Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams OC OBC FRPS (born November 5, 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million[2] and more than 100 million records and singles worldwide,[3][4] placing him on the list of best-selling music artists. Adams was the most played artist on Canadian radio in the 2010s[5] and has had 25 top-15 singles in Canada and a dozen or more in the US, UK, and Australia.
This article is about the Canadian singer and songwriter. For other uses, see Bryan Adams (disambiguation).
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams
November 5, 1959
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- record producer
- photographer
- Vocals
- guitar
- bass guitar
1975–present
At age 15, Adams replaced Nick Gilder as lead singer of glam rock band Sweeney Todd and at age 20 his eponymous debut album was released. He rose to fame in North America with the 1983 top ten album Cuts Like a Knife, featuring its title track and the ballad "Straight From the Heart", his first US top ten hit, which he wrote at age 18. His 1984 Canadian and US number one album, Reckless became the first album by a Canadian to be certified diamond in Canada and made him a global star with six charting singles including "Run to You" and "Summer of '69", both top ten hits in the US and Canada, and the power ballad "Heaven", a US number one hit.[6] His 1987 album Into the Fire, with its US and Canadian top ten song, "Heat of the Night", rose to number two in Canada and the top ten in the US and several other countries.
In 1991, Adams released "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", which went to number one in at least 19 countries, including for 16 straight weeks in the UK.[7] It is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. The song was included on Adams' Waking Up the Neighbours (1991), a worldwide number one album that sold 16 million copies, including being certified diamond in Canada.[8] Another major hit off the album was the Canadian number one and US number two hit "Can't Stop This Thing We Started", which also went top ten in several other countries. Beginning in 1993, Adams' hits were mostly ballads, including the worldwide number one or two hits "Please Forgive Me" (1993); "All for Love" (1993); and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (1995), the latter two topping the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[9] Adams' 1993 greatest hits compilation album, So Far So Good, topped the charts in numerous countries selling 13 million copies worldwide, including being certified 6× platinum in Canada, 5× platinum in the US, and 14× platinum in Australia.
In 1996, Adams' 18 til I Die was a top five album in many countries, but only reached number 31 in the US. He did duets with Barbra Streisand ("I Finally Found Someone" (1996), his last US top ten hit) and Melanie C ("When You're Gone" (1998), an international top five hit). In the 1990s, Adams had six European Radio Airplay number one songs for 32 weeks, the fourth and third most, respectively; and three number one songs on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles for 29 weeks total, the most weeks of any artist. Since 1999, Adams released eight albums, three reaching number one in Canada, and the last three reaching the top three in the UK, Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Adams is ranked 48th on the list of all-time top artists on the Billboard Hot 100.[10] Adams has won 20 Juno Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media amongst 16 Grammy nominations, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and three Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.[11] Adams has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Canada's Walk of Fame, the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame,[12][13] the Canadian Music Hall of Fame[14] and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.[4] On May 1, 2010, Adams received the Governor General's Awards in Performing Arts - Lifetime Artistic Achievement for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.[15]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Bryan Guy Adams was born on November 5, 1959, in Kingston, Ontario,[16] the son of Elizabeth Jane (née Watson) and Conrad J. Adams, an English couple who emigrated to Canada from Plymouth, South West England in the 1950s.[17] One of his grandmothers and his great-grandmother was from Floriana, Malta.[18] His father, an officer from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the British Army, joined the Canadian Army and later worked as a United Nations peacekeeping observer and Canadian foreign service diplomat.[17]
Adams travelled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Lisbon, where he attended the Carlucci American International School of Lisbon,[19] and Vienna, where he attended the American International School Vienna, in the 1960s, and to Tel Aviv in the early 1970s.[20] Raised in Ottawa, he attended Colonel By Secondary School in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa.[21] In 1974, Adams, his mother, and younger brother Bruce moved to North Vancouver while his father was posted abroad. While there, he attended Argyle Secondary School and Sutherland Secondary School.[22][23]
Early career[edit]
Adams bought his first electric guitar at the age of 10 in Reading, an Italian brand from Gherson, based on a Fender Stratocaster.[24] In an interview with music magazine Guitar World, Adams said:
Artistry[edit]
Musical style[edit]
Adams has played various styles of rock, from hard rock and arena rock to pop rock and soft rock. During the first few years of his career in the 1970s Adams fronted Canadian glam rock band Sweeney Todd; the band played hard rock as well as glam rock.[28] His early songs were about kids and about the lives of young people, and he is known for his romantic ballads.
Adams has discussed political or social issues, such as with songs such as "Native Son" and "Remembrance Day" from the album Into the Fire,[78] "Don't Drop That Bomb on Me" from Waking Up the Neighbours, and "Ultimate Love" from Ultimate. In 1978, after meeting with the drummer and main songwriter Jim Vallance for Canadian rock band Prism under the pseudonym "Rodney Higgs",[232] the initial course was quite difficult. Demos of Adams' early songs were rejected by numerous record companies.
In 1978, the Adams–Vallance duo managed to sign their record deal with A&M Records and released the single "Let Me Take You Dancing". It is notable for being Adams' first solo single and his first-ever release as a solo artist, when he was 19.[233] The genre of the single was disco; the melody, a piano riff inspired by Robbie King, was composed by Vallance on his parents' piano during the Christmas holidays in 1977; Adams, meanwhile, helped turn the riff into a song. In 1982, Vallance and Adams received a call from producer Michael James Jackson to contribute some songs for the next Kiss album. Although Vallance and Adams were not fans of heavy metal, it was a golden opportunity for exposure for their songs by a world-class rock group. In collaboration with Gene Simmons, the track "War Machine" and a rewrite "Rock 'n Roll Hell" were recorded by Kiss for the album Creatures of the Night.[234] Adams' first solo albums, Bryan Adams and You Want It You Got It, two clear-cut rock and hard rock albums, respectively, indicated the styles that Adams would become famous for.[235] In 1983, with the release of Cuts Like a Knife, Reckless and Into the Fire, their music was characterized by being hard rock with melodic overtones and powerful ballads (known as power ballads); the production of the first five albums was in cooperation with the American record producer Bob Clearmountain.[236][237]
In the 1990s, with the release of Waking Up the Neighbours in 1991, produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange, they left the hard rock sound and released an album closer to classic rock and roll, taking inspiration from the sounds of bands like Def Leppard and Foreigner.[238] In 1996, with his album 18 til I Die, Adams and Lange adopted a pop rock sound more in line with the style of the time. Many ballads were included, although it also contained some rock songs such as "18 til I Die" and "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You".[239]> The album includes the collaboration of Adams with Gretchen Peters. In 1998, On a Day Like Today was released, co-produced by his compatriot Bob Rock, he opted for a sound oriented to pop rock, heavily influenced by contemporary bands.
Upon their return in 2000 with the album Room Service, Adams produced the album and co-wrote the songs with various co-writers, the themes of the songs being varied between street life, touring, truth, love and relationships. He again opted for a rock-oriented sound. In 2008, with 11, produced by the same Adams with the collaboration of Mutt lange, he sees the return of his long-time collaborator Jim Vallance after more than 15 years, he has experienced a sound softer, combining songs from soft rock, pop rock and melodic rock.[240] With Get Up produced entirely by Jeff Lynne, they continued in the line of rock, with the strong influence of Lynne's fifty-year experience.[241] In 2019, with Shine a Light, he combined rock with pop rock and R&B.[242]
Influences and favourite musicians[edit]
Among his youthful influences, the musician has often mentioned Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan as well as all the pop and rock he heard as a boy on the radio. His main sources of inspiration also include guitarists, besides Blackmore, he was influenced by guitarists such as Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Mick Ronson, Jeff Beck, Peter Frampton and Eddie Van Halen. Other influential and favourite artists were Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, Bob Marley, Bob Seger, Chuck Berry, David Bowie, Jackie Wilson, Joe Cocker, John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, The Beatles, The Who, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison.[243][244][245]
Activism and humanitarian work[edit]
Humanitarian work[edit]
Most of Adams's philanthropic activity is through The Bryan Adams Foundation, which "aims to improve the quality of people's lives around the world by providing financial grants to support specific projects that are committed to bettering the lives of other people".[259] The foundation is mostly funded by Adams himself.
Benefit concerts and humanitarian awards[edit]
Adams has participated in concerts and other activities to help raise money and awareness for a variety of causes. His first high-profile charity appearance came in 1985 when he opened the US transmission of Live Aid from Philadelphia.[260] In June 1986, Adams participated in the two-week Amnesty International "A Conspiracy of Hope" tour alongside Sting, U2 and Peter Gabriel.[260] In 1986, Adams performed at The Prince's Trust All-Star Rock Concert in Wembley Arena to celebrate first 10 years of the Trust and again in June 1987 at the 5th Annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala along with Elton John, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others.
On June 11, 1988, Adams performed at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert at Wembley Stadium.[261] In June 1988, Adams and Joe Cocker played in Weißensee in front of a crowd of over 85,000 people.[262][263]
In March 1989, Adams performed on the Greenpeace album Rainbow Warriors, which was also released in the Soviet Union on the Melodiya label. According to Greenpeace, worldwide sales raised more than $8 million for Greenpeace initiatives.[264]
In July 1989, Adams committed to work on another charity record: the remake of the Deep Purple classic "Smoke on the Water" for Rock Aid Armenia to obtain funds for the 1988 Armenian earthquake.[265]
Adams helped commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall when, in 1990, he joined many other guests, including his songwriting partner Michael Kamen, for Roger Waters' The Wall – Live in Berlin, in which he performed several Pink Floyd alongside artists including Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, Van Morrison, and Paul Carrack.[266]
On March 2, 1993, Adams performed alongside artists including Tina Turner, James Taylor, George Michael, Tom Jones and Dustin Hoffman at that year's edition of Rock for the Rainforest, a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall hosted by Sting and his wife Trudie Styler to benefit the Rainforest Foundation Fund. It raised $800,000 for indigenous rights.[267]
On April 24, 1993, he participated in the benefit concert Farm Aid at the Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.[268]
On December 10, 1997, Adams took part in a concert called "A Gift of Song", in celebration of the US Committee for UNICEF 50th Anniversary, held at the Z-100 Jingle Ball Madison Square Garden in New York City.[269]
On January 29, 2005, Adams was one of 150 performers at "Canada for Asia", a CBC benefit concert in Toronto for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; the concert raised $4 million.[270][271][272]
In July 2005, Adams played at Live 8 concert, Barrie, Ontario, to raise awareness about poverty.[273][274]
In September 2005, he performed in Qatar to benefit "Reach Out To Asia" benefiting the underpriveled in Asia and those affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.[275] Adams organized a charity auction of a white Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by himself as well as other prominent guitarists including Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend, Liam Gallagher, and Noel Gallagher. The guitar raised US$2.8 million, also benefiting "Reach Out To Asia", and thus set a record as the world's costliest guitar.[276]
Through the Rock by the River concert, held on May 25, 2005, Adams raised £1.3M with cousin Johnny Armitage, for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London.[277]
In June 2008, he offered individuals from the public the chance to bid to sing with him live in concert at three different charity auctions in London. Over £50,000 was raised with money going to the NSPCC, Children in Need, and the University College Hospital. On February 28, 2008, he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto with Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program.[278]
Personal life[edit]
Adams became a vegan in 1989, when he was 28 years old, and said that he has more energy as a result of the decision and says that his motto is "If you love animals, don’t eat them".[389][390][391][392]
Adams has never married. In the 1990s, for 12 years, he was in a relationship with Danish model Cecilie Thomsen. Thomsen said that he had an affair with Diana, Princess of Wales; Adams insists they were just friends.[393] Adams and Alicia Grimaldi, his former personal assistant and now trustee and co-founder of his namesake foundation, had their first daughter in April 2011 and their second daughter in February 2013.[394] He maintains homes in London[17] and Paris; the house in Paris was listed on Airbnb.[395]
On October 30, 2021, Adams cancelled his participation in a tribute to singer Tina Turner, just before the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, after testing positive for COVID-19.[396]
On July 20, 2023, Adams was announced as co-founder of Scottish based music start up SongBox, a web application that allows musicians and other audio content creators to securely store and share their files with anyone they choose.[397][398]
Radio broadcasting[edit]
Radio programs[edit]
Between 2016 and 2019, Adams presented his favorite songs on several episodes of BBC Rocks on BBC Radio 2.[413]
