Steve Forbert
Samuel Stephen Forbert (born December 13, 1954)[1] is an American pop/folk singer-songwriter. His 1979 song "Romeo's Tune" reached No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also spent two weeks at No. 8 in Canada.[2] Forbert's first four albums all charted on the Billboard 200 chart, with Jackrabbit Slim certified gold in Canada. In 2004, his Any Old Time album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk category.[3] Forbert has released twenty studio and three live albums.
Steve Forbert
Samuel Stephen Forbert
December 13, 1954
Meridian, Mississippi, United States
- Musician
- guitarist
- singer-songwriter
- Vocals
- guitar
- harmonica
1978–present
- Blue Rose Music
- Nemperor/CBS
- Geffen
- Giant
- BMG
- Paladin
- Rolling Tide
- Koch
- Valley Entertainment
- Silverline
- Disky
- 429
- Blue Corn
Forbert's songs have been recorded by several artists, including Rosanne Cash, Keith Urban, Marty Stuart and Webb Wilder.[4] In 2017, a tribute album, An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert, was released, with covers of his songs by twenty-one artists.[5] Bob Harris of BBC Radio 2 said Forbert has "One of the most distinctive voices anywhere."[6]
In September 2018, he released his self-penned memoir, Big City Cat: My Life in Folk Rock, with editor Therese Boyd. It accompanied the release of his 19th studio album The Magic Tree on Blue Rose Music.
Early life[edit]
Forbert was born in Meridian, Mississippi, United States.[7] As a child, he fell in love with music, even playing air guitar in a pretend band he called The Mosquitos. Due to a fascination with Top 40 radio, he proclaimed himself a "music junkie." At 17, he started writing songs, and soon moved to New York City in 1976,[7] to experience the punk rock scene of the 1970s. There he performed on the street to passersby in Greenwich Village, and had early shows as a singer with a guitar and harmonica at punk club CBGB before moving on to folk venues Kenny's Castaways and Folk City.[8][9]