fell into place.

The ethic in rehearsal was amazing. The effort in the recording was just as good.

Everybody wanted it to be great. We really believed in what we were doing and couldn't wait to get that product out and have people hear it. Now a quintet with Schnell on keyboards, the band released their second studio album, The Last in Line, on July 2, 1984. It was followed by their third album, Sacred Heart, which was released on August 15, 1985.

In 1985 Ronnie James Dio, Campbell and Bain also wrote the song "Stars" for the Hear'n Aid project, with many other heavy metal luminaries of the time contributing. Campbell became unhappy working with Dio, [6] and the rift between them culminated in Campbell being fired from Dio's band. [7] Campbell was subsequently invited to join Whitesnake in 1987. [8] Several songs were recorded live during the Sacred Heart tour for the 1986 Intermission EP with Campbell still on guitar, however the EP also contained the studio track "Time To Burn", [9] which served to introduce fans to Craig Goldy as the new guitarist.

On July 21, 1987 their fourth album Dream Evil was released. After Dream Evil, Goldy, wanting to pursue solo projects, left the band. [10] In June 1989 18-year-old Rowan Robertson was announced as Goldy's successor but further changes were to follow, with Schnell, Bain, and Appice leaving the band. Schnell, Bain, and Appice were replaced, respectively, with Jens Johansson, Teddy Cook, and former AC/DC drummer Simon Wright.

The new band released the album Lock Up the Wolves in the spring of 1990. During the tour, Ronnie James Dio had a chance meeting with former Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler which led to that band's short-lived reunion, producing one album, Dehumanizer. After this Ronnie James Dio reassembled Dio once again, retaining only Appice on the drums. By early 1993 guitarist Tracy G, keyboardist Scott Warren of Warrant and bassist Jeff Pilson of Dokken had all joined. During this era, the band abandoned fantasy themed songs and focused on modern issues. [11] As a result, some fans regard the albums made during this period1993's Strange Highways, 1996's Angry Machines and the live album Inferno: Last in Liveas the worst in Dio's catalogue, while others view them positively as a step away from the outdated sound of the 1980s. With disappointing record sales for Angry Machines management wanted the band to go back to their earlier style prompting the departure of Tracy G[12] to be replaced by the returning Craig Goldy. In addition, Appice left Dio once again. Craig Goldy's return facilitated the release of Dio's eighth studio album in 2000, Magica, which was regarded by many as the band's "comeback album" and reached No.

13 on the Billboard independent charts. It featured not only the return of Goldy but also of Simon Wright and Jimmy Bain, although on the European leg of the tour Chuck Garric played bass. Scott Warren remained in the band and performed live, although Ronnie and Bain handled all of the keyboard and synth on Magica. A concept album, Magica featured a return to the band's older, more successful sound, while increased use of keyboards gave it a more modern feel. [13] During the following tour, however, tensions rose between Goldy on the one hand and Bain and Ronnie James Dio on the other, as Goldy was dealing with family obligations.

Goldy left the band in January 2002 and was replaced with Doug Aldrich, whom Bain had met while recording a tribute album for Metallica. Because of his late arrival, Aldrich did not contribute much to Dio's ninth work, Killing the Dragon, which was written primarily by Ronnie James Dio and Bain. Killing The Dragon was released in 2002 through Spitfire Records and was well received in the metal community, making the Billboard top 200. Aldrich would stay in the band until April of the following year, when he, like Campbell before him, joined Whitesnake, prompting Goldy's return. Soon afterwards, Bain left the band. Dio released their tenth studio album, Master of the Moon on August 30, 2004 in Europe through SPV Records and on September 7, 2004 in the United States through Sanctuary Records. 2005 saw the release of the Dio live album Evil or Divine Live in New York City, which featured the same show that was released on DVD in 2003. Dio toured South America, Japan, Europe, and Russia in 2005. Their autumn tour was titled "An Evening With Dio" and featured a regular set, and then a second set of the band playing Holy Diver in its entirety. A DVD of the tour was filmed in London. The audio of this performance, a double CD named Holy Diver Live was released in April 2006. In 2007, it was announced that Black Sabbath would reunite with Ronnie James Dio and go under the name Heaven & Hell. The band released The Devil You Know in 2009. Ronnie James Dio's involvement with Heaven & Hell delayed the recording of what was to be the follow-up to Master of the Moon, Magica II. [15] The three-year hiatus was briefly interrupted for a 10 concert European mini-tour in May/June 2008, and was scheduled to be interrupted again in November/December 2009 with 22 concerts starting in the UK and ending in Germany. [16] Doug Aldrich was to have filled in for Craig Goldy on guitar on these dates, who had other obligations. Dio intended to release a new single, entitled "Electra", to coincide with the tour.

This would have been their first studio material in 5 years. The band also intended to record an album or two in 2010.

On November 18, 2009 the European tour was cancelled due to Ronnie James Dio's hospitalization. He had been diagnosed with stomach cancer, and was undergoing treatment. His manager and wife Wendy Dio thanked well-wishers and said After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans. The set includes the Killing the Dragon CD, Evil or Divine DVD (PAL format only), DVD bonus material, interviews, photo gallery, never-before-seen behind the scenes footage, promo video for the Killing the Dragon track "Push", exclusive Dio cards, and the bonus CD single "Electra" (which is the last song the band recorded), from the unfinished albums Magica II & Magica III. Ronnie James Dio died on May 16, 2010, of stomach cancer at the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas at the age of 67. On November 9, 2010, a posthumous live album was released. Titled Dio at Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987, it features Dio's 1983 and 1987 appearances at the Monsters of Rock festival and showcases several songs from the Ronnie James Dio era of both Rainbow and Black Sabbath, in addition to songs from Dio's own catalogue. When being interviewed Classic Rock Magazine from the UK, Dio guitarist Craig Goldy stated We were working on tracks for a new Dio album just before Ronnie died in May.

And we did almost finish one song. Wendy [Dio, Ronnie's widow/manager] has been talking about reissuing [DIO's]'Magica' album (originally released in 2000) with bonus tracks, including this one. " Goldy goes on to say of the lyrics, that they were written by Dio when he was fighting cancer, and are "very emotional" and "hard to listen to without a lump at the back of your throat. On March 18, it was announced that the surviving members of the final line-up of Dio would embark on a project with former Judas Priest front man Tim "Ripper" Owens under the moniker DIO Disciples.

The project has been touring extensively since 2011. In May 2012, former Dio guitarist Vivian Campbell, despite his long established feud with Dio, announced his intent to reunite the original Dio band for a potential series of shows. This would include himself, drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, and keyboardist Claude Schnell. This announced line-up will feature former Lynch Mob vocalist and The Offspring touring member Andrew Freeman stepping in for Ronnie James Dio. [22][23] and will perform under the name Last in Line.

Murray is the demonic-looking mascot of Dio who appears on several of Dio's album covers, including Holy Diver, The Last in Line, Dream Evil, as well as on some of their singles and compilation albums. He was also featured in the sets for live shows. Dio's first studio album, Holy Diver, from 1983, was the first to feature Murray on its cover.

Murray appears to be torturing a cleric, but Ronnie James Dio said that it is not necessarily true. Murray is also featured on Dio's second studio album, The Last in Line. On this cover, resurrected souls emerge from their graves on Judgment Day to find a gigantic Murray staring at them from the far horizon. Murray is not featured on Dio's third studio album, Sacred Heart, but is, for the last time in his original form, featured on the cover of Dream Evil. He is shown in the window of a bedroom with a child sleeping in a bed, while being haunted by several different scary creatures.

Murray's story is printed in the Dream Evil Tour book. The cover art of Dream Evil is a reference to one of the tracks on the album, "Faces in the Window" (the entire album's concept is fears and superstitions about the night and darkness). Dio Brando, a major villain of the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, is named after both Ronnie James Dio and movie star Marlon Brando--the author is known for his fondness for Western music and its influence on his work. In the manga's third arc, Dio resides in Egypt, wears heart-shaped designs on his clothing, and has a "Stand" with a scuba diver appearance.

These could be possible references to the songs Egypt (The Chains Are On), Sacred Heart, and Holy Diver. A video game released in Japan for the Famicom (Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System) in 1989 was titled Holy Diver. The gothic and medieval theme of the game is very similar to Dio's music video of "Holy Diver". In 1999, an animated spoof of Dio appeared in an episode of South Park titled "Hooked on Monkey Fonics". The band appears performing "Holy Diver" at an elementary school dance.

Although Ronnie James Dio's appearance is somewhat like himself in reality, the rest of the band just appears as a stereotypical heavy metal band with no reference to the real band members. Throughout his stint with the Philadelphia Phillies, outfielder Pat Burrell was known to use a clip of Dio's "Holy Diver" as his walk-up music. It normally pumped up the crowd. Comedy/rock duo Tenacious D released a song on their first album entitled "Dio", a song written as a tribute to rock singer Ronnie James Dio, which mocked him somewhat for being too old and saying that Tenacious D were going to take over his position as the masters of heavy metal. [27] Before playing the song live Jack Black would typically speak about how Dio's tenure in Black Sabbath served as his inspiration to get into heavy metal. The duo appeared in the music video for his song, "Push".

Ronnie also appeared in and sang on Tenacious D's comedy movie The Pick of Destiny. The song "Holy Diver" is on the video games Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories as well as the Game/Guitar Learning tool Rocksmith 2014. " It also appears as downloadable content for the Rock Band series, along with "Stand Up and Shout. The song "Rainbow in the Dark" appears in Rock Band 3. Main article: List of Dio band members.

Ronnie James Dio vocals, keyboards (19821991, 19932010; his death). Craig Goldy guitar, keyboards (19861989, 19992001, 20042005, 20062010). Simon Wright drums, percussion (19891991, 19982010). Two groups of former members of Dio, DIO Disciples and Last in Line, have reunited independently to perform Dio songs. Mark Boals - vocals (2013present).

Tim "Ripper" Owens vocals (20112014, 2016-present). Doro Pesch - vocals (2011). Vinny Appice - drums (2013/2014). Rowan Robertson - guitar (2013).

Gonzo Sandoval - drums (2014). Main article: Last in Line.

Vinny Appice - drums (2012Present). Vivian Campbell - guitar (2012Present).

Andrew Freeman - lead vocals (2012-Present). Phil Soussan - bass guitar (2016-Present).

Erik Norlander - keyboards (2016-Present). Jimmy Bain - bass guitar (20122016; his death). Claude Schnell - keyboards (20122015). The Last in Line (1984). Lock Up the Wolves (1990). Master of the Moon (2004).

Inferno: Last in Live (1998). Evil or Divine Live in New York City (2003).

At Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987 (2010). Finding The Sacred Heart: Live In Philly 1986 (2013).

Live in London, Hammersmith Apollo 1993 (2014). Chasing Rainbows - Live At The Coliseum Washington 1984 (2014). Live in Concert (VHS & Laserdisc, 1984). A Special from the Spectrum (VHS & Laserdisc, 1984). Sacred Heart "The Video" (VHS, 1986 DVD, 2004).

Evil or Divine: Live in New York City (DVD, 2003). We Rock (DVD) (DVD, 2005). Holy Diver: Live (DVD, 2006).

Finding The Sacred Heart: Live In Philly 1986 (DVD & BD, 2013). Live in London: Hammersmith Apollo 1993 (DVD & BD, 2014). Blue Öyster Cult (often abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed in Long Island, New York in 1967, whose most successful work includes the hard rock songs "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla", "Burnin' for You" and "Shooting Shark".

[4] The band's music videos, especially "Burnin' for You", received heavy rotation on MTV when the music television network premiered in 1981, cementing the band's contribution to the development and success of the music video in modern popular culture. Blue Öyster Cult's longest lasting and most commercially successful lineup included Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals), Eric Bloom (lead vocals, "stun guitar", keyboards, synthesizers), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, backing vocals), Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, backing vocals). The band's current lineup includes Roeser and Bloom, as well as Danny Miranda (bass, backing vocals), Jules Radino (drums, percussion), and Richie Castellano (keyboard, rhythm guitar, backing vocals). Early years as Soft White Underbelly (196771). Black and white years (197175).

The band originated as a group called Soft White Underbelly (a name the band would occasionally revive in the 1970s and 1980s to play small club gigs around the United States and UK[6]) in 1967 in the vicinity of Stony Brook University on Long Island, at the prompting of critic and manager Sandy Pearlman. The group consisted of guitarist Buck Dharma, drummer Albert Bouchard, keyboardist Allen Lanier, singer Les Braunstein and bassist Andrew Winters. [7] Pearlman wanted the group to be the American answer to Black Sabbath. [8] Pearlman was important to the band he was able to get them gigs and recording contracts with Elektra and Columbia, and he provided them with his poetry for use as lyrics for many of their songs, including "Astronomy". Writer Richard Meltzer also provided the band with lyrics from their early days up through their most recent studio album.

Pearlman also gave stage names to each of the band members (Jesse Python for Eric Bloom, Andy Panda for Andy Winters, Prince Omega for Albert Bouchard, La Verne for Allen Lanier) but only Buck Dharma kept his. [9] The band recorded an album's worth of material for Elektra Records in 1968. When Braunstein departed in early 1969, Elektra shelved the album. Eric Bloom got hired by the band as their acoustic engineer and eventually became lead singer, replacing Braunstein, through a series of three unlikely coincidences, one in which Lanier decided to join Bloom on a drive to an upstate gig where he spent the night with Bloom's old college bandmates and got to hear old tapes of Bloom's talent as lead vocalist. [10] Because of this, Bloom was offered the job of lead singer for Soft White Underbelly.

However, a bad review of a 1969 Fillmore East show caused Pearlman to change the name of the band first to Oaxaca, then to the Stalk-Forrest Group. The band recorded yet another album's worth of material for Elektra, but only one single What Is Quicksand? " b/w "Arthur Comics was released (and only in a promo edition of 300 copies) on Elektra Records this album was eventually released, with additional outtakes, by Rhino Handmade Records as St.

Cecilia: The Elektra Recordings in 2001. The album featured Bloom as their main lead singer, but Roeser also sang lead on a few songs, a pattern of sharing lead vocals that has continued throughout the band's career. After a few more temporary band names, including the Santos Sisters, the band settled on Blue Öyster Cult in 1971 (see below for its origin).

New York City producer/composer and jingle writer David Lucas saw the band perform and took them into his Warehouse Recording Studio and produced four demos, with which Pearlman was able to get the renamed band another audition with Columbia Records. Clive Davis liked what he heard, and signed the band to the label.

The first album was subsequently produced and recorded by Lucas on eight track at Lucas' studio. [11] Winters would leave the band and be replaced by Bouchard's brother, Joe Bouchard. Their debut album Blue Öyster Cult was released in January 1972, with a black and white cover designed by artist Bill Gawlik. The album featured the songs "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll", "Stairway to the Stars" and "Then Came the Last Days of May".

By this time, the band's sound had become more oriented toward hard rock, but songs like "She's As Beautiful As a Foot" and "Redeemed" also showed a strong element of the band's psychedelic roots. All of the band members except for Allen Lanier sang lead, a pattern that would continue on many subsequent albums, although lead singer Eric Bloom sang the majority of the songs. [12] During the touring process, the band's sound became heavier and more direct.

Their next album Tyranny and Mutation, released in 1973, was written while the band was on tour for their first LP. It contained songs such as "The Red and the Black" (an ode to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a rewrite of "I'm On the Lamb But I Ain't No Sheep" from the debut album), "Hot Rails to Hell" and "Baby Ice Dog", the first of the band's many collaborations with Patti Smith. It featured a harder-rocking approach than before, though the band's songs were also growing more complex.

The album outsold its predecessor, a trend that would continue with their next few albums. The band's third album, Secret Treaties (1974) received positive reviews, featuring songs such as "Career of Evil" (co-written by Patti Smith), "Dominance and Submission" and "Astronomy". As a result of constant touring, the band was now capable of headlining arenas.

The album continued the trend of growing sales, and would eventually go gold. As the three albums during this formative period all had black-and-white covers, the period of their career has been dubbed the'black and white years' by fans and critics. The band's first live album On Your Feet or on Your Knees (1975) achieved greater success and went gold. Its success gave the band more time to work on a follow-up. Their next studio album, Agents of Fortune (1976), was their first to go platinum and was again produced by David Lucas.

It contained the hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts and has become a classic of the heavy rock genre. Other major songs on the album were "(This Ain't) The Summer of Love", E. (Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)" and "The Revenge of Vera Gemini. Having recorded demos of the songs at home before recording the album, the band's songwriting process had become more individual, with none of the songs featuring the collaborative writing between the band members that had been common on their earlier albums. For the first and only time, the album featured lead vocals from all five band members, with Allen Lanier singing lead on the song True Confessions. With Albert Bouchard singing lead on three songs and Joe Bouchard and Donald Roeser singing lead on one each, Eric Bloom ended up taking the lead on only four of the album's ten songs. For the tour, the band added lasers to their light show, for which they became known. They were among the first acts to use lasers in performance.

However, its sales were not as strong as those for the previous album, going gold but not platinum, becoming their first album to sell less than its predecessor. It featured even more polished production, and continued the trend of the lead vocals extensively shared between members, although Allen Lanier did not sing lead.

As with the previous album, Eric Bloom sang lead on fewer than half the songs. The band then released another live album, Some Enchanted Evening (1978). Though it was intended as another double-live album in the vein of On Your Feet or on Your Knees, Columbia insisted that it be edited down to single-album length.

It also revealed that while the band's studio work was becoming increasingly well-produced, they were still very much a hard rock band on stage. It was followed by the studio album Mirrors (1979).

For Mirrors, instead of working with previous producers Sandy Pearlman (who instead went on to manage Black Sabbath) and Murray Krugman, Blue Öyster Cult chose Tom Werman, who had worked with acts such as Cheap Trick and Ted Nugent. It featured the band's glossiest production to date. It also gave Roeser, the lead vocalist on the band's biggest hits, bigger prominence as a vocalist, singing lead on four of the nine songs. However, the resulting album sales were disappointing.

Pearlman's association with Black Sabbath led to Sabbath's Heaven and Hell producer Martin Birch being hired for the next Blue Öyster Cult record. The album found the band returning to their hard-rock roots, and although both of the Bouchard brothers and guitarist Roeser all got lead vocal turns, it was the band's first album since Secret Treaties to feature nominal lead singer Eric Bloom singing the majority of the tracks. The result was positive, with Cultösaurus Erectus (1980) receiving good reviews. The album went to number 12 in the United Kingdom, but did not do as well in the United States. The song "Black Blade", which was written by Bloom with lyrics by science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock, is a kind of retelling of Moorcock's epic Elric of Melniboné saga.

The band also did a co-headlining tour with Black Sabbath in support of the album, calling the tour "Black and Blue". Birch produced the band's next album as well, Fire of Unknown Origin (1981). The biggest hit on this album was the Top 40 hit "Burnin' for You", a song Roeser had written with a Richard Meltzer lyric. He had intended to use it on his solo album, Flat Out (1982), but he was convinced to use it on the Blue Öyster Cult album instead. The revival of the band's heavier sound continued, albeit with fairly heavy use of synthesizers and some noticeable New Wave influence on a few tracks.

It contained other fan favorites such as "Joan Crawford" (inspired by the book and film Mommie Dearest) and "Veteran of the Psychic Wars", another song co-written by Moorcock. Several of the songs had been written for the animated film Heavy Metal, but only "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" (which had not been written for Heavy Metal) was actually used in the movie. The album marked a strong commercial resurgence for the band and achieved gold status, their first studio album since Spectres to do so. During the tour for Fire of Unknown Origin, Albert Bouchard had a falling out with the others and left the band, and Rick Downey (formerly the band's lighting designer) replaced him on drums. This marked the end of the band's original and best-known lineup. After leaving the band, Albert Bouchard spent five years working on a solo album based on Sandy Pearlman's poem "Imaginos". Blue Öyster Cult also released a third live album Extraterrestrial Live. The band then went to the studio for the next album, with Bruce Fairbairn as producer, the release The Revölution by Night (1983).

After two albums of a return to a harder rocking sound, the band adopted a more radio-friendly, AOR-oriented sound that with Fairbairn providing more 1980's approach to production. This approach met with some success, especially on its highest-charting single, Roeser's "Shooting Shark", co-written by Patti Smith and featuring Randy Jackson on bass, which reached number 83 on the charts. Bloom's "Take Me Away" also achieved some FM radio play.

However, the album did not match the sales of its predecessor, failed to go gold, and marked the beginning of the band's second commercial decline. After touring for Revölution, Rick Downey left, leaving Blue Öyster Cult without a drummer. This arrangement was only temporary, and caused more tensions between the band and Bouchard, as he had thought he would be staying on permanently, which was not the case. The band had only intended to use him as a last-minute fill-in until another drummer could come on board, which resulted in Bouchard's leaving after the tour. Allen Lanier also quit the band shortly thereafter, leaving the band without a keyboardist and with only three remaining original members. This incarnation of the band would sometimes be referred to as'3ÖC' by fans, a pun on the number of original members left. Blue Öyster Cult hired drummer Jimmy Wilcox and keyboardist Tommy Zvoncheck to finish the album Club Ninja, which was poorly received, with only "Dancing In the Ruins"one of several songs on the record written entirely by outside songwritersenjoying minimal success on radio and MTV.

The best-known original on the album is "Perfect Water" written by Dharma and Jim Carroll (noted author of The Basketball Diaries). While the band members have generally been disparaging about the album in retrospect, Joe Bouchard has stated that "Perfect Water" is perfect genius. The band toured in Germany, after which bassist Bouchard left, leaving only two members of the classic lineup, Eric Bloom and Donald Roesersome referred to the band as "Two Öyster Cult" during this period. Jon Rogers was hired to replace Joe, and this version of the band finished out the 1986 tour. After the tour wound up that year, the band took a temporary break from recording and touring.

Blue Öyster Cult performing at the Sweden Rock Festival, 2008. When Blue Öyster Cult received an offer to tour in Greece in the early summer of 1987, the band reformed. Allen Lanier had agreed to rejoin, so the new line-up now featured three founding members, along with Jon Rogers returning on bass, and Ron Riddle as the band's newest drummer.

Columbia Records was not interested in releasing the Imaginos project as an Albert Bouchard solo album, so it was arranged for it to be released in 1988 by Columbia as a Blue Öyster Cult album, with some new lead vocal overdubs from Bloom and Roeser and lead guitar overdubs from Roeser. These replaced most of Albert Bouchard's lead vocals, as well as many lead guitar parts that had been recorded by session musicians.

Joe Bouchard and Allen Lanier had earlier contributed some minor keyboard and backing vocal parts to the album, allowing all 5 original members to be credited. The album did not sell well (despite a positive review in Rolling Stone magazine), and though the then-current Blue Öyster Cult lineup (minus both Bouchard brothers) did tour to promote Imaginos, promotion by the label was virtually non-existent. The band spent the next 11 years touring without releasing an album of new material, though they did contribute two new songs to the Bad Channels movie soundtrack, released in 1992, and also released an album of re-recorded songs from the band's original lineup called Cult Classic in 1994. During these years, while the three original members remained constant, there were several changes in the band's rhythm section. Riddle quit in 1991 and was followed by a series of other drummers including Chuck Burgi (19911992, 19921995, 19961997), John Miceli (1992, 1995), John O'Reilly (19951996) and Bobby Rondinelli (19972004).

As for the bass position, Rogers left in 1995, and was replaced by Danny Miranda. Blue Öyster Cult performs in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on August 18, 2012.

Two studio albums were released, Heaven Forbid (1998) and Curse of the Hidden Mirror (2001). Both albums featured songs co-written by cyberpunk/horror novelist John Shirley.

The first mostly featured Miranda on bass and Burgi on drums, though a few tracks feature earliest bassist Jon Rogers and one track features Rondinelli on drums, who had joined the band near the end of the recording. Curse of the Hidden Mirror features Miranda and Rondinelli as the rhythm section, and the pair contributed to the songwriting as well.

Another live record, A Long Day's Night and DVD (same title), followed in 2002, both drawn from one concert in Chicago. This album also featured the Bloom, Roeser, Lainer, Miranda, Rondinelli lineup. Although the band's lineup had remained stable from 1997 to 2004, they began to experience personnel changes again in 2004.

Rondinelli left in 2004, and was replaced by Jules Radino. Miranda left during the same year and ended up as the bassist for Queen + Paul Rodgers. He was replaced by Richie Castellano, who would also take occasional turns as a lead vocalist onstage.

In 2001, Sony/Columbia's reissue arm, Legacy Records issued expanded versions of the first four Blue Öyster Cult studio albums, including some previously unreleased demos and outtakes from album sessions, live recordings (from the Live 72 EP), and post-St. Cecilia tunes from the Stalk-Forrest Group era. Blue Öyster Cult live in 2006. Allen Lanier retired from live performances in 2007 after not appearing with the band since late 2006.

Castellano switched to rhythm guitar and keyboards (Castellano also filled in on lead guitar and vocals for an ailing Buck Dharma in two shows in 2005), and the position of bassist was taken up by Rudy Sarzo (previously a member of Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Ozzy Osbourne and Dio), with the band employing Danny Miranda and Jon Rogers as guest bassists to fill in when Sarzo was unavailable. Sarzo then joined as an official member of the band, although Rogers continued to occasionally fill in when Sarzo was busy.

In February 2007, the Sony Legacy remaster series continued, releasing expanded versions of studio album Spectres and live album Some Enchanted Evening. In December 2008, BÖC management announced that Roeser had fallen down a staircase in his Florida home and injured his shoulder. As a result, several tour dates in December 2008 and January 2009 were canceled or postponed.

In June 2012, the band announced that bassist Rudy Sarzo was leaving the band and was being replaced by former Utopia bassist Kasim Sulton. In August of the same year, it was announced that Sony Legacy would be releasing a 17-disc boxed set entitled The Complete Columbia Albums Collection on October 30, 2012. The set includes the first round of the remastered series plus the long-awaited remastered versions of; On Your Feet or on Your Knees (1975), Mirrors, Cultösaurus Erectus, Fire Of Unknown Origin, Extraterrestrial Live, The Revölution by Night, Club Ninja and Imaginos. Also exclusive to this set are two discs of rare and unreleased B-sides, demos and radio broadcasts.

Also in 2012, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Blue Öyster Cult, the then-current incarnation of the band reunited for the first time in 25 years with other original members Joe and Albert Bouchard and Allan Lanier as guests for a special event in New York. Founding keyboardist/guitarist Allen Lanier died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on August 14, 2013.

In 2016, Albert Bouchard played again as guest with the current line-up of the band, playing at shows in New York, Los Angeles and London, where BÖC played the album Agents of Fortune in its entirety. The shows featured songs from Agents of Fortune that had either not been played live before ("True Confessions", "The Revenge of Vera Gemini", "Sinful Love", "Tenderloin", "Debbie Denise"), songs that had not been played since the album's debut tour ("Morning Final"), and songs that were either no longer or never were played frequently ("This Ain't the Summer of Love", "Tattoo Vampire"), as well as the fan favorite "Five Guitars", which had not been played since Albert initially left the band in 1981.

Albert played in the following songs at the show: "The Revenge of Vera Gemini" (vocals, guitar), "Sinful Love" (vocals, guitar), "Tattoo Vampire" (guitar), "Morning Final" (guitar), "Tenderloin" (cymbals), "Debbie Denise" (vocals, acoustic guitar), "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" (vocals, drums), and "Five Guitars" (guitar). In a January 2017 interview, Roeser stated: BÖC has tentative plans to do some recording this year. The band we have is so good it would be a shame not to record. It would be the band's first new music since 2001.

In a May 2017 appearance on Castellano's "Band Geek" podcast, Bloom confirmed that there were tentative plans to release a new album in 2018 and that the band was currently considering offers from multiple record labels. He also stated that former bassist Danny Miranda would be playing with the band for the remainder of the year due to Sulton's prior touring commitments with Todd Rundgren. Blue Öyster Cult is a hard rock band, who have been described as heavy metal, [22] psychedelic rock, acid rock, [23] and progressive rock. [24] They have also been recognized for helping pioneer genres such as stoner metal[25] and speed metal. The band is influenced by artists such as Alice Cooper, [24] Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, MC5, [24] The Blues Project, [27] Jimi Hendrix, [28] and Black Sabbath.

While Blue Öyster Cult has been noted for heavy rock, they would often add their own tongue-in-cheek style. [24] Keeping with their image, the band would often include out-of-context fragments of Pearlmans The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos into their lyrics, giving their songs cryptic meanings. [24] Additionally, the band would keep a folder of Meltzers and Pearlmans word associations to insert into their music. The Saturn symbol in alchemy. The name "Blue Öyster Cult" came from a 1960s poem written by manager Sandy Pearlman.

It was part of his "Imaginos" poetry, later used more extensively on their album Imaginos (1988). Pearlman had also come up with the band's earlier name, "Soft White Underbelly", from a phrase used by Winston Churchill in describing Italy during World War II. In Pearlman's poetry, the "Blue Oyster Cult" was a group of aliens who had assembled to secretly guide Earth's history. Initially, the band was not happy with the name, but settled for it, and went to work preparing to record their first release... In a 1976 interview published in the U.

Music magazine ZigZag, Pearlman told the story explaining the origin of the band's name was an anagram of "Cully Stout Beer". The addition of the umlaut was suggested by Allen Lanier, but rock critic Richard Meltzer claims to have suggested it just after Pearlman came up with the name, reportedly "because of the Wagnerian aspect of Metal".

[31] Other bands later copied the practice of using umlauts or diacritic marks in their own band names, such as Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Queensrÿche and Spnal Tap. The hook-and-cross logo was designed by Bill Gawlik[7] in January 1972, [33] and appears on all of the band's albums. The hook-and-cross symbol is that of Kronos (Cronus), the king of the Titans and father of Zeus... And is the alchemical symbol for lead (a heavy metal), one of the heaviest of metals.

"[34] Sandy Pearlman considered this, combined with the heavy and distorted guitar sound of the band and decided the description "heavy metal[35] would be aptly applied to Blue Öyster Cult's musical sound. The hook-and-cross symbol also resembled the astrological symbol for Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, [36] and the sickle, which is associated with both Kronos (Cronus) and Saturn (both the planet and the Roman god).

Metaphysical, alchemical and mythological connotations, combined with its similarity to some religious symbols gave it a flair of decadence and mystery... The band was billed, for the only time, as The Blue Öyster Cult on the cover and label of their second album, Tyranny and Mutation. Blue Öyster Cult have been influential to the realm of hard rock and heavy metal, leading them to being referred to as the thinking mans heavy metal band due to their often cryptic lyrics, literate songwriting, and links to famous authors. [38][39][40] They have influenced many acts including Iron Maiden, [41] Metallica, [42][43] Fates Warning, [44] Iced Earth, [45] Cirith Ungol, [46] Alice in Chains, [47] Twisted Sister, [48] Ratt, [49][50] Steel Panther, [51] Green River (and later Mudhoney), [52] Body Count, [53] Possessed, [54] Candlemass, [55] Saint Vitus, [56] Trouble, [57] Opeth, [58] White Zombie, [59] Kvelertak, [60][61] HIM, [62] Turbonegro, [63] Radio Birdman, [64][65] The Cult, [66] The Minutemen, [67] Firehose, [68] Hoodoo Gurus, [69] Widespread Panic, [70] Queens of the Stone Age, [71] Umphreys McGee, [72] Stabbing Westward, [73] Royal Trux, [74] and Moe.

The AllMusic page for stoner metal states: Stoner metal bands updated the long, mind-bending jams and ultra-heavy riffs of bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult and Hawkwind by filtering their psychedelia-tinged metal and acid rock through the buzzing sound of early Sub Pop-style grunge. Heavy metal journalist Martin Popoff has stated that Blue Öyster Cult is one of his favorite bands. [citation needed] He has written a book titled Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed about the discography. It is a compiled track-by-track analysis of the entire output of the group that uses period and recent interviews with band members and those close to the band.

It is complete up to Curse of the Hidden Mirror. Their hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was featured in the famous Saturday Night Live sketch, "More cowbell". The original recording was produced at The Record Plant in New York by David Lucas, who sang background vocals with Roeser and played the now famous cowbell part. Manager Sandy Pearlman mixed the record.

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used in writer/director John Carpenter's horror film classic, Halloween (1978), [77] the opening sequence of the miniseries adaptation of The Stand (1994) by Stephen King, and covered by The Mutton Birds for Peter Jackson's comedy film The Frighteners (1996). [78] "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also used throughout the comedy film The Stoned Age (1994) and plays a role in its storyline.

The band's influence has extended beyond the musical sphere. The lyrics of "Astronomy" have been named by author Shawn St. Jean as inspirational to the later chapters of his fantasy novel Clotho's Loom, [79] wherein Sandy Pearlman's "Four Winds Bar" provides the setting for a portion of the action.

In 2015, titles and lines from the band's songs provided structure and narrative for the third Robert Galbraith pseudonym for J. Rowling novel Career of Evil (a Cormoran Strike novel). In 2014, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was performed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as part of a drum off between Chad Smith and Will Ferrell. The cowbell part was played by Ferrell.

Main article: List of Blue Öyster Cult members. Buck Dharma lead guitar, vocals (1967present). Eric Bloom lead vocals, stun guitar (1969present). Danny Miranda bass, backing vocals (19952004, 2017present). Jules Radino drums, percussion (2004present). Richie Castellano keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2007present), bass (20042007). During their career, Blue Öyster Cult have frequently collaborated with outside lyricists, though in the later 70's, the band members also wrote lyrics for some of their songs. Lyricists for Blue Öyster Cult have included all the original members (Bloom, Roeser, Albert & Joe Bouchard, and Lanier), producer Sandy Pearlman, and writers Richard Meltzer, Patti Smith, Michael Moorcock, Eric Van Lustbader, Jim Carroll, Broadway Blotto and John Shirley. Main article: Blue Öyster Cult discography. Fire of Unknown Origin (1981). The Revölution by Night (1983). Curse of the Hidden Mirror (2001). Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948)[1] is an American singer and songwriter. Nicks is best known for her work as a songwriter and vocalist with Fleetwood Mac, and also for her chart-topping solo career. She is known for her distinctive voice, mystical stage persona, and poetic, symbolic lyrics.

Nicks has been named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, [3] and as one of the world's top "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone. [4] As a member of Fleetwood Mac, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

She has garnered eight Grammy Award[5] nominations and two American Music Award nominations as a solo artist. She has won numerous awards with Fleetwood Mac, including a Grammy Award and five Grammy Award nominations.

Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 along with her then-boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham. The album remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks and reached Number One in various countries worldwide.

The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Top-10 singles, with Nicks' "Dreams" being the band's first and only U.

In 1981, while remaining a member of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks began her solo career, releasing the album Bella Donna, which topped the Billboard album charts and has reached multiplatinum status. [6] She has released a total of eight solo studio albums to date, with her most recent titled 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, released in October 2014. 19481971: Early life and career beginnings. 19751978: Fleetwood Mac and Rumours. 19781982: Tusk, Bella Donna, and Mirage. 19831986: The Wild Heart and Rock a Little. 19871990: Tango in the Night, The Other Side of the Mirror, and Behind the Mask. 19911996: Timespace and Street Angel. 19982001: Enchanted and Trouble in Shangri-La. 20022006: Say You Will, Two Voices Tour, and Gold Dust Tour. 20072009: Crystal Visions, Soundstage Sessions, and Unleashed Tour. 20102013: In Your Dreams and Extended Play Tour. 2014present: 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault and On with the Show. Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, to Jess Nicks (July 2, 1925 August 10, 2005), former president of Greyhound's Armour-Dial, [7] and Barbara Nicks (November 12, 1927 December 29, 2011), a homemaker.

Nicks's grandfather, Aaron Jess A. (May 18, 1892 August 1, 1974), a struggling country music singer, taught Nicks to sing duets with him by the time she was four years old. Nicks's mother was so protective that she kept her at home "more than most people" and during that time fostered in her daughter a love of fairy tales. [8][9] The infant Stephanie could pronounce her own name only as "tee-dee", which led to her nickname of "Stevie".

[10] Her father's frequent relocation as a food business executive had the family living in Phoenix, Albuquerque, El Paso, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco during Nicks's youth. With the Goya guitar that she received for her 16th birthday, Nicks wrote her first song, "I've Loved and I've Lost, and I'm Sad But Not Blue". She spent her adolescence playing records constantly, and lived in her own little musical world. [8][9][11] While attending Arcadia High School in Arcadia, California, [12] she joined her first band, the Changing Times, a folk rock group focused on vocal harmonies. Nicks first met her future musical and romantic partner, Lindsey Buckingham, during her senior year at Menlo-Atherton High School.

[14] When she saw Buckingham playing "California Dreamin'" at Young Life club, she joined him in harmony. [15] She later recalled, I was a senior in high school and Lindsey was a junior. And we went to a Young Life meeting which was a religious meeting that simply got you out of the house on Wednesday nights and um, he was there and I was there and we sat down and played California Dreaming. I thought he was a darling.

I didn't see him again for two years and he called me up and asked if I wanted to be in a band... And so, I was in this band with him for three and a half years a band called Fritz. Buckingham was in a psychedelic rock band named Fritz, but two of its musicians were leaving for college. He asked Nicks in mid-1967 to replace the lead singer, a guitarist named Jody Moreing. For the next three years, Fritz was composed of Nicks on lead vocals, Buckingham on bass and vocals, Brian Kane on lead guitar, Javier Pacheco on keyboards, and Bob Aguirre on drums.

Pacheco was the main songwriter in the group, with a psychedelic bent, but Nicks's own compositions brought a country rock flair to the group. Fritz became popular as a live act when it opened for both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin from 1968 until 1970.

Nicks credits each of those acts as having inspired her own stage intensity and performance. [17] Both Nicks and Buckingham attended San Jose State University, where Nicks majored in speech communication[18] and planned to become an English teacher. [19] Nicks dropped out of college the semester before graduation.

After Fritz disbanded in 1972, Nicks and Buckingham continued to write as a duo, recording demonstration tapes at night in Daly City on a one-inch, four-track Ampex tape machine Buckingham kept at the coffee-roasting plant belonging to his father, Morris. [20][21] They then secured a deal with Polydor Records, which used tracks from their demo tapes to release the album Buckingham Nicks in 1973. The album was not a commercial success, despite the live shows that Nicks and Buckingham performed together to support it, and Polydor dropped the pair from the label. To support herself and Buckingham, who wrote music while recovering from mononucleosis, Nicks worked a variety of jobs, which included waiting tables and a stint cleaning engineer/producer Keith Olsen's house, where Nicks and Buckingham lived for a time before moving in with Richard Dashut.

[22] Nicks says that she first used cocaine during this time. [23] "We were told that it was recreational and that it was not dangerous, " Nicks recalled to Chris Isaak in 2009.

Nicks and Buckingham moved in with Dashut in 1972. While there, Buckingham landed a guitar-playing gig with the Everly Brothers, and toured with them while Nicks stayed behind working on songs. During this time, Nicks wrote "Rhiannon" after seeing the name in the novel Triad by Mary Leader. She also wrote "Landslide", inspired by the scenery of Aspen, and her inner turmoil over her decision to pursue music and her relationship with Buckingham:[25][26].

I realized then that everything could tumble, and when you're in Colorado, and you're surrounded by these incredible mountains, you think'avalanche'. It meant the whole world could tumble around us and the landslide would bring you down. "[27] "Everybody seems to think that I wrote this song about them... And my dad, my dad did have something to do with it, but he absolutely thinks that he was the whole complete reason it was ever written. I guess it was about September 1974, I was home at my dad and mom's house in Phoenix, and my father said,'You know, I think that maybe... You really put a lot of time into this [her singing career], maybe you should give this six more months, and if you want to go back to school, we'll pay for it... Lindsey and I went up to Aspen, and we went to somebody's incredible house, and they had a piano, and I had my guitar with me, and I went into their living room, looking out over the incredible, like, Aspen sky way, and I wrote "Landslide"... Three months later, Mick Fleetwood called. Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac in January 1975, six weeks after Keith Olsen played their track "Frozen Love" for drummer Mick Fleetwood, who had come to Sound City in California in search of a studio to record Fleetwood Mac's next album. Fleetwood remembered Buckingham's guitar work when guitarist Bob Welch departed to pursue a solo career.

On December 31, 1974, Fleetwood called Buckingham to ask him to replace Welch as guitarist, but Buckingham insisted that Nicks and he were a package deal. A few days later, Nicks and Buckingham discussed the offer over dinner with Fleetwood and the McVies, and the feeling was mutual that incorporating the BuckinghamNicks pair would improve Fleetwood Mac, making the British band into an Anglo-American one. The first rehearsals confirmed this feeling, with the harmonies of the newcomers adding a pop accessibility to the hard rock.

During these final performances as Buckingham-Nicks, Nicks and Buckingham told their fans that they had just joined Fleetwood Mac. In 1975, the band achieved worldwide success with the album Fleetwood Mac. Nicks's "Rhiannon", which appeared on the album, was eventually voted as one of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. [30] Her live performances of the song throughout the decade began to take on a theatrical intensity not present on the album's single. The song built to a climax in which Nicks's vocals were so impassioned that Mick Fleetwood declared, her'Rhiannon' in those days was like an exorcism. "[31] Also included on the album was "Landslide, which achieved over three million airplays and spawned multiple cover versions.

Also in 1975, Nicks worked with clothing designer Margi Kent to develop Nicks's unique onstage look, with costumes that featured flowing skirts, shawls, and platform boots. Following the success of Fleetwood Mac, increasing tension between Nicks and Buckingham began to take its toll on their creativity, and Nicks ended the relationship. [34][35] Fleetwood Mac began recording their follow-up album, Rumours, in early 1976 and continued until late in the year. Also, Nicks and Buckingham sang back-up on Warren Zevon's self-titled second album. Among Nicks's contributions to Rumours was "Dreams", which became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit single to date.

Nicks had also written and recorded the song "Silver Springs", but it was ultimately not included on the album because the early versions of the song ran too long, the album was getting to be longer than the producer's target of 22 minutes per side, and the band was also concerned that the album had too many slow songs. Instead, the shorter and faster Nicks-penned tune "I Don't Want to Know" was recorded in its place. Studio engineer and co-producer Ken Caillat said that Nicks was very unhappy to find that the band had decided against her song "Silver Springs", which he said was beautifully crafted, and carried some of the band's best guitar work. [38] Despite being devastated by the bad news, [39] Nicks quickly laid down her vocal tracks for "I Don't Want to Know". [38] Nicks's song "Silver Springs" was written about her relationship with Buckingham, and it was released as a B-side of the "Go Your Own Way" singleBuckingham's song about Nicks. Copies of the single eventually became collectors' items among fans of Fleetwood Mac. "Silver Springs" was included on the four-disc Fleetwood Mac retrospective 25 Years The Chain in 1992. In November 1977, after a New Zealand concert for the Rumours tour, Nicks and Fleetwood, who was married to Jenny Boyd, secretly began an affair. [41][42] The pair mutually decided to end the affair. "Never in a million years could you have told me that would happen, " Nicks has stated. Everybody was angry, because Mick was married to a wonderful girl and had two wonderful children. So it couldn't possibly work out. "[43] She has also stated that had the affair progressed, it "would have been the end of Fleetwood Mac. [44] Soon after, in October 1978, Mick Fleetwood left his wife for Nicks's best friend Sara Recor. After the success of the Rumours album and tour in 1977 to 1978, Fleetwood Mac began recording their third album with Buckingham and Nicks, Tusk, in the spring of 1978. That year, Nicks sang back-up on virtually every track of Not Shy, recorded by musician Walter Egan, a friend of both Nicks and Buckingham. One track, "Magnet and Steel", inspired by Nicks, prominently featured her on back-up vocals and became a hit single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the summer of 1978. [46] Lindsey Buckingham also produced the album, and played guitar and provided backing vocals on some of the tracks. By 1978, Nicks had amassed a large backlog of songs dating back to her Buckingham Nicks days that she had been unable to record and release with Fleetwood Mac because of the constraint of having to accommodate three songwriters on each album.

[49] Nicks wrote and recorded demos for a solo project during Tusk sessions in 1979 and the Tusk world tour of 197980. [8] Nicks, Danny Goldberg, and Paul Fishkin founded Modern Records to record and release Nicks's material. [50] Nicks recorded the hit duets "Whenever I Call You Friend" with Kenny Loggins in 1978, [51] and "Gold" with John Stewart in 1979. Fleetwood Mac's Tusk was released on October 19, 1979.

During 1981, Nicks made occasional guest appearances with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on their Hard Promises tour. Nicks' first solo album, Bella Donna, was released on July 27, 1981, to critical and commercial acclaim, reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart, with four singles making the Billboard Hot 100, and Rolling Stone deeming her "the Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll". The day that Bella Donna reached number one on the Billboard 200, Nicks found out that her best friend Robin Anderson was diagnosed with leukemia in 1981. Robin was told she only had three months to live, and also was told she was going to give birth. Robin gave birth to a son, appointing Nicks as the child's godmother. I never got to enjoy Bella Donna at all because my friend was dying. Something went out that day; something left. [56] Following Robin's death in 1982, Nicks married Robin's widower Kim Anderson, believing that her friend would want her to care for the baby. "We were all in such insane grief, just completely deranged, " she told The Telegraph in 2007. The couple divorced three months after the marriage.

Bella Donna introduced Nicks' back-up singers, Sharon Celani and Lori Perry, who have contributed vocals to all of Nicks' solo albums since then. [59] In November 1981, Nicks embarked on the White Winged Dove tour, which she had to cut short to record the Mirage album with Fleetwood Mac. [60] Nicks toured with Fleetwood Mac for the Mirage tour in late 1982.

Nicks released her second solo album, The Wild Heart, on June 10, 1983. The album went double platinum, reached number five on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and featured three hit singles. It also introduced songwriter and performer Sandy Stewart as co-writer and vocalist. Nicks performed at the second US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino, California, and later toured the US from June 1983 to November 1983.

Nicks appeared on Saturday Night Live in December 1983, performing "Stand Back" and "Nightbird". Following the tour for The Wild Heart, Nicks commenced work on her third solo album. Originally titled Mirror Mirror, Nicks recorded songs for the album during 1984.

However, Nicks was unhappy with the album, and opted to record a new batch of songs in 1985. [62] Rock A Little, as it was retitled, was released November 18, 1985, to commercial success, supported by three successful singles. Nicks toured for Rock A Little in 1986.

The tour ended on October 10, 1986. Nicks also performed with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers during their tour in Australia.

The tour marked a turning point in Nicks' life. The January before the tour was to begin, a plastic surgeon warned her of severe health problems if she did not stop using cocaine.

[63] I said,'What do you think about my nose? , she recalled on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009. And he said,'Well, I think the next time you do a hit of cocaine, you could drop dead. As Stevie said I used to carry a gram of cocaine in my boot at all times, as said in a 2013 interview.

At the end of the Australian tour, Nicks checked herself into the Betty Ford Center for 30 days to overcome her cocaine addiction. [64][65] Recalling the strong influence of Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix on her music and life, she told a UK interviewer, I saw how they went down, and a part of me wanted to go down with them... But then another part of me thought, I would be very sad if some 25-year-old lady rock and roll singer ten years from now said,'I wish Stevie Nicks would have thought about it a little more.

That's kind of what stopped me and made me really look at the world through clear eyes. Later that year, on the advice of friends concerned that she might relapse, she visited a psychiatrist who prescribed the sedative Klonopin to help her remain free from cocaine. In late 1985, Fleetwood Mac began work on Tango in the Night, but due to her promotional schedule for the Rock A Little album and subsequent tour, Nicks was mostly unavailable to work on the album with the band except for a few weeks following her stay at the Betty Ford Center in 1986 which was the inspiration for the song Welcome To The Room... She sent the band demos of her songs to work on in her absence.

Creative differences and unresolved personal issues within the band led Buckingham to quit the group right before their world tour. According to bassist John McVie, a "physically ugly" confrontation between Nicks and Buckingham ensued when Nicks angrily challenged Buckingham's decision to leave the band.

The band embarked on the Shake The Cage tour in September 1987, with Buckingham replaced by Rick Vito and Billy Burnette. The tour was suspended during Nicks' bout with chronic fatigue syndrome and developing addiction to Clonazepam, though it resumed in 1988. Tango in the Night met with commercial success and was followed in 1988 by Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits album in November 1988. Also in 1988, Nicks began work on a fourth solo album with English record producer Rupert Hine. The Other Side of the Mirror was released on May 11, 1989, to commercial success. Nicks became romantically involved with Hine. Nicks toured the US and Europe from August to November 1989, the only time she has toured Europe as a solo act. She has famously been quoted since as stating that she has "no memory of this tour" due to her increasing dependency on Clonazepam, [70] prescribed in ever increasing amounts by a psychiatrist between 1987 and 1994, in an attempt to keep Nicks from regressing to her former abuse of cocaine. In 1989, Nicks set to work with Fleetwood Mac on a new album, Behind the Mask, which was released in 1990 to moderate commercial success in the US. In the UK, however, the album entered the chart at number one and was certified platinum. The band went on a world tour to promote the album, on the last night of which Buckingham and Nicks reunited on stage to perform "Landslide".

[71] After the tour concluded, Nicks left the group over a dispute with Mick Fleetwood, who would not allow her to release the 1977 track "Silver Springs" on her album Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, because of his plans to save it for release on a forthcoming Fleetwood Mac box set. On the 10th anniversary of her solo career debut, Nicks released Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks on September 3, 1991. [73] The following year, Fleetwood Mac also released a four-disc box set, 25 Years The Chain, which included "Silver Springs". During the 1992 US presidential campaign, Bill Clinton used the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don't Stop" as his campaign theme song, and Nicks rejoined the classic Rumours line-up of the band (including Buckingham) to perform the song at Clinton's 1993 inaugural gala. No plans for an official reunion were made at that time.

Nicks was criticized for her weight gain. [75] Nicks, who is 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m), had gained weight, peaking at 175 lbs (79.4 kg). "Klonopin was worse than the cocaine, " she has said.

I lost those 8 years of my life. I didn't write, and I had gained so much weight. In late 1993, while Nicks held a baby shower at her house, she tripped over a box, passed out, and cut her forehead near a fireplace.

I'm one of those people who doesn't injure themselves. I was horrified to see that blood. I hadn't had enough wine. I knew it was the Klonopin, she said, realizing that she needed help, and endured a painful 47-day detox in a hospital. Following her successful detox, Nicks released her fifth solo album, Street Angel, recorded during 1992 and 1993 using material written mostly in previous years. Released on May 23, 1994, Street Angel was poorly received, reaching number 45 on the Billboard Top 200.

Nicks has since expressed major disappointment with the album, claiming that a lot of its production work took place during her second stint in rehab, meaning she had little or no say over the final product. [77] Despite a three-month tour in support of the album, Nicks was crushed by the focus on her weight and the poor reception of the album. Disgusted by the criticism she received during the tour for being overweight, she vowed to never set foot on a stage again unless she slimmed down. In 1996, Nicks reunited with Lindsey Buckingham and contributed the duet "Twisted" to the Twister movie soundtrack, while in 1996, the Sheryl Crow-penned "Somebody Stand by Me" featured on the Boys on the Side soundtrack, and Nicks also remade Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" for Fox's TV hit Party of Five. In 1996, Lindsey Buckingham, working on a planned solo album, enlisted the help of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, which eventually led to a reunion of the entire band.

[81] A newly invigorated and slimmed-down Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac for The Dance, a highly successful 1997 tour that coincided with the 20th anniversary of the release of Rumours. [82] Prior to the tour, Nicks started work with a voice coach, to lend her voice more control and protect it from the stress of lengthy touring schedules. [83][84] She also went on a diet and started jogging to lose weight.

The live CD release, The Dance, was released to commercial and critical acclaim, earning the group several Grammy nominations, including their live performance of Nicks' "Silver Springs". In 1998, she joined the group for its induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [87] That same year, Fleetwood Mac was awarded the Outstanding Contribution at the BRIT Awards. She put work on a new solo album on hold when she was approached by Warner Music to release a solo careerning box set, to finish her contract with Atlantic Records in the US. After the culmination of the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour, Nicks settled down in Los Angeles and Phoenix with close friends and colleagues to devise a track list for this three-disc collection.

The box set Enchanted was released to acclaim on April 28, 1998, with liner notes from Nicks, as well as exclusive rare photographs, and pages from her journals. Nicks supported the box set with a successful US tour. In 1998, Nicks contributed to the Practical Magic soundtrack and performed in Don Henley's benefit concert for the Walden Woods Project. Nicks had begun writing actively for Trouble in Shangri-La in 1994 and 1995 as she came out of her Klonopin dependency. [93][94] According to her, friend and former musical partner Tom Petty was responsible for convincing her to write music again when he rebuffed her request that he write a song with her.

[95] She resumed recording songs for the Trouble in Shangri-La album with Sheryl Crow, who produced and performed on several tracks. When a scheduling conflict forced Crow to drop out of the project, Nicks first approached R&B producer Dallas Austin, but these sessions have never surfaced. [96] Nicks finally called on John Shanks to produce the remainder of the album, with additional contributions from David Kahne, Rick Nowels, Pierre Marchand, and Jeff Trott.

Artists Natalie Maines, Sarah McLachlan, and Macy Gray contributed to some of the tracks. Released May 1, 2001, Trouble in Shangri-La restored Nicks's solo career to critical and commercial success. "Planets of the Universe" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, [98] and Nicks was named VH1's "Artist of the Month" for May 2001. [99] Nicks was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People, [85] was featured in a well-received Behind the Music episode, [100] and performed an episode of the VH1 Storytellers Concert Program. Nicks made several television appearances in support of the album and performed at the 2001 Radio Music Awards.

Nicks supported the album with a successful tour, although some shows were canceled or postponed because of her bout with acute bronchitis. [101] Shows were also canceled because of the September 11 attacks in the U. Nicks during Fleetwood Mac's 2003 tour. In 2001, Fleetwood Mac began work on a new studio album, though this time without Christine McVie, leaving Nicks as the sole woman in the band for the first time.

After the end of her solo tour, Nicks convened with the other members of the band for recording during 2002. Say You Will was released in April 2003 and met with commercial success but mixed reviews. [103][104] Nicks joined the group to support the album with a world tour lasting until September 2004. She has subsequently stated in several interviews that she was not happy with the album or the successful world tour that followed, citing production disputes with Buckingham as a core factor, as well as the absence of fellow female band member Christine McVie. [105] A documentary of the making of the album, Destiny Rules, was released on DVD in 2004 and chronicles the sometimes-turbulent relationships between band members, especially Buckingham and Nicks, during that time in the studio.

After a few months' respite from the Say You Will tour, Nicks did a four-night stint in May 2005 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and then did 10 shows with Don Henley dubbed the Two Voices tour. During the summer of 2005, Nicks continued doing solo shows (Gold Dust tour) with pop singer Vanessa Carlton as the opening act, playing over 20 dates nationwide. On March 27, 2007, Reprise Records released Crystal Visions The Very Best of Stevie Nicks in the US.

The album debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The compilation includes her hit singles, a dance remix, and one new track, a live version of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll". Two versions of this album were made, one with just the audio CD and a deluxe version which includes a DVD featuring all of Nicks' music videos with audio commentary from Nicks herself, as well as rare footage from the Bella Donna recording sessions.

A tour with Chris Isaak, opening in Concord, California on May 17, 2007, supported the release. Reprise Records initially released two radio-only promos, the live version of "Landslide" with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and "Rock and Roll". Both tracks failed to garner much airplay and made no impact on the charts.

Reprise Records released "Stand Back" (issued with club mixes) on May 29, 2007. "Stand Back", which peaked at number five on the pop singles chart in 1983, reached number two on the Billboard Club chart.

Nicks previously reached number one on this chart, with "Planets of the Universe" (from Trouble in Shangri-La) in 2001. The remix single of "Stand Back" debuted on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart on September 15, 2007, at number 10, peaking at number four the following week. It also debuted on the Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales chart at number three, later peaking at number one. On March 31, 2009, Nicks released the album, The Soundstage Sessions, via Reprise Records. The album debuted at number 47 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The first single from the album, "Crash into Me", was released as a digital download, along with "Landslide" (orchestra version) as a B-side, on March 17, 2009. In late 2008, Fleetwood Mac announced that the band would tour in 2009, beginning in March.

As per the 200304 tour, Christine McVie would not be featured in the line-up. The tour was branded as a'greatest hits' show titled "Unleashed", although they played album tracks such as "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong". Nicks performing with Dave Stewart in November 2011. After completing the Unleashed tour with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks began work on her first solo album in a decade with David A. Stewart, a musician and record producer best known for being one half of the duo Eurythmics.

Nicks performed in a series of shows in August 2010 ("it's not really a tour", she said). They did not contain any of her new music, because she did not want it to end up on YouTube. The Santa Barbara show benefited a young girl she had met through the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Los Angeles with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer. On January 13, 2011, Reprise announced Nicks' upcoming album In Your Dreams would be released on May 3, and the lead single, "Secret Love", would be released on February 8.

Reprise provided a free download of the single to fans who ordered the album via certain websites. Nicks originally wrote "Secret Love" in 1976 and recorded a demo of it for Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, Rumours. It did not make the final cut for the album. The demo version had been circulating among fans for many years prior to its inclusion on In Your Dreams.

Nicks promoted the song with a video directed by Dave Stewart. Nicks' goddaughter Kelly appears in the video wearing a vintage dress that Nicks wore on stage in 1976.

According to Nicks, Kelly portrays the young Stevie Nicks blending with the soul of Nicks' 62-year-old self. [112] On the US Billboard charts, "Secret Love" was a modest hit on the Adult Contemporary Singles chart, peaking at number 20, and at number 25 on the Triple-A Singles chart. Another song on the album, "For What It's Worth", features Nicks' niece in the video. The song reached number 25 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in September 2011.

[113] A documentary film was made for the album, directed by Stewart. The documentary was critically acclaimed, and Nicks appeared at many film festivals to support the documentary. Nicks promoted the album with appearances on various television shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, [115] The X Factor, [116] The Talk, [117] Good Morning America, [118] The Ellen DeGeneres Show, [119] The Oprah Winfrey Show. [120] and Dancing with the Stars.

In Your Dreams was well received by music critics. Rolling Stone commented "It's not just her first album in 10 years, it's her finest collection of songs since the Eighties". Elsewhere, the album has made numerous top-50 debuts, including number 24 on the Australian ARIA chart, [123] number 22 in Canada, and number 14 in the UK. The same day that Nicks' new album was released, Fox Network broadcast the Glee episode (Season 2, Episode 19) "Rumours" that featured six songs from Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, including Nicks' song "Dreams" (the band's only number-one song on the US charts).

[124] The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 11, the same week that In Your Dreams debuted at number six. Nicks was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was my own little Rumours. Nicks contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" for the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, which was released in September 2011.

On March 29, 2012, Nicks made a guest appearance as herself on the NBC sitcom Up All Night. The show featured an excerpt of the 1981 track "Sleeping Angel", as well as new duets with both Maya Rudolph and Christina Applegate of "Whenever I Call You Friend" and "Edge of Seventeen".

Rudolph and Applegate have said they are fans of the singer. On December 14, 2012, it was announced that Nicks would be featured on an original track done in collaboration with Dave Grohl for his Sound City soundtrack, alongside other artists. In 2013, Fleetwood Mac toured again as a four-piece band throughout North America and Europe.

On April 30, the band released their first new studio material since 2003's Say You Will via digital download on iTunes with the four-track EP, "Extended Play" containing three new songs and one new song from the Buckingham Nicks sessions ("Without You"). On December 3, 2013, Nicks released the In your Dreams documentary film on DVD. The DVD debuted at number seven on the Billboard Top Music Video sales chart and number 29 on the UK Music Video Top 40 chart. Nicks performing with her band at the Frank Erwin Center on her 24 Karat Gold Tour in March 2017. In 2014, Nicks appeared on the third season of television series American Horror Story titled "Coven". [133] She played a fictional version of herself, portraying a "white witch" with supernatural powers in two episodes. On the show, she performed the songs "Rhiannon", Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You? "I said,'That's perfect,'" she told Us[134] in response to the show's music request. Because that's exactly how I like to affect people.

I want people to put my songs on because they are unhappy and need a boost to dance around their apartment a little and feel good. That's why I write. Of course you can use my music. [134] In May 2014, Nicks was honored with a BMI Icon Award.

[135] In July 2014, it was announced that Nicks would join The Voice as the adviser for Adam Levine's team. In September 2014, Nicks released her eighth studio album, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault which reached number seven on the Billboard 200. She also began a North American tour with Fleetwood Mac, now reunited with Christine McVie, the On with the Show tour. [137] The tour began in September 2014 and concluded in November 2015. In May 2015, Nicks reissued Crystal Visions The Very Best of Stevie Nicks on "crystal clear" transparent double vinyl.

The vinyl came with a vinyl messenger bag and a limited-edition lithograph. Throughout 2016 and 2017, Nicks toured with The Pretenders on the 24 Karat Gold Tour.

On April 26, 2017, Pitchfork revealed that Nicks would be featured on a track from American singer Lana Del Rey's fifth studio album, Lust for Life, which was released on July 21, 2017. [140] The song is titled "Beautiful People Beautiful Problems". On July 9, 2017, Nicks performed at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park in London, supporting Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. She later performed "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Petty as part of the Heartbreakers' set, [142] in what would turn out to be their final performance of the song together before Tom Petty's death in October 2017. Standing at 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m), Nicks has stated she felt "a little ridiculous" standing next to Mick Fleetwood, who is 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m). [143] For this reason, she developed a penchant for 6-inch (15 cm) platform boots. "Even when platforms went completely out of style, I kept wearing them because I didn't want to go back to being 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) in heels", she told Allure in 1995. [144] Over the years, Nicks has developed a style which she calls her "uniform".

Her uniform is known as a witchy kind of look that goes with her songs and performances. Nicks has said that her vocal style and performance antics evolved from female singers like Grace Slick and Janis Joplin. She admitted inspiration when she saw Joplin perform live (and opened for with her first band Fritz) shortly before Joplin's death.

Nicks owns a strand of Joplin's stage beads. She also commented that she once saw a woman in her audience dressed in dripping chiffon with a Gibson Girl hairstyle and big boots, and Nicks knew she wanted something similar. She took the look and made it her own. [146] Nicks possesses the vocal range of a contralto and her voice has been described as a "gruff, feathery alto"[147] Over the years, she has decorated her microphone stand with roses, ribbons, chiffon, crystal beads, scarves, and small stuffed toys. Nicks has started a charity foundation titled "Stevie Nicks' Band of Soldiers" which is used for the benefit of wounded military personnel. In late 2004, Nicks began visiting Army and Navy medical centers in Washington, D. While visiting wounded service men and women, Nicks became determined to find an object she could leave with the soldiers that would raise their spirits, motivate, and give them something to look forward to each day. I call it a soldiers' iPod. It has all the crazy stuff that I listen to, and my collections I've been making since the'70s for going on the road, when I'm sick... Or the couple of times in my life that I have really been down, music is what always dances me out of bed. Stevie Nicks, The Arizona Republic. She now regularly delivers these tokens of her appreciation, bringing her closest friends, such as Mick Fleetwood, along to share the experience:[150]. So, as Mick [Fleetwood] and I went from room to room delivering their tiny iPod, they told us their stories. Mick became his tall, loving, father figure, English self, taking in every word they said, remaining calm (at least on the outside) inspiring them.

We floated from room to room down through the halls of the two hospitals over a three-day period. We gave out all our iPods. In my eyes they went from the coolest rock stars to generous great men; as my press agent Liz Rosenberg said, every returning wounded soldier should be given an iPod. It will be an integral part of their recovery.

Nicks' style has remained the same throughout her years in the spotlight and even "at 60 she is still working the gossamer tunics and shawls that have influenced two generations of Stevie acolytes, and given her performances the feel of a Wiccan ritual" writes New York Times reporter Ruth La Ferla. [151] Nicks has been known for her multiple wardrobe changes during live performances, almost having a new outfit for each song she sang.

The cost to keep up her overall style, of hair, makeup, and wardrobe, was not cheap. [152] Stevie sings about the store where her iconic style all started in the song "Gypsy" on Fleetwood Mac's 13th studio album "Mirage", released in 1982. In the song, Stevie sings of a store called the Velvet Underground, a boutique in San Francisco, California where famous rockers like Janis Joplin and Grace Slick were known to shop.

[153] It is here at the Velvet Underground where Stevie's unique and easily recognizable style most notably began. Many artists have cited Nicks as a source of influence and musical inspiration. These have included Beyoncé and Destiny's Child, [154] Echosmith, Courtney Love, [155] Michelle Branch, [155] Belinda Carlisle, [156] the Dixie Chicks, [157] Mary J. Blige, [158] Sheryl Crow, [159] Nadia Ali, [160] Florence Welch, [161] Taylor Swift, [162] Vanessa Carlton, [163], Delta Goodrem, [164] and Lorde[165], who have cited Nicks as an inspiration. The Dixie Chicks covered her 1975 classic "Landslide", which became a top-10 hit (number one on the Adult Contemporary chart) and a number one hit on the Country chart.

This cover also earned her a BMI Songwriters Award in 2003 when it won Song of the Year (the award is given to the songwriter of the track, regardless of the performer). According to BMI, "Landslide" also earned Nicks the 35th Robert J.

Burton Award as "Most Performed Country Song of the Year". This distinction is given to the song tallying the most feature US broadcast performances during the eligibility period. Included on the Dixie Chicks' platinum Monument album Home, "Landslide" was a Country, Adult Top 40, Hot 100 and AC Billboard charts smash. [166] Alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on their 1994 B-side collection Pisces Iscariot. Other successful covers have included the Corrs' "Dreams" and Courtney Love's band Hole with "Gold Dust Woman".

"Edge of Seventeen" was sampled on Destiny's Child's 2001 number one single "Bootylicious". Nicks appeared in the video for "Bootylicious" and in an episode of MTV's Making The Video that featured it, in which she expressed her admiration for both the song and the group.

Also, American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan covered "Edge of Seventeen" on her second studio album A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005). Deep Dish fulfilled their "Dreams" of working with Nicks in 2005 when Nicks offered to re-record vocals on a remix of her number-one penned song, "Dreams". The Deep Dish version went on to reach number two on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart, as well as providing Nicks with her third UK top-40 hit. Nicks provided additional vocals and writing on Vanessa Carlton's 2007 album, Heroes and Thieves. On January 31, 2010, Nicks performed with Taylor Swift at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Swift, who describes Nicks as one of her childhood heroes, introduced her to the audience by saying, It's a fairy tale and an honor to share the stage with Stevie Nicks. Nicks' only marriage was to Kim Anderson, the widower of her friend Robin Anderson.

They married in 1983 soon after Robin Anderson died of leukemia and while the Bella Donna album was on the top of the charts. I was determined to take care of [Robin's] baby, so I said to Kim,'I don't know, I guess we should just get married. " Nicks and Anderson divorced after only three months: "We didn't get married because we were in love, we got married because we were grieving and it was the only way that we could feel like we were doing anything. [56][168] Years after their divorce, she reunited with her stepson when he was a teenager, putting him through college, [169] and she has maintained contact with him ever since. Nicks had been romantically linked to Lindsey Buckingham since 1968, who was reportedly abusive;[170] briefly to Mick Fleetwood in 1977, Eagles drummer/vocalist Don Henley during the late 1970s, and briefly to Eagles songwriter J.

[171] She connected with Jimmy Iovine, who produced Bella Donna during 198081, and with Eagles and James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh during 198386, whom she referred to in 2007 as one of her greatest loves, though the couple could not sustain the relationship because of mutual drug abuse. [169] Nicks toured with Walsh in 1984, and wrote Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You? About Walsh's deceased daughter. Nicks has said that she consciously chose not to have children of her own, due to her demanding career and desire to follow her art wherever it should take her: My mission maybe wasn't to be a mom and a wife; maybe my particular mission was to write songs to make moms and wives feel better.

"[172] Of her niece, godchildren, and extended family she says: "I have lots of kids. It's much more fun to be the crazy auntie than it is to be the mom, anyway. Nicks has maintained a journal nearly every day since Fleetwood Mac began. [174] I like to tell all my fairy goddaughters and my niece that when I'm gone they can sit on the floor and go through all these journals, and they can walk through my life, and they can smell the gardenia perfume on the pages. They can have it in their hands, who I was. " Regarding a book based on her life, she has said, "I wouldn't write a book unless I could really tell the truth, and say all the people are in it are represented right... If I'm gonna talk about all the people in my life, I need to be old enough and so do they, that nobody's gonna care... I would never write a book about the bad parts.

I would mostly revel in the fantastic parts, of which there were so many. In March 2007, while promoting her album Crystal Visions, Nicks was asked about this rumor. She told Access Hollywood, That is completely insane and crazy.

There is no movie in the works on my life. Nobody can do a movie about my life without me being involved, because nobody knows what really happened in my life until I tell them. So, nobody can make a movie about my life. And if anybody ever went and made a movie about my life without my permission and my being involved, I would slam it so hard to the press that it would never do anything. "[175] In 2009, she told The New York Times about Lohan, "Over my dead body. She needs to stop doing drugs and get a grip. Then maybe we'll talk. Until July 2007, Nicks lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix in a home she had built in 1981 and shared with her brother Chris, his wife Lori, and their daughter Jessica.

She announced in mid-2007 that her Paradise Valley home would be put up for sale, citing her aspirations to "downsize" and focus more on her charity work, and that in the previous year she had only "spent about two weeks there". Nicks became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church and officiated at the wedding of Deer Tick singer John McCauley and singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton on December 27, 2013. I wasn't raised in any religion, because we were always moving when I was a kid and didn't get involved in any church.

But I believe there have been angels with me constantly through these last 20 years, or I wouldn't be alive. In the last few years I've asked for things from God, and He's given them to me. And there were things I thought were gonna kill me, and He fixed them.... I was destroying this gift that God gave me and asked for help. Now I'm happy, even outside my music, and enjoying my life. Stevie Nicks, Billboard Magazine, April 18, 1998[180]. Further information: Stevie Nicks discography. See also: Fleetwood Mac discography. The Other Side of the Mirror (1989).

24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault (2014). Tango in the Night (1987). This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources.

Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message). White Winged Dove (Bella Donna) Tour: 1981. The Wild Heart Tour: 1983.

Rock a Little Tour: 1986. The Other Side of the Mirror Tour: 1989.

Whole Lotta Trouble (Timespace) Tour: 1991. Trouble In Shangri-La Tour: 2001.

Two Voices Tour (with Don Henley): 2005. Gold Dust Tour (on select dates with Vanessa Carlton or John Farnham): 2006. Highway Companion Tour (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers): 2006. Heart & Soul Tour (with Rod Stewart): 201112.

In Your Dreams Tour: 201112. 24 Karat Gold Tour: 201617. In October 2005, Nicks attended the Melbourne Cup Week in Australia, and one of the horse-racing stakes was named after her: The Stevie Nicks Plate. She used this opportunity to launch her promotion of an Australian/New Zealand extension to her Gold Dust tour in February and March 2006.

Nicks toured in Australia and New Zealand with popular Australian performer John Farnham. [181] She also appeared in concert with Tom Petty in June near Manassas, Virginia, and at the Bonnaroo Music Festival that same month. Tom Petty's Homecoming Concert in Gainesville, FL, which contained performances with Stevie Nicks, was filmed for PBS Soundstage as well as DVD release for March 2007. Nicks was also the featured performer for Bette Midler's benefit function, Hulaween, in October 2006.

Beginning in May 2007, Nicks began touring with pop/rock artist Chris Isaak. The last Stevie Nicks/Chris Isaak show was June 17, 2007, at the Tweeter Center in Boston. Nicks continued the tour solo, with Vanessa Carlton opening on some dates. The tour finished at The Borgata in Atlantic City on August 24, 2007. In 2008, Nicks embarked on the Soundstage Sessions tour in the U. A video recording of one concert date was released in 2009: Live in Chicago. Vanessa Carlton performed as a guest artist.

In 2009, Fleetwood Mac embarked on a global hits tour. The Unleashed tour took place in arenas on multiple continents.

The tour ended in December with two sell-out shows of 35,000 people at the New Plymouth TSB Bowl of Brooklands in New Zealand. Rod Stewart and Nicks co-headlined The Heart and Soul tour. Launched March 20, 2011, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour united the two singers for a series of arena concerts throughout North America with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa, Montreal, and more. A solo tour for In Your Dreams began on August 9, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Nicks announced on her July 27 appearance on America's Got Talent that Michael Grimm would be going on tour with her.

She then continued on an Australian and New Zealand leg of the tour accompanied by Dave Stewart until December 2011. Nicks joined Rod Stewart in the summer of 2012 for another leg of the Heart and Soul tour, and resumed the In Your Dreams tour in June 2012.

Sharon Celani backing vocals (1981present). Waddy Wachtel lead guitar, musical direction (198186, 2001present). Lori Nicks backing vocals (198189, 1996, 2007present). Carlos Rios rhythm guitar (1989present). Brett Tuggle keyboards, rhythm guitar (19982006, 2012). Nicks has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as a solo artist, holding the record for most nominations for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance without a win. Best Rock Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group. "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers). Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. Best Album of Original Score written for a Motion Picture or Television Special. Against All Odds (with Various Artists). Stevie Nicks: Live at Red Rocks. Nicks has been nominated for nine competitive Grammy Awards as a member of Fleetwood Mac, winning the 1978 Grammy Award for Album of the Year for Rumours, and received the 2003 Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group.

Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group. Grammy Hall of Fame Award. Rush was a Canadian rock band comprising Geddy Lee (bass, vocals, keyboards), Alex Lifeson (guitars) and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyrics).

Forming in 1968, the band went through several configurations until arriving at its longest and most popular line-up when Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first United States tour. Rush is known for its musicianship, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy. The band's musical style has changed several times over the years, from a blues-inspired hard rock beginning, later moving into progressive rock, and including a period marked by heavy use of synthesizers. According to the RIAA, Rush ranks 86th with sales of 25 million units in the U.

[1] Although total worldwide album sales are not calculated by any single entity, several industry sources estimated Rush's total worldwide album sales at over 40 million units as of 2017. The group has been awarded 24 gold, 14 platinum, and 3 multi-platinum albums. Rush has received nominations for seven Grammy Awards.

[3] The band has won several Juno Awards, won an International Achievement Award at the 2009 SOCAN Awards, [4] was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. [5][6] Over their careers, the members of Rush have been acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each band member winning numerous awards in magazine readers' polls. Rush announced plans to cease large-scale touring at the end of 2015. After nearly three years of an uncertain future, Lifeson reluctantly declared in January 2018 that the band was finished. 19681976: Blues and hard rock years.

19892002: Return to guitar-oriented sound, hiatus. 20022009: Comeback, Vapor Trails, and Snakes & Arrows. 20092018: Time Machine Tour, Clockwork Angels, R40final tour and disbandment. The 1968 line-up of Rush; from left to right: Alex Lifeson, John Rutsey and Geddy Lee. The original line-up formed in the neighbourhood of Willowdale in Toronto, Ontario, by guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist and front man Jeff Jones, and drummer John Rutsey on September 18, 1968.

[9] Within a couple of weeks of forming, and before their second performance, bassist and lead vocalist Jones left the band and was replaced by Geddy Lee, a schoolmate of Lifeson. After several line-up reformations, Rush's official incarnation formed in May 1971 consisting of Lee, Lifeson, and Rutsey. The name "Rush" was suggested by John Rutsey's brother, Bill. [10] The band was managed by local Toronto resident Ray Danniels, a frequent attendee of Rush's early shows.

After gaining stability in the line-up and honing their skills on the local bar and high school dance circuit, the band members released their first single "Not Fade Away", a cover of the Buddy Holly song, in 1973. Side B contained an original composition, "You Can't Fight It", credited to Lee and Rutsey. The single generated little reaction (#99 on the RPM charts) and, because of record company indifference, the band formed their own independent record label, Moon Records. With the assistance of Danniels and the newly enlisted engineer Terry Brown, the band released its self-titled debut album in 1974, which was considered highly derivative of Led Zeppelin. [13] Rush had limited local popularity until the album was picked up by WMMS, a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio. Donna Halper, a music director and DJ working at the station, selected "Working Man" for her regular playlist. The song's blue-collar theme resonated with hard rock fans, and this newfound popularity led to the album being re-released by Mercury Records in the U. Sample of "Working Man" from the debut album Rush, the song that landed them a record contract.

Immediately after the release of the debut album, Rutsey left the band due to health difficulties stemming from diabetes and his distaste for touring. His last performance with the band was on July 25, 1974, at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario. Rush held auditions for a new drummer and selected Neil Peart as Rutsey's replacement.

Peart officially joined the band on July 29, 1974, two weeks before the group's first US tour. They performed their first concert together, opening for Uriah Heep and Manfred Mann with an attendance of over 11,000 people at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 14.

In addition to becoming the band's drummer, Peart assumed the role of principal lyricist from Lee, who had very little interest in writing, despite having penned the lyrics of the band's first album. [15] Lee and Lifeson focused primarily on the instrumental aspects of Rush. Fly by Night (1975), Rush's first album after recruiting Peart, saw the inclusion of the band's first epic mini-tale "By-Tor and the Snow Dog", replete with complex arrangements and a multi-section format.

Lyrical themes also underwent dramatic changes because of Peart's love for fantasy and science-fiction literature. [16] Despite these many differences, some of the music and songs still closely mirrored the blues style found on Rush's debut. The "starman" logo first appeared on the back cover of the 1976 album 2112. Hugh Syme, creator of graphics on many of Rush's albums, told Jeffrey Morgan in 1983 the Starman "didn't begin as an identity factor for the band, it just got adopted". The band followed Fly by Night quickly with Caress of Steel (1975), a five-track album featuring two extended multi-chapter songs, "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain of Lamneth".

Some critics said Caress of Steel was unfocused and an audacious move for the band because of the placement of two back-to-back protracted songs, as well as a heavier reliance on atmospherics and story-telling, a large deviation from Fly by Night. In light of these events, Rush's record label tried to pressure the members into moulding their next album in a more commercially friendly and accessible fashion; the band ignored the requests and developed their next album 2112 with a 20-minute title track divided into seven sections. Despite this, the album was the band's first taste of commercial success and their first platinum album in Canada.

[20] The supporting tour culminated in a three-night stand at Massey Hall in Toronto, which the band recorded for the release of their first live album, All the World's a Stage. AllMusic critic Greg Prato notes the album demarcates the boundary between the band's early years and the next era of their music.

After 2112, Rush went to the United Kingdom to record A Farewell to Kings (1977) and Hemispheres (1978) at Rockfield Studios in Wales. These albums saw the band members expanding the progressive elements in their music. "As our tastes got more obscure, " Lee said in an interview, we discovered more progressive rock-based bands like Yes, Van der Graaf Generator and King Crimson, and we were very inspired by those bands.

They made us want to make our music more interesting and more complex and we tried to blend that with our own personalities to see what we could come up with that was indisputably us. [23] Increased synthesizer use, lengthy songs, and highly dynamic playing featuring complex time signature changes became a staple of Rush's compositions. To achieve a broader, more progressive sound, Lifeson began to experiment with classical and twelve-string guitars, and Lee added bass-pedal synthesizers and Minimoog. Likewise, Peart's percussion became diversified in the form of triangles, glockenspiel, wood blocks, cowbells, timpani, gong, and chimes. Beyond instrument additions, the band kept in stride with the progressive rock trends by continuing to compose long, conceptual songs with science fiction and fantasy overtones.

As the new decade approached, Rush gradually began to dispose of its older styles of music in favour of shorter and sometimes softer arrangements. The lyrics up to this point were heavily influenced by classical poetry, fantasy literature, science fiction, and the writings of novelist Ayn Rand, as exhibited most prominently by their 1975 song "Anthem" from Fly By Night and a specifically acknowledged derivation in 2112 (1976).

Permanent Waves (1980) shifted Rush's style of music with the introduction of reggae and new wave elements. [25] Although a hard rock style was still evident, more synthesizers were introduced. Moreover, because of the limited airplay Rush's previous extended-length songs received, Permanent Waves included shorter, more radio-friendly songs such as "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill", two songs that helped Permanent Waves become Rush's first US Top 5 album. [26] Meanwhile, Peart's lyrics shifted toward an expository tone with subject matter that dwelled less on fantastical or allegorical story-telling and more heavily on topics that explored humanistic, social, and emotional elements. Rush joined with fellow Toronto-based rock band Max Webster on July 28, 1980, to record "Battle Scar" for their 1980 release, Universal Juveniles. [27] Max Webster lyricist Pye Dubois offered the band lyrics to a song he had written. The band accepted; the song went on, after reworking by Peart, to become "Tom Sawyer". Sample of "Tom Sawyer" from the album Moving Pictures. It is one of the band's best known songs. Rush's popularity reached its pinnacle with the release of Moving Pictures in 1981. Moving Pictures essentially continued where Permanent Waves left off, extending the trend of accessible and commercially friendly progressive rock that helped thrust them into the spotlight. The lead track, "Tom Sawyer", is probably the band's best-known song[28] with "Limelight" also receiving satisfactory responses from listeners and radio stations. Moving Pictures was Rush's last album to feature an extended song, the eleven-minute "The Camera Eye". The song also contained the band's heaviest usage of synthesizers yet, hinting Rush's music was shifting direction once more. 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Following the success of Moving Pictures and having completed another four studio albums, Rush released a second live recording, Exit... An Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, as used by Geddy Lee on the albums Moving Pictures and Signals. The band underwent another stylistic change with the recording of Signals in 1982.

[30] While Lee's synthesizers had been featured instruments ever since the late 1970s, keyboards were suddenly shifted from the contrapuntal background to the melodic front-lines[31][32] in songs like "Countdown" and the lead-off track "Subdivisions". Both feature prominent lead synthesizer lines with minimalistic guitar chords and solos.

Other previously unused instrument additions were seen in the song "Losing It", featuring collaborator Ben Mink on electric violin. Sample of "Subdivisions" from the album Signals.

This song is notable for demonstrating the band's foray into its synthesizer period. Signals also represented a drastic stylistic transformation apart from instrumental changes. The album contained Rush's only US top-40 pop hit, "New World Man", [33] while other more experimental songs such as "Digital Man", "The Weapon", and "Chemistry" expanded the band's use of ska, reggae, and funk.

[34] Although the band members consciously decided to move in this overall direction, creative differences between the band and long-time producer Terry Brown began to emerge. The band felt dissatisfied with Brown's studio treatment of Signals, while Brown was becoming more uncomfortable with the increased use of synthesizers in the music.

[35] Ultimately, Rush and Brown parted ways in 1983, and the experimentation with new electronic instruments and varying musical styles would come into further play on their next studio album. The style and production of Signals were augmented and taken to new heights on Grace Under Pressure (1984). It was Peart who named the album, as he borrowed the words of Ernest Hemingway to describe what the band had to go through after making the decision to leave Terry Brown. Producer Steve Lillywhite, who gained fame with successful productions of Simple Minds and U2, was enlisted to produce Grace Under Pressure.

He backed out at the last moment, however, much to the ire of Lee, Lifeson and Peart. Lee said Steve Lillywhite is really not a man of his word... After agreeing to do our record, he got an offer from Simple Minds, changed his mind, blew us off...

So it put us in a horrible position. Rush eventually hired Peter Henderson to co-produce and engineer the album instead. Neil Peart began incorporating Simmons Electronic Drums beginning with Grace Under Pressure, 1984. Musically, although Lee's use of sequencers and synthesizers remained the band's cornerstone, his focus on new technology was complemented by Peart's adaptation of Simmons electronic drums and percussion. Lifeson's contributions on the album were decidedly enhanced, in response to the minimalistic role he played on Signals.

With new producer Peter Collins, the band released Power Windows (1985) and Hold Your Fire (1987). The music on these two albums gives far more emphasis and prominence to Lee's multi-layered synthesizer work.

While fans and critics took notice of Lifeson's diminished guitar work, his presence was still palpable. Lifeson, like many guitarists in the mid-to-late 1980s, experimented with processors that reduced his instrument to echoey chord bursts and razor-thin leads. Hold Your Fire represents both an extension of the guitar stylings found on Power Windows, and, according to Allmusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia, the culmination of this era of Rush.

A third live album and video, A Show of Hands (1989), was also released by Anthem and Mercury following the Power Windows and Hold Your Fire tours, demonstrating the aspects of Rush in the'80s. A Show of Hands met with strong fan approval, but Rolling Stone critic Michael Azerrad dismissed it as "musical muscle" with 1.5 stars, claiming Rush fans viewed their favourite power trio as "the holy trinity". [40] Nevertheless, A Show of Hands managed to surpass the gold album mark, reaching number 21 on the Billboard 200. [41] At this point, the group decided to change international record labels from Mercury to Atlantic. After Rush's departure in 1989, Mercury released a double platinum two-volume compilation of their Rush catalogue, Chronicles (1990). Sample of "Dreamline" from the album Roll the Bones. This song is notable for demonstrating the band's return to a more standard three piece instrument style, where synthesizers are used more sparingly and the guitar returning to the forefront of the sound. Rush started to deviate from its 1980s style with the albums Presto and Roll the Bones. Produced by record engineer and musician Rupert Hine, these two albums saw Rush shedding much of its keyboard-saturated sound. Beginning with Presto (1989), the band opted for arrangements notably more guitar-centric than the previous two studio albums.

Although synthesizers were still used in many songs, the instrument was no longer featured as the centrepiece of Rush's compositions. [43] Continuing this trend, Roll the Bones (1991) extended the use of the standard three-instrument approach with even less focus on synthesizers than its predecessor. While musically these albums do not deviate significantly from a general pop-rock sound, Rush incorporated traces of other musical styles. "Roll the Bones", for example exhibits funk and hip hop elements, and the instrumental track Where's My Thing?

[44] This return to three-piece instrumentation helped pave the way for future albums, which would adopt a more streamlined rock formula. The transition from synthesizers to more guitar-oriented and organic instrumentation continued with Counterparts (1993)[45] and its follow-up, Test for Echo (1996), again both produced in collaboration with Peter Collins. Up to this point, Counterparts[45] and Test For Echo were two of Rush's most guitar-driven albums. The latter album also includes elements of jazz and swing-style drumming by Peart, which he had learned from Freddie Gruber during the interim between Counterparts and Test For Echo. [46] In October 1996, in support of Test For Echo, the band embarked on a North American tour, the band's first without an opening act and dubbed "An Evening with Rush".

The tour was broken up into two segmentsning October through December 1996 and May through July 1997. After the conclusion of the Test for Echo tour in 1997, the band entered a five-year hiatus primarily due to personal tragedies in Peart's life.

Peart's daughter Selena died in a car accident in August 1997, followed by the death of his wife Jacqueline from cancer in June 1998. Peart took a hiatus to mourn and reflect, during which he travelled extensively throughout North America on his BMW motorcycle, covering 88,000 km (55,000 mi). At some point in his journey, Peart decided to return to the band.

Peart's book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road is a chronicle of his journey. In the book, he writes of how he had told his bandmates at Selena's funeral, consider me retired. [47] On November 10, 1998, a three-disc live album entitled Different Stages was released, dedicated to the memory of Selena and Jacqueline.

Mixed by producer Paul Northfield and engineered by Terry Brown, it features recorded performances from the band's Counterparts, Test For Echo, and A Farewell to Kings tours, marking the band's fourth live album. Sample of "One Little Victory" from the album Vapor Trails.

This song's rapid tempo and heavy double bass drumming was done intentionally to herald the comeback of the band after their hiatus. After a time of grief and recovery, and while visiting long-time Rush photographer Andrew MacNaughtan in Los Angeles, Peart was introduced to his future wife, photographer Carrie Nuttall. Peart married Nuttall on September 9, 2000.

In early 2001 he announced to his bandmates he was ready to once again enter the studio and get back into the business of making music. To herald the band's comeback, the single and lead track from the album, "One Little Victory", was designed to grab the attention of listeners with its rapid guitar and drum tempos. [49] Vapor Trails marked the first Rush studio recording to not include any keyboards or synthesizers since Caress of Steel, released 27 years earlier. While the album is almost completely guitar-driven, it is mostly devoid of any traditional guitar solos, a conscious decision by Lifeson. According to the band, the entire developmental process for Vapor Trails was extremely taxing and took approximately 14 months to finish, by far the longest the band had ever spent writing and recording a studio album. [49] The album was supported by the band's first tour in six years, including first-ever concerts in Mexico City and Brazil, where they played to some of the largest crowds of their career. A live album and DVD, Rush in Rio, was released in late October 2003 featuring an entire concert performance recorded on November 23, 2002, at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The show was the last of the Vapor Trails Tour.

To celebrate the band's 30th anniversary, June 2004 saw the release of Feedback, an extended play recorded in suburban Toronto featuring eight covers of such artists as Cream, The Who and The Yardbirds, bands the members of Rush cite as inspiration around the time of their inception. [50] To help support Feedback and continue celebrating their 30-year anniversary as a band, Rush hit the road again for their 30th Anniversary Tour in the summer of 2004 playing dates in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.

On September 24, 2004, the concert at The Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany was filmed for a DVD titled R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour, which was released on November 22, 2005. This release omitted eight songs also included on Rush in Rio; the complete concert was released on Blu-ray on December 8, 2009. During promotional interviews for the R30 DVD, the band members revealed their intention to begin writing new material in early 2006. While in Toronto, Lifeson and Lee began the songwriting process in January 2006. During this time, Peart simultaneously assumed his role of lyric writing while residing in Southern California. The following September, Rush chose to hire American producer Nick Raskulinecz to co-produce the album. The band officially entered Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York in November 2006 to record the bulk of the material.

Taking the band five weeks, the sessions ended in December. On February 14, 2007, an announcement was made on the official Rush web site that the title of the new album would be Snakes & Arrows.

The first single, entitled "Far Cry", was released to North American radio stations on March 12, 2007 and reached No. 2 on the Mediabase Mainstream and Radio and Records Charts.

Sample of "Far Cry", first single from the album Snakes & Arrows. The Rush website, newly redesigned on March 12, 2007 to support the new album, also announced the band would embark on a tour to begin in the summer.

Snakes & Arrows was released May 1, 2007 in North America, where it debuted at No. [53] It would go on to sell an estimated 611,000 copies worldwide. To coincide with the beginning of Atlantic Ocean hurricane season, "Spindrift" was released as the official second radio single on June 1, 2007, while "The Larger Bowl (A Pantoum)" saw single status on June 25, 2007.

"The Larger Bowl" peaked within the top 20 of both the Billboard Mainstream Rock and Media Base Mainstream charts, but "Spindrift" failed to appear on any commercial chart. [54] The planned intercontinental tour in support of Snakes & Arrows began on June 13, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia, coming to a close on October 29, 2007 at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. [56] On April 15, 2008, the band released Snakes & Arrows Live, a double live album documenting the first leg of the tour, recorded at the Ahoy arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands on October 16 and 17, 2007. [57] A DVD and Blu-ray recording of the same concerts was released on November 24, 2008.

The video also includes four songs added to the 2008 portion of the tour, recorded at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Atlanta, Georgia. As Rush neared the conclusion of the Snakes & Arrows tour, they announced their first appearance on American television in over 30 years. They appeared on The Colbert Report on July 16, 2008, where they were interviewed by Stephen Colbert and performed "Tom Sawyer". [61] Continuing to ride what one film critic called a "pop cultural wave", the band appeared as themselves in the 2009 comedy film I Love You, Man, starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel. Main articles: Clockwork Angels, Time Machine Tour, and Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland.

On February 16, 2009, Lifeson remarked the band may begin working on a new album in the Fall of 2009 with American producer Nick Raskulinecz once again producing. [63] In November 2009, Lee, Lifeson and Peart were awarded the International Achievement Award at the annual SOCAN Awards in Toronto. [4] On March 19, 2010, the CBC posted a video interview with Lee and Lifeson where they discussed Rush's induction into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010, at the Toronto Centre for the Arts' George Weston Recital Hall. The band was recognized for the songs "Limelight", "Closer to the Heart", "The Spirit of Radio", "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions".

In addition to discussing their induction, Lee and Lifeson touched on future material, and Lee said, Just about a month and a half ago we had no songs. And now we've been writing and now we've got about 6 songs that we just love... While still uncertain of exactly how and when the new material would be released, at the time he projected a tentative Spring 2011 release date. In April 2010, Rush entered Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee with Raskulinecz to record "Caravan" and "BU2B", two new songs to be featured on the band's studio album Clockwork Angels.

Mixing was done by record engineer Richard Chycki at the Sound Kitchen in Franklin, Tennessee. "Caravan" was released June 1 to radio stations and made available for digital download at this time along with "BU2B".

[citation needed] Lifeson's predictions from March were confirmed, and the Time Machine Tour's first leg began on June 29 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and finished October 17 in Santiago, Chile, at the National Stadium. It featured the album Moving Pictures played in its entirety, as well as "Caravan" and "BU2B". [citation needed] It was suggested Rush would return to the studio after the completion of the Time Machine Tour with plans to release Clockwork Angels in 2011. [67] Nonetheless, Rush announced on November 19, 2010, they would extend the Time Machine Tour. The second leg began on March 30, 2011, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and came to an end on July 2, 2011, in George, Washington. [68] On November 8, 2011, the band released Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland, a concert DVD, Blu-ray and double CD documenting the April 15, 2011, concert at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. After the tour's second leg was finished, Rush entered Revolution Recording studios in Toronto, Ontario, to finalize the recording of Clockwork Angels. [69] The second single, "Headlong Flight", was released April 19, 2012.

Peart and author Kevin J. Anderson collaborated on a novelization of Clockwork Angels that was released in September 2012. Clockwork Angels was released in the United States and Canada on June 12, 2012, [71] and its supporting Clockwork Angels Tour began on September 7, 2012.

As of August 31, 2011, Rush switched their American distribution from Atlantic Records over to the Warner Brothers majority-owned metal label, Roadrunner Records. Anthem/Universal Music will continue to release their music in Canada. [72] On April 18, 2013, Rush was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During Rush's European leg of the Clockwork Angels Tour, the June 8, 2013 show at the Sweden Rock Festival was the group's first festival appearance in 30 years.

[74] The band's performances on November 25, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona and November 28, 2012 in Dallas, Texas were recorded to make a live CD/DVD/Blu-ray that was released on November 19, 2013. On November 18, 2013 guitarist Alex Lifeson said the band has committed to taking a year off, following the completion of the world tour in support of Clockwork Angels. "We've committed to taking about a year off", Lifeson says. We all agreed when we finished this ('Clockwork Angels') tour (in early August) we were going to take this time off and we weren't going to talk about band stuff or make any plans. We committed to a year, so that's going to take us through to the end of next summer, for sure.

We haven't stopped or quit. Right now we're just relaxing.

We're taking it easy and just enjoying our current employment. In September 2014, the R40 box set was announced to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the release of the band's self-titled debut album.

It included five previously released live video albums, as well as various previously unreleased footage from across the band's career. [77] On January 22, 2015, the band officially announced the Rush R40 Tour, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of drummer Neil Peart's membership in the band.

The tour started on May 8 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, [78] and wrapped up on August 1 at The Forum in Los Angeles. On April 29, 2015, Alex Lifeson stated in an interview R40 might be the final large-scale Rush tour due to his psoriatic arthritis and Peart's chronic tendinitis. [80] He noted that it didn't necessarily mean an end to the band, suggesting the possibility of smaller tours and limited performances. He also said he would like to work on soundtracks with Geddy Lee. [81] On December 7, 2015, Peart stated in an interview he was retiring.

The following day, Lee insisted that Peart's remarks had been taken out of context, and suggested he was "simply taking a break". [82][83] Lifeson confirmed in 2016 the R40 tour was the band's last large-scale tour.

[84] The band's latest documentary, Time Stand Still, was announced in November 2016. On January 19, 2018, Lifeson said: We have no plans to tour or record anymore.

After 41 years, we felt it was enough. Rush's musical style had changed substantially over the years.

Its debut album was strongly influenced by British blues-based hard rock: an amalgam of sounds and styles from such rock bands as Black Sabbath, the Who, Cream and Led Zeppelin. [13][86][87] Rush became increasingly influenced by bands of the British progressive rock movement, especially Genesis, Yes and Jethro Tull. [88][89] In the tradition of progressive rock, Rush wrote extended songs with irregular and shifting time signatures, combined with fantasy and science fiction-themed lyrics. In the 1980s, Rush merged their sound with the trends of this period, experimenting with new wave, reggae and pop rock. [90] This period included the band's most extensive use of instruments such as synthesizers, sequencers, and electronic percussion. In the early 1990s, the band transformed their style once again to harmonize with the alternative rock movement. Geddy Lee lead vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, rhythm guitar (September 1968May 1969, September 1969 2015)[92][93]. Alex Lifeson guitars, backing vocals, synthesizers (19682015).

Neil Peart drums, percussion (19742015). John Rutsey drums, percussion, vocals (19681974). Jeff Jones bass guitar, vocals (AugustSeptember 1968). Lindy Young keyboards, vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, percussion, harmonica (JanuaryJuly 1969).

Joe Perna bass guitar, vocals (MayJuly 1969). Mitchel Bossi rhythm and lead guitars, vocals (FebruaryMay 1971)[94][95]. Further information: List of awards received by Rush. More than 40 years of activity has provided Rush with the opportunity for musical diversity across their discography. As with many bands known for experimentation, changes have inevitably resulted in dissent among critics and fans.

The bulk of the band's music has always included synthetic instruments, and this has been a source of contention among fans and critics, especially the band's heavy reliance on synthesizers and keyboards during the 1980s, particularly on albums Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire. The members of Rush have noted people "either love Rush or hate Rush", [98] resulting in strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base. In 1979 the Rolling Stone Record Guide called it the power boogie band for the 16 magazine graduating class. "[99] A July 2008 Rolling Stone article stated "Rush fans are the Trekkies/trekkers of rock. [100] They have been cited as an influence by various musical artists, including Alice in Chains, [101] Anthrax, [102] Fishbone, [103] Foo Fighters, [104] Jane's Addiction, [105] Manic Street Preachers, [106] Metallica, [107] No Doubt, [108] Pixies, [109] Porcupine Tree, [110] Primus, [111] Queensrÿche, [112] Rage Against the Machine, [113] Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Smashing Pumpkins, [111] Elliott Smith[114] and Soundgarden[115] as well as progressive metal bands such as Meshuggah, [116][117] Prototype, Dream Theater, [107] Puya, [118] Tool, [119][120] Cynic, [121] and Symphony X.

[122] Trent Reznor considers Rush to be one of his favourite bands in the 2010 documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage and has particularly cited the album Signals as a major influence on how to incorporate keyboards and synthesizers into hard rock. Rush was eligible for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame beginning in 1998; the band was nominated for entry in 2012[123] and their induction was announced on December 11, 2012. [5] A reason for their previous exclusion may have been their genre. USA Today writer Edna Gunderson criticized the Hall of Fame for excluding some genres, including progressive rock.

[124] Supporters cited the band's accomplishments including longevity, proficiency, and influence, as well as commercial sales figures and RIAA certifications. [125] In the years before induction, Lifeson expressed his indifference toward the perceived slight saying, I couldn't care less.

Look who's up for induction; it's a joke. On April 24, 2010, the documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, directed by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

It went on to receive the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award. [127] The film explores the band's influence on popular music and the reasons why that influence has been under-represented over the years. This is done via interviews with popular musicians, music industry professionals, and the band members themselves.

On June 25, 2010, Rush received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6752 Hollywood Boulevard. Critical acclaim continued to mount for Rush in 2010 when, on September 28, Classic Rock Magazine announced Rush would be that year's Living Legends awarded at the Marshall Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards in the UK.

[128] The award was presented November 10, 2010. [129] The award was presented at the Billboard Touring Awards on November 4, 2010. The band members were made Officers of the Order of Canada in 1996. [130] In May 2012, the band received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement at a ceremony at Rideau Hall followed by a gala at the National Arts Centre celebrating the award recipients the following day.

[131][132][133] In 2017, the band members had three new microbe species named in their honour. Geddy Lee in concert, 2010. Geddy Lee's high-register vocal style has always been a signature of the band and sometimes a focal point for criticism, especially during the early years of Rush's career when Lee's vocals were high-pitched, with a strong likeness to other singers like Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. [99][135] A review in The New York Times opined Lee's voice "suggests a munchkin giving a sermon". [136] Although his voice has softened, it is often described as a "wail".

[135][137] His instrumental abilities, on the other hand, are rarely criticized. He has cited Jeff Berlin, Jack Casady, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce and Chris Squire as the bassists who had the biggest impact on his playing style.

[138] Lee's style, technique, and ability on the bass guitar have been influential to rock and heavy metal musicians, inspiring players including Steve Harris, [139] John Myung, [140] Les Claypool, [141] and Cliff Burton. [142] Lee is able to operate various pieces of instrumentation simultaneously during live concert, most evidently when Lee plays bass and keyboards, sings, and triggers foot pedals as in the song "Tom Sawyer". Lifeson as a guitarist is best known for his signature riffing, electronic effects and processing, unorthodox chord structures, and a copious arsenal of equipment used over the years. During his adolescent years, he was influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. [145] Lifeson incorporated touches ofish and classical music into Rush's sound during the 1970s, reflecting his interest in progressive rock guitarists like Steve Hackett and Steve Howe. [146] To adapt to Lee's expanding use of synthesizers in the 1980s, Lifeson took inspiration from guitarists like Andy Summers of The Police and The Edge of U2, who gave him models for rethinking the guitar's role in Rush's music.

During live performances, he is still responsible for cuing various guitar effects, the use of bass-pedal synthesizers and backing vocals. Peart has been voted the greatest rock drummer by music fans, critics and fellow musicians, according to Drummerworld. [149] He is also regarded as one of the finest practitioners of the in-concert drum solo. [150] Initially inspired by Keith Moon, Peart absorbed the influence of other rock drummers from the 1960s and 1970s such as Ginger Baker, Carmine Appice, and John Bonham.

[151] Incorporation of unusual instruments (for rock drummers of the time) such as the glockenspiel and tubular bells, along with several standard kit elements, helped create a highly varied setup. Continually modified to this day, Peart's drumkit offers an enormous array of percussion instruments for sonic diversity. For two decades Peart honed his technique; each new Rush album introduced an expanded percussive vocabulary. In the 1990s, he reinvented his style with the help of drum coach Freddie Gruber.

Peart also serves as Rush's primary lyricist, attracting much attention over the years for his eclectic style. Known for penning concept suites and songs inspired by literature, music fan opinions of his writing have varied greatly, running the gamut from cerebral and insightful to pretentious and preachy. [citation needed] During the band's early years, Peart's lyrics were largely fantasy/science fiction-focused, [153] though since 1980 he has focused more on social, emotional, and humanitarian issues. In 2007, he was placed second on Blender magazine's list of the "40 Worst Lyricists In Rock".

Rush has released 24 gold records and 14 platinum records (including 3 multi-platinum), placing them fifth behind The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Kiss and Aerosmith for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band. (ranking them 79th among recording acts[160]) and 40 million worldwide. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and the band being relegated almost solely to classic rock stations in the U.

Nevertheless, Vapor Trails remains their first album not to achieve at least gold status in the U. Rush's triple-CD live album, Rush in Rio (2003), was certified gold, marking the fourth decade in which a Rush album had been released and certified at least gold. In 2004, Feedback cracked the top 20 on the Billboard 200 and received radio airplay. [166] This marks the 13th studio album to appear in the Top 20 and the band's 27th album to appear on the chart. The album also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart, and, when the album was released on the MVI format a month later, peaked at number 1 on the Top Internet Albums chart. The members of Rush share a strong work ethic, desiring to accurately recreate songs from their albums when playing live performances. To achieve this goal, beginning in the late 1980s, Rush has included a capacious rack of digital samplers in their concert equipment to recreate the sounds of non-traditional instruments, accompaniments, vocal harmonies, and other sound "events" in real-time to match the sounds on the studio versions of the songs. Each member has one or more MIDI controllers, which are loaded with different sounds for each song, and use available limbs to trigger the sounds while simultaneously playing their primary instrument(s). [170] It is with this technology the group is able to present their arrangements in a live setting with the level of complexity and fidelity fans have come to expect, and without the need to resort to the use of backing tracks or employing an additional band member. [171] The band members' coordinated use of pedal keyboards and other electronic triggers to "play" sampled instruments and audio events is subtly visible in their live performances, especially so on R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour, their 2005 concert DVD. A staple of Rush's concerts is a Neil Peart drum solo. Peart's drum solos include a basic framework of routines connected by sections of improvisation, making each performance unique. Each successive tour sees the solo more advanced, with some routines dropped in favour of newer, more complex ones. Since the mid-1980s, Peart has used MIDI trigger pads to trigger sounds sampled from various pieces of acoustic percussion that would otherwise consume far too much stage area, such as a marimba, harp, temple blocks, triangles, glockenspiel, orchestra bells, tubular bells, and vibraslap as well as other, more esoteric percussion. One prominent feature of Rush's concerts are props on stage, at one point called diversions. These props may include washing machines or animations and inflatable rabbits emerging from giant hats behind the band. Rush actively participates in philanthropic causes. The band was one of several hometown favourites to play Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, also dubbed SARStock, at Downsview Park in Toronto on July 30, 2003, with an attendance of over half a million people. The concert was intended to benefit the Toronto economy after the SARS outbreaks earlier in the year. [173] The band has also sustained an interest in promoting human rights. [174] Rush continues to sell T-shirts and donate the proceeds to the museum.

On July 24, 2013, Rush performed a benefit concert in Red Deer, Alberta, at the ENMAX Centrium with all proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross to help victims of the 2013 flooding that devastated many regions of southern Alberta. The original venue for the show, the Scotiabank Saddledome, was heavily damaged from the flooding and was unavailable for the concert date as originally planned. The individual members of Rush have also been a part of philanthropic causes. Hughes & Kettner zenTera[177] and TriAmp[178] electronics have been endorsed and used by Lifeson for many years. [179] Lee, a longtime fan of baseball, donated 200 baseballs signed by famous Negro League players, including Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Josh Gibson, to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in June 2008.

There were also autographs by band members from Depeche Mode, Tool, the Fray, Judas Priest, Pearl Jam and more, as well as signatures from Ricky, Julian and Bubbles from "Trailer Park Boys: The Movie" on a rare Epiphone guitar. The band is featured on the album Songs for Tibet, appearing with other celebrities as an initiative to support Tibet and the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso. The album was made downloadable on August 5, 2008 via iTunes and was released commercially August 12, 2008.

Rush has also been a big supporter of Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit that works to restore and revitalize music education programs in disadvantaged U. They teamed up with Musician's Friend and Sabian to help Little Kids Rock provide percussion to public schools nationwide.

A Farewell to Kings (1977). Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, who had their most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on multi-instrumentalist founder and leader Tom Scholz (who was the only musician playing on the first album), the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists. [1] Boston's best-known works include the songs "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Amanda".

[2][3] Altogether, the band has released six studio albums over a careerning over 40 years. Boston were ranked the 63rd best hard rock artist by VH1. Don't Look Back (1978). Solo projects and CBS lawsuit (19791985).

Departure of Delp; Walk On (19891996). Greatest Hits and Corporate America (19972006). Death of Brad Delp (2007).

New line-up and intermittent performances (20082012). Life, Love & Hope and later (2013present).

Tom Scholz first started writing music in 1969 while he was attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he wrote an instrumental, titled "Foreplay". [5] While attending MIT, Scholz joined the band Freehold, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea, [6] who would later become members of Boston. Vocalist Brad Delp was added to the collective in 1970. After graduating with a master's degree, [7] Scholz worked for Polaroid, where he used his salary to build a recording studio in his basement, and to finance demo tapes recorded in professional recording studios.

[5] These early demo tapes were recorded with (at various times) Delp on vocals, Goudreau on guitar, Masdea on drums, and Scholz on guitar, bass and keyboards. The demo tapes were sent to record companies, but received consistent rejections. [5] In 1973 Scholz formed the band Mother's Milk with Delp, Goudreau, and Masdea. [5] That group disbanded by 1974, but Scholz subsequently worked with Masdea and Delp to produce six new demos, including "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Rock and Roll Band", "Something About You" (then entitled "Life Isn't Easy"), "Hitch a Ride" (then entitled "San Francisco Day"), and "Don't Be Afraid". Scholz stated they finished four of the six by the end of 1974, and they finished "More Than a Feeling" and "Something About You" in 1975.

[8][9] Scholz played all the instruments on the demos, except for the drums, which were played by Masdea, and used self-designed pedals to create the desired guitar sound. [5] The violin-like sound of the guitars was created in the early 1970s by Scholz. This final demo tape attracted the attention of promoters Paul Ahern and Charlie McKenzie. Masdea left the band around this time. According to Scholz, the managers insisted that Masdea had to be replaced before the band could get a recording deal. [5] Years later, Delp told journalist Chuck Miller: [Jim] actually told me he was losing interest in playing drums. I know Tom felt very bad when the whole thing happened. And then, of course, we started getting some interest. [11][12] Scholz and Delp signed a deal with Epic Records after Masdea's departure, thanks to Ahern and McKenzie. Before the deal could be finalized, the band had to do a live audition for the record company executives. The duo recruited Goudreau on guitar, bassist Fran Sheehan and drummer Sib Hashian to create a performing unit which could replicate Scholz's richly layered recordings on stage. The showcase was a success and the band agreed to put out ten albums over the next six years.

In addition to the firing of Masdea, the record label insisted that Scholz re-record the demo tapes in a professional studio. However, Scholz wanted the record to be recorded in his basement studio so that he could work at his own pace. [5] The label agreed, and offered to split the producer's royalty with Scholz. [13] Upon request of Scholz, Masdea played drums on the track "Rock and Roll Band", and the instrumentation was recorded in Scholz's studio.

[5] The multitrack tapes were then brought to Los Angeles, where Delp added vocals and the album was mixed by John Boylan. It was then that the band was named "Boston", by suggestion of Boylan and engineer Warren Dewey. Brad Delp, the original lead singer. Along with Scholz, Delp was the only other person signed to Epic Records as Boston. During the late summer and early fall of 1976, Boston attracted publicity due to the record sales.

However, there was "a conscious effort to de-emphasize Scholz as the total mastermind behind Boston". [17] This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time, being nominated for a Grammy award as a "Best New Artist".

[17][18] Boston was the first band in history to make their New York City debut at Madison Square Garden. The album spawned three singles, "More Than a Feeling", "Long Time", and "Peace of Mind", all of which made the national charts. [17] Additionally, the album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the charts for 132 weeks.

Despite having problems with manager Paul Ahern, being caught in the middle of a fight between Ahern and his business partner Charles McKenzie, and doing most of the recording work alone, [16] Scholz completed the second Boston album two years after the debut album's release. The second album, Don't Look Back, was released by Epic in August 1978.

At the time this was considered a long gap between albums, but Scholz still considered Don't Look Back to be a rush job and was unhappy with the album's second side in particular. Another tour followed, and the album's title track became a top-5 hit. Additionally, two other singles, "A Man I'll Never Be" and "Feelin' Satisfied", went top 40 and top 50, respectively. [17] Despite the success, Scholz's relationship with Ahern completely deteriorated. [22] Delayed by technical renovations to his studio, Scholz eventually began the process of working on Boston's third album, determined to complete the album at his own pace and up to his demanding standard.

In late 1979, Scholz began writing new material, but Boston's former co-manager, Paul Ahern, argued that, according to an agreement Scholz had signed years earlier with Ahern, Ahern owned a percentage of all songs Scholz wrote from that point on. [22] Delayed further by the dispute, Scholz suggested that in the meantime the individual members should work on whatever other projects they might be considering.

Goudreau then decided to record a solo album that featured Boston members Delp and Hashian, and which was recorded with the help of Paul Grupp, [23] an engineer and producer familiar with Scholz's studio techniques. [17] The album, released in 1980, was titled Barry Goudreau and featured the minor hit single "Dreams". There was tension when CBS's marketing connected Goudreau's solo album to Boston's signature guitar sound, despite Scholz not having played at all on this album. [20][24] Scholz objected to the ad copy, but it became irrelevant when Epic dropped promotion on Goudreau's album citing lack of interest.

Goudreau left the band in 1981 and formed Orion the Hunter. During this same period, Scholz founded his high-tech company Scholz Research & Development (SR&D), which made amplifiers and other musical electronic equipment. Its most famous product, the Rockman amplifier, was introduced in 1982. The legal trouble slowed progress toward the completion of the next album, which took six years to record and produce.

Joining Scholz in the album's development again were Delp and Jim Masdea. [26] In 1985, guitarist Gary Pihl left Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Scholz as both a musician and an SR&D executive. Scholz played out in court, CBS opted to withhold royalty payments to Scholz, hoping to force him to settle on unfavorable terms.

The lawsuit's first round was eventually decided in Scholz's favor, and Scholz moved the band to MCA Records. Despite the adversity, progress continued to be made on the third Boston album.

A tape of one of the songs, "Amanda", leaked out of the studio in 1984. The song became the lead single when Third Stage was finally released on September 23, 1986.

The album and lead single "Amanda" both went to No. 1 on Billboard, and the subsequent singles "We're Ready" and "Can'tcha Say" were top 10 and top 30, respectively. The group headed off on tour to promote Third Stage in 1987 and 1988.

Third Stage was played in sequence in its entirety during the shows, with expanded arrangements of some cuts. Boston opened with "Rock and Roll Band" and brought back the original drummer, Jim Masdea, to play drums for this one song. For the tour the group was joined by Doug Huffman and David Sikes, both of whom stayed with the band into the mid-1990s. The CBS case took seven years to run its course, and in April 1990 Scholz won.

By spring 1990, Scholz was back in the studio working on the band's fourth studio album. [17] Later that year, Delp told Scholz he wanted to concentrate on other projects, and might not be available for some time.

[28] With Delp's departure, Scholz was then the last remaining original member. Before he left, Delp co-wrote with Scholz and David Sikes the song "Walk On", which eventually became the title track of the new album. Delp subsequently joined Barry Goudreau's new band, RTZ. [17] Scholz eventually replaced him with Fran Cosmo, who had been in Goudreau's previous band Orion the Hunter. For the second album in a row, and for the second time in a decade, Scholz's work was delayed by renovations to his studio.

In the end, eight years passed between Third Stage and Walk On, which was released in June 1994. Walk On was certified platinum by the RIAA, and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. [17] Unlike Boston's previous albums, it failed to chart in the top 5. It produced one hit single, "I Need Your Love", which was widely played on some rock radio stations.

[17] Delp reunited with Boston at the end of 1994. Their first appearance was for two benefit shows at the House of Blues on December 1213, 1994, in Cambridge. The group, with Delp now back in the band, toured in the summer of 1995 with both Cosmo and Delp combining vocals. By that time drummer Huffman had been replaced by Curly Smith, who was previously with Jo Jo Gunne. [17] Following the conclusion of the "Livin' For You" tour in 1995, Scholz announced that a greatest hits album would be released.

[17] Initially planned for release in August 1996, the album was pushed back to a 1997 release date. Boston released a compilation album in 1997, titled simply Boston: Greatest Hits.

The album featured all of the band's hit singles except "We're Ready", "Can'tcha Say (You Believe In Me)/Still In Love", and "I Need Your Love" along with three new songs, "Higher Power", "Tell Me", and an instrumental version of the "Stargled Banner". Smith and Sikes left the band in late 1997 and recorded an album together.

Tom Scholz, the band's founder, lead guitarist, and organist. Scholz headed back to the studio in 1998 to begin work on a fifth album, which eventually turned out to be Corporate America. [32] The song reached No. 2 on the progressive rock charts on the website for two weeks. November 2002 marked the release of Corporate America on the independent label Artemis Records.

This album featured the largest Boston lineup ever; returning members included Delp and Cosmo on guitar and lead vocals, Scholz on lead guitar and organ, and Gary Pihl on guitar, along with new members Anthony Cosmo on rhythm guitar, Jeff Neal on drums and Kimberley Dahme on bass and vocals. Dahme, Delp, and Cosmo all contributed lead vocals to the album.

The group embarked on a national tour in support of the album in 2003 and 2004. [17] In 2006, the first two Boston albums appeared in remastered form.

On March 9, 2007, lead singer Delp committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. [33] Police found him dead in his master bathroom, along with several notes for whoever would find him. [33] In the bathroom where he committed suicide, two charcoal grills were found on the bathroom fixtures, and the door sealed with duct tape and a towel underneath.

William Baldwin called the death "untimely" and said that no foul play was indicated. [34] Delp was alone at the time of his death, according to the police report. He was found by his fiancée, who saw a dryer hose attached to his car. [33] According to the New Hampshire medical examiner, his death was the result of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning as evidenced by carboxyhemoglobin. [33] Delp's last concert with Boston was performed at Boston Symphony Hall on November 13, 2006, at a concert honoring Doug Flutie.

A concert in honor of Delp named "Come Together: A Tribute to Brad Delp" occurred on August 19, 2007, at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. The concert included, in order of appearance, Ernie and the Automatics, Beatlejuice, Farrenheit, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Orion the Hunter, and finally the current version of Boston. All of the living members of Boston were invited to perform in the concert.

The singers for Boston included Michael Sweet of Stryper, former band member Curly Smith, band member Kimberley Dahme, and a Boston fan from North Carolina named Tommy DeCarlo, who was chosen to sing based on his performances of Boston cover songs on his MySpace page. [36][37] Another former Boston vocalist, Fran Cosmo, was unable to sing because of a ruptured blood vessel in his throat, but did play guitar. Jim Masdea, Fran Sheehan, and even Barry Goudreau joined Scholz and the rest of the band on stage for the finale, "Don't Look Back". Curly Smith and Kimberley Dahme split the lead vocal on the finale. Sib Hashian, while present, refused to go on stage with the other Boston alumni, citing discomfort with Tom Scholz.

Boston playing in Hinckley, MN, in 2008. L to R: Scholz, Sweet, DeCarlo, Dahme, and Pihl. The ongoing conflicts among the surviving band members spilled over to the 2008 Presidential campaign. Barry Goudreau appeared with Mike Huckabee and played with him at some rallies in New Hampshire. [39] Huckabee used "More Than a Feeling" as a campaign theme song.

Scholz, a self-described "Obama supporter", [40] sent an open letter to Huckabee in February 2008 stating that the band had never endorsed any candidate, and that he had never authorized the use of "More Than a Feeling" as Huckabee's theme song. [39] Scholz made a point of saying that he, and not Goudreau or Sheehan, actually played all the guitars on "More Than a Feeling" as well as most of Bostons songs. [40] Huckabee did stop using "More Than a Feeling" as a theme song.

In the spring of 2008, Scholz and Sweet introduced a new Boston lineup, which subsequently did a North American summer tour, playing 53 dates in 12 weeks (on a double bill with Styx). DeCarlo and Sweet shared lead vocals. In January 2009, Greatest Hits was re-released as a remastered disc.

Michael Sweet left the band in August 2011 in order to focus on Stryper. [41] In 2012, guitarist and vocalist David Victor joined the band, beginning in the studio, where he contributed vocals to several tracks on the album in progress. Scholz and Pihl led the band on a 2012 North American tour, beginning on June 28, 2012, at the Seminole Hard Rock Live arena in Hollywood, Florida and ending on September 8 at the U.

Cellular Grandstand in Hutchinson, Kansas. [43][44] Victor and DeCarlo shared lead vocals, with drummer Curly Smith returning for the first time in over a decade, and former Stryper member Tracy Ferrie on bass.

Neither Dahme nor Neal played on the tour. Boston's sixth album, Life, Love & Hope, was released on December 3, 2013, by Frontiers Records; it includes lead vocals from Brad Delp, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, David Victor, and Tom Scholz. Work on the album started in 2002.

[45] On December 11, 2013, Boston re-recorded a Christmas song, "God Rest Ye Metal Gentleman 2013"[46] (previously released in 2002 as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"). In 2014 Boston embarked on the "Heaven on Earth Tour"ning the United States and Japan with a lineup including Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Victor and Ferrie. Victor departed the lineup partway through the tour for unspecified reasons. In his stead, Siobhan Magnus joined the tour as a guest vocalist in July, performing lead vocals on'Walk On'. In 2015, Boston launched another tour with a lineup consisting of Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Ferrie and new member Beth Cohen, who performed keyboards, rhythm guitar and vocals.

Cohen had previously recorded with the group on both Corporate America and Life, Love & Hope as a vocalist and flautist. Initially, the lineup was to include former Spock's Beard drummer and vocalist Nick D'Virgilio for its first month of shows, with Neal then returning, but D'Virgilio proved "not the right fit" and Smith rejoined in his place. [48] This seven-person lineup proved Boston's most stable lineup in some time, touring as well in the summers of 2016 and 2017. The 2016 tour marked the group's 40th anniversary and included shows in Boston's Wang Theatre, their first full performances in their namesake town since 1994. On March 22, 2017, former drummer Sib Hashian died after collapsing during a non-Boston related performance.

The original spaceship was designed in 1976 by Paula Scher and illustrated by Roger Huyssen with lettering by Gerard Huerta for Epic Records. Boston Two long lines of guitar shaped starships flee a planet that is breaking apart. The ships all have blue flames coming out of the bottom. Their spaceship also appeared on their tours in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and early 2000s in the form of a giant lighting rig and accompanied on stage by their giant pipe-organ set piece, which is known to Boston insiders as Bertha because of its sheer size. Boston's genre is considered by most to be hard rock, while combining elements of progressive rock into their music.

Boston founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter Tom Scholz's blend of musical styles, ranging from classical to 1960s English pop, has resulted in a unique sound, most consistently realized on the first two albums (Boston and Don't Look Back). This sound is characterized by multiple lead and blended harmonies guitar work (usually harmonized in thirds), often alternating between and then mixing electric and acoustic guitars. The band's harmonic style has been characterized as being "violin-like" without using synthesizers. [54] Scholz is well-regarded for the development of complex, multi-tracked guitar harmonies. Another contributing factor is the use of handmade, high tech equipment, such as the Rockman, used by artists such as Journey guitarist Neal Schon, the band ZZ Top, and Ted Nugent. Def Leppard's album Hysteria was created using only Rockman technology. [citation needed] Scholz's production style combines deep, aggressive, comparatively short guitar riffing and nearly ethereal, generally longer note vocal harmonies. A heavier, lower, and darker overall approach came in the next two albums (Third Stage and Walk On). The original track "Higher Power", on the Greatest Hits album, exhibits a near Germanic and almost techno influence with its sequencer-sounding keyboards, a sound most fully realized on Corporate America's title track.

Tom Scholz also credited former singer Brad Delp with helping to create Boston's sound with his signature vocal style. Delp, who was strongly influenced by the Beatles, [55] was well known for his extended vocal range, shown on hits such as "More Than a Feeling". Main article: List of Boston band members. Tom Scholz lead and rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals (1976present).

Gary Pihl rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985present). Curly Smith drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals (19941997, 2012present).

Jeff Neal drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002present). Tommy DeCarlo lead vocals, keyboards, percussion (2008present).

Tracy Ferrie bass guitar, backing vocals (2012present). Beth Cohen keyboards, vocals, rhythm guitar (2002, 2012, 2015present)Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1974. The band consists of vocalist Robin Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, and touring drummer Daxx Nielsen.

Carlos stopped touring with the band in 2010 but remains a partner in their business organization. Cheap Trick released their debut album in 1977 and first found success in Japan with the release of their second album, In Color, later that year. The band would not achieve mainstream popularity in the United States until 1979 with their breakthrough album Cheap Trick at Budokan. Over the course of their career the band has experienced several resurgences of popularity and has toured consistently, playing over 5,000 shows.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. In 1961, Rick Nielsen began playing locally in Rockford, Illinois, using an ever-increasing collection of rare and valuable guitars.

He formed several local bands with names like The Boyz and The Grim Reapers. Brad Carlson, later known as Bun E.

Carlos, played in a rival Rockford band, the Pagans. Finally, Nielsen formed Fuse in 1967 with Tom Peterson, later known as Tom Petersson, who had played in yet another local band called The Bo Weevils.

Fuse released a self-titled album for Epic Records in 1970, which was generally ignored. Frustrated by their lack of success, Fuse recruited the two remaining members of Nazz in 1970 and ended up playing around the Midwest for 67 months under two monikers, Fuse or Nazz, depending on where they were gigging. Carlos joining on drums, Fuse moved to Philadelphia in 1971. They began calling themselves "Sick Man of Europe" in 19721973. Randy "Xeno" Hogan was the original lead singer for Cheap Trick.

He left the band shortly after its formation and was replaced by Robin Zander. [1] The name was inspired by the band's attendance at a Slade concert, where Petersson commented that the band used "every cheap trick in the book" as part of their act.

[4] The band recorded (with Hogan) a demo, "Hot Tomato", around mid 1974, parts of which would form "I'll Be with You Tonight", which was first called "Tonight, Tonight" (and a slightly different structure), and "Takin' Me Back". Nielsen and Petersson performing in 1977. With Robin Zander now on vocals, the band recorded a demo in 1975 and played in warehouses, bowling alleys, and various other venues around the midwestern United States.

The band was signed to Epic Records in early 1976 by A&R man Tom Werman, at the insistence of producer Jack Douglas who had seen the band perform in Wisconsin. The songs they had written, such as "I Want You To Want Me", were performed throughout 19751976 but would not be released until a couple of years later. The band released their first album, Cheap Trick, in early 1977, produced by Jack Douglas. While favored by critics, the album was not successful in terms of sales.

[1] The album's lone single "Oh, Candy" failed to chart as did the album. However, the band began to develop a fan base in Japan and "ELO Kiddies" was a hit single in Europe. [citation needed] Their second album In Color was released later that year and was produced by Tom Werman, who brought out their lighter and more pop-oriented side, producing an album much more polished than their first. However, the band bemoaned In Color's production and would re-record it many years later. Moreover, the album was largely unsuccessful.

The singles "I Want You To Want Me" and "Southern Girls" failed to chart. However, "I Want You To Want Me" and "Clock Strikes Ten" were hit singles in Japan, with the latter going to No. [citation needed] In Color ultimately was ranked No.

443 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The band's third album, Heaven Tonight, released in May 1978 and again produced by Tom Werman, combined elements of the first two albums. Regarded by many fans and critics as their best album, the lead-off track "Surrender" was Cheap Trick's first single to chart in the United States, peaking at No.

It has gone on to become one of the band's signature songs. Heaven Tonight is also noteworthy as the first album recorded with a 12-string electric bass. None of Cheap Trick's first three albums made it into the Top 40 in the United States. [1] In Japan, however, all three albums became gold records.

When Cheap Trick went to Japan to tour the country for the first time in April 1978, they were received with a frenzy reminiscent of Beatlemania. [6] During the tour, Cheap Trick recorded two concerts at the Nippon Budokan. Ten tracks taken from both shows were compiled and released as a live album titled Cheap Trick at Budokan, which was intended to be exclusive to Japan. [7] Demand for the import album became so great that Epic Records finally released the album in the United States in February 1979.

Cheap Trick at Budokan launched the band into international stardom, and the album went triple platinum in the United States. [6][8] The first single from the album was the live version of "I Want You to Want Me", which had originally been released on In Color. The second single, "Ain't That A Shame", peaked at No. "Need Your Love" had already been recorded for the forthcoming Dream Police album that had already been finished, but after the unprecedented success of Cheap Trick at Budokan, Epic postponed the album's release. Dream Police was released later in 1979 and was their third album in a row produced by Tom Werman.

The title track of the album was a hit single, as was "Voices". Dream Police also found the band taking its style in a more experimental direction by incorporating strings and dabbling in heavy metal on tracks like "Gonna Raise Hell". A four track EP entitled Found All The Parts was released in mid 1980 and consisted of previously unreleased material. One side of the record contained live recordings and the other side had studio recordings.

The live tracks were a faux live cover of the Beatles' "Day Tripper", and "Can't Hold On", a bluesy track recorded at the Budokan concerts in 1978. The studio tracks were "Such A Good Girl" and "Take Me I'm Yours", which the record claims were recorded in 1976 and 1977, respectively. However, while they were older songs, they were recorded with Jack Douglas in early 1980. A total of nine tracks were recorded with Douglas, and remain obscure as they have only been issued on compilations, promotional samplers, and contest giveaways.

For years, there was a false rumor that this was an album that had been rejected by Epic Records. By 1980, when All Shook Up was released, Cheap Trick was headlining arenas. All Shook Up, produced by former Beatles producer George Martin, reached No. 24 on the charts and was certified gold, but the album's high-class background did not save it from descriptions like "Led Zeppelin gone psycho".

[9] Many fans of the band's earlier albums saw All Shook Up as too weird and experimental. One song from the sessions, "Everything Works if You Let It", appeared on the soundtrack of the film Roadie. This, and "Stop This Game" both missed the top 40, peaking at #44 & #48, respectively. A later reissue of All Shook Up included "Everything Works" as a bonus track. Nielsen and Carlos participated in sessions for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's album Double Fantasy, recording a bass-heavy and experimental version of Lennon's "I'm Losing You", but were never used on the subsequent release, with Lennon favoring a'lighter' sound.

The Cheap Trick version can be found only on the John Lennon Anthology. Nielsen and Carlos were also involved in recording a heavier and slower version of Yoko Ono's "I'm Moving On" which remains unreleased. On August 26, 1980, before the release of All Shook Up, Petersson left the group to record a solo album with his wife Dagmar.

The five-song mini-LP titled Tom Peterson and Another Language was released in 1984. Pete Comita replaced Petersson for the All Shook Up tour, and the band recorded five songs with Comita to contribute to two movie soundtracks. "I'm the Man", "Born to Raise Hell", and "Ohm Sweet Ohm", which were produced by Jack Douglas, went to the film Rock & Rule.

An accompanying soundtrack album for the film was never released and the songs weren't released until 1996 (on the Sex, America, Cheap Trick box set). "Reach Out" and "I Must Be Dreamin'" went to the film Heavy Metal and were produced by Roy Thomas Baker. "Reach Out" was written by Comita and Bob James.

Comita left the band after completing the 198081 World Tour that promoted the All Shook Up album as well as the demo sessions for the band's forthcoming album. He would later claim that he co-wrote songs that appeared on the band's next two albums and was not credited.

Jon Brant became Petersson's steady replacement. In July 1981, CBS Inc.

The lawsuit was settled in early 1982 and work commenced on the next albumOne on One, produced by Roy Thomas Baker. The band changed direction again, this time opting for an album full of brash, shout-along hard rock songs. The album spawned two minor hits with the power ballad "If You Want My Love" and the innuendo-laced rocker "She's Tight". The music videos for both songs received heavy rotation on MTV.

The following year, Cheap Trick released Next Position Please with Todd Rundgren as producer. The album never found much of an audience and Cheap Trick's commercial fortunes were in decline. The first single was a cover of The Motors' "Dancing the Night Away". Epic Records, desperate for a hit from the band, forced the group to record the track, which had been a hit single in Europe.

Rundgren refused to produce the song, and it was instead produced by One On One engineer Ian Taylor. It failed to chart, as did the second single and fan favorite "I Can't Take It". The Ian-Taylor-produced "Spring Break", which was a contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 comedy film of the same name, was also issued as a single, which also failed to chart. In 1984, the band recorded the title track "Up the Creek" to the Tim Matheson comedy Up The Creek, which Nielsen later called "one of the worst" songs he'd ever written.

[10] The track reached No. 36 on Billboard's Top Tracks but was off the chart after two weeks. In 1985 they were reunited with Jack Douglas, who had produced their debut album, to record Standing on the Edge.

The band originally intended to return to their rough-sounding roots on the album, but Douglas backed out of the mixing process due to the legal issues. [citation needed] It was instead mixed by Tony Platt, who added more elements of typical 1980s production. This album was called their "best collection of bubblegum bazooka rock in years".

[11] The album also featured Mark Radice on keyboards, and he was also enlisted to assist in the songwriting process. The album's first single, "Tonight It's You", reached No.

8 on the Billboard's Top Rock Tracks chart and the video received heavy rotation on MTV. The following singles "Little Sister" and "How About You" were released as promotional singles only. During this time, Steve Walsh, between gigs as keyboardist/lead singer of the bands Streets and Kansas, toured with the band as a keyboard player and background vocalist. Cheap Trick also participated in a USO project organized by Kansas drummer Phil Ehart, touring as part of the First Airborne Rock & Roll Division, the band joined other rock bands at U. In 1986, the band recorded "Mighty Wings", the end-title cut for the film Top Gun, released June 1986. They then released The Doctor in the fall, produced by Tony Platt. Some of the songs contained elements of funk, and the band utilized female back-up vocalists for the first time. However, synthesizers and computer-programmed sound effects drowned out most of the prominent instruments, most noticeably the guitar. The album's lone single, "It's Only Love" failed to chart.

The music video for "It's Only Love" made history as the first music video to prominently use American Sign Language. [12] The Doctor turned out to be the final album with Jon Brant as bassist.

Brant parted on good terms with the band, and has performed with the band a number of times since as a special guest or filling in for Petersson. Petersson rejoined the group in 1987 and helped record 1988's Lap of Luxury, produced by Richie Zito. Due to the band's commercial decline, Epic Records forced the band to collaborate with professional songwriters. "The Flame", a typical'80s "factory ballad", was issued as the first single and became the band's first-ever No. The second single, a cover of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" also reached the top 5.

Three other singles from the album were "Ghost Town", "Never Had a Lot to Lose", and "Let Go". Lap of Luxury went platinum and became recognized as the band's comeback album. Busted was released in 1990 and was also produced by Richie Zito, as the band attempted to capitalize on the success of Lap of Luxury. This time, however, the band was allowed more creative control and professional songwriters were only used on a handful of songs. The first single "Can't Stop Falling Into Love" reached No.

12 on the charts but failed to reach as high as the label expected. The second single, the Diane Warren penned "Wherever Would I Be", suffered a worse fate reaching only No. The following single "If You Need Me" was not successful, although the track "Back'n Blue" reached No. 32 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks.

In 1991, Cheap Trick's Greatest Hits was released. It included twelve (twenty-eight on Japan pressing) of the band's most successful or popular singles and one new track, a cover of the Beatles' song "Magical Mystery Tour", which was an outtake from the Lap Of Luxury sessions. In 1993, Budokan II was released.

It featured the tracks that had been omitted from the original live album, plus three more tracks from their follow-up tour in 1979. The release was not authorized by the band, and it is now out of print. That same year, Robin Zander released his eponymous debut solo record on Interscope, produced by Jimmy Iovine. Guitarist Mike Campbell, best known for his work with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, collaborated with Zander on most of the album's tracks. The album was largely unsuccessful but the single "I've Always Got You" reached No.

13 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and No. In 1995, the band guest-starred as a fictitious washed-up band called Pandemonium on the UPN drama series The Watcher (TV series).

The group left Epic after the disappointing sales of Busted to sign with Warner Bros. In 1994 the band released Woke Up With A Monster, which was produced by producer Ted Templeman, best known for his work with Van Halen. The album's title track was issued as the first single and reached No. 16 on the US Mainstream Rock charts. The album's sales were poor, and it peaked at only No.

By the time the album came out, there had been a variety of significant changes in the band, both music-wise and appearance-wise. The style of music is more on the "hard rock" side, their "heaviest" album since One On One. Ted Templeman's heavy-handed production was also the subject of much criticism. Rick Nielsen grew a Van Dyke beard, and Robin Zander's voice grew noticeably deeper. The band also contributed a cover of John Lennon's song "Cold Turkey" on the Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon album.

The band quickly parted ways with Warner Bros. And decided it was time to go back to basics.

They concentrated on the strength of their live shows, and decided to release new recordings to independent labels instead of major companies. Over the next few years, Cheap Trick toured with several bands they had influenced, such as Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. At the end of 1995, the band independently released Gift, a two track Christmas CD that benefited Chicago-area charities. They spent the next year recording demos with Tom Werman and Steve Albini.

They then released the 7 inch vinyl single Baby Talk/Brontosaurus on Seattle-based indie label Sub Pop Records, which was produced by Albini. Now back on speaking terms with their former label, the band released Sex, America, Cheap Trick, a four disc box set that included dozens of rare and unreleased studio and live recordings along with some of the band's singles and favorites, on Epic Records. In 1997, Cheap Trick signed with indie label Red Ant Records and released Cheap Trick, produced by Ian Taylor, who the band had previously worked with in 1982 and 1983.

The band attempted to re-introduce themselves to a new generation, as the album was self-titled and the artwork was similar to their first album which had been released twenty years before. Tom Werman would later claim that he had produced a track on the album and was not credited. [13] The album was critically acclaimed and hailed as a return to form. Eleven weeks after the release, Red Ant's parent company Alliance Entertainment Corporation declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The single "Say Goodbye" only reached No. 119 on the charts, and the band again found themselves without a record label. Two other singles were released from the album, "Baby No More" and "Carnival Game". Cheap Trick began to rebuild in 1998 by trying to restore normal relations with Sony/Epic. They established their own record company, Cheap Trick Unlimited. They toured behind the release of Cheap Trick at Budokan: The Complete Concert, and the remastered re-issues of their first three albums. One of the multi-night stands from this tour resulted in Music for Hangovers, a live album that featured members of the Smashing Pumpkins on two tracks.

Vocalist Robin Zander performing at Gulfstream Park in 2006. To support the record they toured with Guided By Voices, and also played a concert with Pearl Jam. That same year, the band spent time in the studio recording with Steve Albini, who had produced the Baby Talk/Brontosaurus single. The band began re-recording their second album, In Color, as well as a handful of other miscellaneous tracks. The recordings were not finished and have yet to be officially released, but they were leaked onto the Internet.

In 1999, the band recorded a reworked version of Big Star's "In the Street" for use as the theme song for the television show That'70s Show. It was released on the show's soundtrack, That'70s Album (Rockin'). The group also re-recorded "Surrender", which was available exclusively at Getsigned. After spending much of 2001 writing songs and about six weeks of pre-production, Cheap Trick went into Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York in March 2002, where they recorded their first studio album in six years, Special One in May 2003. At the same time, the band brought their record label to Big3 Entertainment. While the lead-off single "Scent of a Woman" was typical Cheap Trick fare, most of the album's tracks were acoustic-based. Two following singles "My Obsession" and "Too Much" were released. The album was met with mixed reviews, with one of the larger subjects of criticism being that the last two tracks on the album were basically the same song. The band also contributed the 1999 re-recorded version of "Surrender" to the comedy film Daddy Day Care, and made a cameo in the film.

They toured with Cake on the Unlimited Sunshine Tour that same year. In Japan, the band's entire catalog released between 1980 and 1990 was re-issued in remastered form. In late 2003, Bun E. Carlos starred in a Target commercial with Torry Castellano, drummer of the Donnas.

In April 2005, Cheap Trick released the five-track SessionsEP for digital download. In 2006, Cheap Trick released Rockford on Cheap Trick Unlimited/Big3 Records. The first single from the album was "Perfect Stranger" (produced by Linda Perry and co-written by Cheap Trick and Perry). The following singles "Come On, Come On, Come On" and "If It Takes a Lifetime" were released shortly after. The band promoted the album through appearances on the Sirius and XM satellite radio networks and a North American tour.

That same year, "Surrender" was featured as a playable track in the hit video game Guitar Hero II, and the albums Dream Police and All Shook Up were re-issued in remastered form with bonus tracks. One On One and Next Position Please (The Authorized Version) were released as digital downloads. The band also appeared in a McDonald's advertising campaign called "This Is Your Wake-Up Call" featuring the band. Guitarist Rick Nielsen performing at Gulfstream Park in 2006.

In 2007, officials of Rockford, Illinois honored Cheap Trick by reproducing the Rockford album cover art on that year's city vehicle sticker. On June 19, 2007, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Resolution 255, which designated April 1 of every year as Cheap Trick Day in the State of Illinois. [16] In August of that year, Cheap Trick honored the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by playing the album in its entirety with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Edwin Outwater, along with guest vocalists including Joan Osborne and Aimee Mann. [17] Geoff Emerick, who engineered all the sound effects on Sgt.

Pepper, engineered the same sounds for the two live concerts. The Chicago chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences honored Cheap Trick at the 2007 Recording Academy Honors event in Chicago on October 11, 2007. Nielsen and Carlos were present to receive the award, which was presented to them by Steve Albini.

In 2008, Cheap Trick were featured in the John Varvatos Spring/Summer clothing ad campaign. The black and white commercial put the group on a boardwalk with bicycles, the filming backdrop was a beach for a very modern look for the band. "California Man", from the album Heaven Tonight was used in the advertising promotion. On April 24, Cheap Trick performed at the Budokan arena for the 30th anniversary of the 1978 album Cheap Trick at Budokan. [18] On November 11, the band released Budokan!

30th Anniversary Deluxe Collector's Edition, a box set featuring 3 CDs of the band's two concerts at Budokan recorded on April 28 and 30, 1978 and a DVD containing concert footage that originally aired on Japanese television, plus bonus features including footage from their return to Budokan for the original album's 30th anniversary. Also in 2008, the song "Dream Police" was featured as a playable track in the video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith. Rock Band 2 also featured the unreleased 1998 re-recorded version of "Hello There" as a playable track and it was also used for the game's opening sequence.

In 2009, the band released The Latest. It was also available in both vinyl and 8-track tape versions on the band's website. [19] The group also performed the theme song for the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Pepper Live, their interpretation of the classic Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on August 25, 2009. This was released as both a compact disc and a DVD. 2009 also saw Bun E.

Carlos launch a separate project including members of Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne, and Hanson: Tinted Windows, a power pop quartet whose debut album quickly earned critical praise. The band headlined a homecoming show at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, IL on Thursday, December 10, 2009 as the main act at the 104.3 WJMK-FM holiday show. In 2010, Cheap Trick's "Dream Police", re-recorded as "Green Police", appeared as the music bed in an Audi commercial that first aired during Super Bowl XLIV. The commercial depicts a man enjoying his Audi TDI, which is apparently painlessly compliant with environmental regulations. Carlos stopped touring with the band. Rick Nielsen's son Daxx, who had filled in for Bun E. While he was recovering from back surgery in 2001, became the band's touring drummer. On April 6, 2010 Sony Music began to re-issue Cheap Trick's albums that had been out of print via re-issue specialty labels Friday Music and Wounded Bird Records. One On One and Next Position Please were released first and have been combined to fit on to one CD.

Standing On The Edge and The Doctor were released separately and Busted was combined with the Found All The Parts EP. In November 2010, the band played a set of shows in the UK, each with an individual set list and their album The Latest was given away as a free disc with the UK magazine Classic Rock. On July 17, 2011 at the Bluesfest in Ottawa, 20 minutes into Cheap Tricks set, a thunderstorm blew through the festival area.

The band and crew were on the stage when without warning the 40-ton roof fell. It fell away from the audience and landed on the band's truck which was parked alongside the back of the stage, breaking the fall and allowing everyone about 30 seconds to escape.

In 2012, Cheap Trick opened for Aerosmith on the Global Warming Tour. In 2013, Carlos filed a lawsuit against his former bandmates, claiming that even though they claimed that he was still a band member, he was not being allowed to participate in band-related activities, including recording. The remaining three members of Cheap Trick filed a counter suit, seeking a legal affirmation of their removal of Carlos. Their lawsuit was dismissed in late 2013.

In 2014, Cheap Trick went on tour with the band Boston. In 2015, the band toured extensively with Peter Frampton in the United States. On February 26, 2015, Robin Zander announced that the Carlos lawsuit was over.

"Weve settled our differences, " Zander said. S a member of the band, but hes not touring and hes not recording. Weve had our differences, but were all settled up now and hopefully we can forget about that era. These decisions that Cheap Trick makes, Bun E. In 2016, Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The induction ceremony was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 8 where the band was introduced by Kid Rock. All four original members were in attendance and performed together for the first time in six years. With Carlos on drums, the band performed "I Want You to Want Me", "Dream Police", "Surrender" and "Ain't That a Shame". Cheap Trick founder and guitarist Rick Nielsen was reportedly excited to play alongside his original bandmate saying they are inducting the people that made the records way back when and that's good.

On April 1, 2016, the band released its first album in five years, Bang, Zoom, Crazy... They released a single, "No Direction Home, " as a teaser for the album.

Zander said, We turned it down. Then we had second thoughts. Maybe we should have accepted itbut we would all have got swastika guitars made.

On June 16, 2017, the band released the album We're All Alright! In August 2017, the band appeared on Insane Clown Posse's single "Black Blizzard". Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander of Cheap Trick. Cheap Trick performs live at Rockfest 80's in Pembroke Pines, Florida on November 4, 2017. The band was featured as a headliner on day one of the annual two day music festival.

On October 20, 2017, the band released a Christmas album, Christmas Christmas. Cheap Trick is known for their four decades of almost continuous touring. They have performed more than 5,000 times and are known worldwide as a premier live act, as the band proved early on with the massive success of Live at Budokan. Cheap Trick is known for its useand large collectionof unusual and vintage guitars and basses. Robin Zander has played a 1950s Rickenbacker Combo 450 Mapleglo since the late 1970s, as well as a Hamer 12-string guitar, a Schecter Guitar Research Corsair Bigsby, a Gibson Firebird, and various Fender Telecaster-styled guitars.

Rick Nielsen is an avid collector who has over 400 guitars in his possession. Hamer has also made unique five-necked guitars and electric mandocellos for Nielsen. Tom Petersson and Jol Dantzig of Hamer Guitars created the idea for a twelve-string bass. Tom Petersson previously had used an Alembic[31][32] and Hagstrom 8-string basses, and asked Dantzig to make a 12-string bass.

The company initially made him a 10-string bass. Following the successful trial use of that bass, the prototype 12-string bass, The Hamer'Quad', was produced. Petersson later used 12-string basses made by Kids (a Japanese guitar maker), Chandler, and signature models from Waterstone and from The Electrical Guitar Company.

During 2015 and 2016, his primary 12-string bass was one of a pair of prototype Gretsch White Falcon basses in all white and also cream / green finishes. They have been said to be envisaged as a future'signature' production model. His primary choice of 4-string bass is a Gibson Thunderbird, though he also owns a very impressive array of 4, 5 and 8 stringed basses from other guitar makers. He is also an endorser of Hofner basses.

Carlos has played with many different commercial drum accessories, including Ludwig and Slingerland Radio King drums, Zildjian cymbals, rare Billy Gladstone snare drums, and Capella drum sticks. He is also an avid collector of vintage drums. Robin Zander lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1974present). Rick Nielsen lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1974present). Tom Petersson bass, backing vocals (19741980, 1987present).

Daxx Nielsen drums (2001, 2010present). Robin Zander Jr rhythm guitar (2018). Carlos drums, occasional backing vocals (19742010; one-off 2012, 2016).

Randy Hogan lead vocals (1974). Pete Comita bass, backing vocals (19801981). Jon Brant bass, backing vocals (19811987, 20042005, 2007; one-off 1999). Magic Cristian keyboards, backing vocals (19821986, 20082011, 2013; one-off 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016).

Steve Walsh keyboards, backing vocals (1985). Mark Radice keyboards, backing vocals (1985). Tod Howarth keyboards, backing vocals (19861987, 19901996, 2000, 2008; guest 1999).

Main article: Cheap Trick discography. Standing on the Edge (1985).

Woke Up with a Monster (1994). Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1974. In April 2005, Cheap Trick released the five-track SessionsAOL EP for digital download.

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