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Bryan Adams OC , OBC , (born 5 November , 1959 ) is a Canadian Rock singer, Guitarist , Songwriter and Photographer . Some of his best-known albums are '' Reckless '', '' 18 Til I Die '', and '' Waking Up The Neighbours ''. Adams was awarded the (2007) for his songwriting in the film '' Bobby ''.http://www.thegoldenglobes.com His 16 consecutive weeks spent on top of the UK Singles Charts (for Everything I Do (I Do It For You) ) remains a record. EARLY LIFE Adams was born in parents, but also has Maltese ancestry, his grandmother and great-grandmother being from Malta , http://www.di-ve.com/dive/portal/portal.jhtml?id=281372. He personally paid tribute to his Maltese ancestors at a massive concert held in Malta on the 28th of June 2007. He has lived in England , Israel , France , Portugal , and Austria with his diplomat parents through most of the 1960s. They periodically returned to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada http://www.answers.com/topic/colonel-by-secondary-school until settling in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1973. Adams started his musical career after dropping out of school at the age of 15. MUSICAL CAREER 1970s As an adolescent, he pursued his musical goals with a singlemindedness. He explained to Steve Pond from '' in a Vancouver music store led to a song-writing partnership that continues to this day. As O'Hara from ''Macleans'' magazine phrased it, "Vallance was looking for a singer, Adams was looking for a route to musical respectability, and the two hit it off immediately." The pair began writing songs together and recording demonstration tapes. In 1978, at the age of 18, Adams sent a few demo recordings to A&M Records in Toronto, and was signed to them not long afterwards for the sum of one dollar. Saidman, page 47 He has released 14 albums since then. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably "I'm Ready" (recorded for both the album ''Cuts Like a Knife'' and later his release for MTV Unplugged) and "Remember", which went on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists before his first album was even released. It was during this time that Adams recorded the disco hit, "Let Me Take You Dancing." Bryan was apparently disappointed with the sound of his vocals in produced versions of the song http://www.jimvallance.com/01-music-folder/songs-folder-may-27/pg-song-adams-let-me-take.html, and the song does not appear on any Adams CDs. As of mid-2007, Sirius Satellite Radio plays the song on its Channel 37 (The Strobe). 1980s The Self-titled Debut Album was released in February of 1980 , and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance. With the exception of "Remember" and "Wastin' Time" most of the album was recorded from October 29 - November 29 1979 at Manta Studios in Toronto and co-produced by Adams and Vallance. The album was certified gold in Canada much later in 1986 . During the early 1980s Adams and Vallance also co-wrote a number of songs for Vallance's band Prism . Among these was "Don't Let Him Know", which turned out to be Prism's only Billboard Top 40 hit (#39 in 1982 ), but the first of many for Adams as a songwriter. Adams' second album, '' You Want It You Got It '' was recorded in New York City in two weeks and it marked Adams' first album co-produced by Bob Clearmountain . It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit "Lonely Nights", but it was not until his third album, Cuts Like A Knife February 1983 , that he broke through with four hits in 1983, most notably with the title track. The album achieved much commercial success, rising to #8 on the Billboard Album Chart. Several of the songs on the album, including the title track, remain concert favourites with Adams to this day. '' Reckless '' was released on Adams' 25th birthday, 5 November 1984 . It reached #1 on the Billboard Album Chart and gave rise to no fewer than six hit singles, including Run To You , Summer Of '69 and Adams' first #1 single, "Heaven" . ''Reckless'' has since been certified five times platinum in the US. In 1984, Tina Turner recorded a duet with Adams entitled "It's Only Love". In addition to being a radio and MTV staple, the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Adams' 1987 album, '' Into The Fire '' was also certified platinum. This was the last album completely written by Adams and Vallance, but many of the fragments of their other songs ended up on the forthcoming blockbuster '' Waking Up The Neighbours ''. Live! Live! Live! is the complete recording of a concert in Werchter , Belgium on 3 July 1988 , which was broadcast by the CBC in Canada and on MTV around the world. 1990s One of Adams' most successful albums is ''", starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman . This album and the single went to number one in many countries in the world in 1991 and 1992 , with the song spending a record-breaking 16 weeks at number one on UK Singles Chart and 17 weeks on top of US Hot 100 Singles Sales , including record-breaking sales of 3 million in the US. Canadian Content regulations were revised in 1991 to allow radio stations to credit airplay of this album towards their legal requirements to play Canadian music. Adams has won a 1991 Grammy Award in the Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or For Television category for co-writing it. The next album was the hits collection '' So Far So Good '' lead by a new song " Please Forgive Me ", a slow rock ballad, both released from 1993 . ''So Far So Good'' has since been certified five times platinum in the US. Later the same year Adams recorded the single " All For Love " together with Sting and Rod Stewart , for the film '' The Three Musketeers '', starring Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen . In 1995 ''Bryan Adams'', a book written by Bryan Adams, was published by Firefly Books . In the period 1996 - 1999 Adams released an album each year. '' 18 Til I Die '' in summer 1996 , which featured the flamenco flavoured hit " Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? " with Spanish guitarist Paco De Lucia from the film '' Don Juan DeMarco '' starring Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando . This song earned Adams his second Oscar nomination. The album sold more than 1 million copies in the US. Bryan Adams MTV Unplugged was released in the winter of 1997 , '' On A Day Like Today '' autumn 1998 , and '' The Best Of Me '' worldwide in 1999 and in the U.S. in early 2002 . In this period Adams made 3 duets; " Rock Steady " (with Bonnie Raitt ), " I Finally Found Someone " (with Barbra Streisand ) earning him his third Oscar nomination and " When You're Gone " (with Melanie C ). "When You're Gone" was a #3 hit in the UK in 1999 (UK sales 635000). 2000s In 2000 , Adams provided vocals for Don't Give Up by Chicane , alias for English producer Nick Bracegirdle. This song went to #1 in the UK singles chart. In 2001 , Adams released the live videos '' Live At The Budokan '' recorded at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo , and '' Live At Slane Castle '', the recording of the Slane Concert which he headlined in 2000 In May 2002, he released together with Hans Zimmer the '''' DreamWorks soundtrack, which went gold in the US. In 2004 , Adams released his first studio album in six years, '' Room Service ''. The album went to #4 in the UK and #1 in all of Europe, selling 440,000 copies in its first week there. In 2005 , Adams issued '' Anthology '', a two disc set, released as a retrospective collection of hits and some more obscure tracks from 25 years of recording. He also released the DVD, '' Live In Lisbon ''. Also in 2005, Adams sang the theme song for the Fox TV series '' Stacked '' (starring Pamela Anderson ), which ran for a season and a half. Recent/future events , Mexico .]] Adams continues his work in film soundtracks, in the hit movie, '' The Guardian (2006 Film) '' starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher , Adams wrote and performed the song "Never Let Go" which was featured in the closing credits. It has become known as the theme to the movie. Adams also co-wrote the song Never Gonna Break My Faith for the film '' Bobby '' which was sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige . This work earned him a Golden Globe Nomination in 2007 . Adams also continues to tour regularly. = Upcoming Album Adams has talked of recording a new album since 2005 and summer of 2007 seems possible. On 9th May 2007, during his concert at the NEC Arena , in Birmingham, England, Adams announced to fans that his new album was intended to be released simultaneous with his tour, however, the album is still unfinished. He is now hoping for a release before the summer of 2007. At a June 2007 concert in Hamburg , Germany , Adams said he was trying for a fall (Autumn) release of the new album but still sounded uncertain. In July 2007, Billboard reported that Adams has been working on his upcoming Eleventh Studio Album "for a couple of years now" and it is now close to completion, however he is still looking for a record label in the United States.http://www.badfan.info/pictures/details.php?image_id=2980 Adams is hoping for an autumn 2007 release.http://www.bryanadams.nu/reviews/Bryan_Adams_interview_Aug2007-Asbury_Park_press(USA).html BACKING BAND Unlike many solo artists, Adams does not use a rotation of Session Musician s in his Backup Band ; he has a group of musicians with whom he tours regularly, the lineup of which seldom changes. In this respect, Bryan Adams is more like a band than a solo artist, with the same group of musicians appearing on all albums and live performances. The current lineup is as follows:
Scott and Curry have been working with Adams consistently since the early 1980s, while Fisher and Breit have only been part of the band since the early 2000s. Before them, Tommy Mandel regularly played keyboards in the band and Dave Taylor played bass guitar (80s-1997) while Pat Steward played drums in the early 80's, and is heard in the original Summer Of 69 . SOCIAL ACTIVIST Since the 1980s, Bryan Adams has been a noted social activist, to this day participating in concerts and other activities to help raise money and/or awareness for a variety of different causes. Concerts Over the years, Adams has taken part in many charity concerts. What was perhaps his first high profile charity appearance came in 1985 when he opened the United States portion of Live Aid . In June of the next year, Adams participated in the two-week Amnesty International "A Conspiracy of Hope" tour alongside Sting , U2 and Peter Gabriel . His next appearance for amnesty was in February 1987 on Rock For Amnesty with Paul McCartney , Sting and Dire Straits , among others. Playing in the U.S. section of Live Aid, Adams did not get the chance to play at Wembley Stadium , however another chance came in June 1987 when Adams played there at the 5th Annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala along Elton John , George Harrison , Ringo Starr and others. Adams was to return to Wembley Stadium the following year when he played at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert. 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 ' Massive Performance of '' The Wall '' in Berlin , Germany . Adams has played his part in helping to raise money for more recent causes. On January 29 , 2005 , Adams joined the CBC benefit concert in Toronto for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake . 20 years after performing at Live Aid in the USA, Adams played at Canada's Live 8 Show In Barrie, Ontario . Later that year, he played in Qatar and raised an astonishing £1.5M ($2,617,000) from the performance and the auction of a guitar he purposely had signed by many of the world's most prominent guitarists. The money went to Qatar's " Reach Out To Asia " campaign to help the underprivileged across the continent. Money raised also went to some of his own projects like rebuilding a school in Thailand and building a new sports center in Sri Lanka , both of which had been devastated by the aforementioned Indian Ocean Tsunami . .]] On January 29 , 2006 , Adams became the first western artist to perform in Karachi, Pakistan , in conjunction with a benefit concert to raise money for underprivileged children to go to school. Some of the proceeds of that concert also went to victims of the 2005 Pakistan Earthquake . Records Adams has also been involved in the production of records that have raised money for charity. In 1985, Adams and songwriting partner Jim Vallance along with David Foster co-wrote the Canadian benefit record for Ethiopia called '' Tears Are Not Enough ''. In March 1989, Rainbow Warriors , an album supporting Greenpeace and featuring Bryan Adams with other artists, is released in the Soviet Union on the Melodiya label. Adams' 1998 album, '' On A Day Like Today '', supported the Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald in Tennessee and Elefriends in England. Campaigns/Awareness raising In 1992, Adams became the centre of a dispute on Canadian Content regulations which were changed as a result. In the mid 1990s, Adams successfully campaigned for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with Greenpeace Chairman David McTaggert (the two distributed over 500,000 postcards at concerts around the world encouraging politicians to vote ''yes'' for the creation of the sanctuary). After a performance in Amman, Jordan Adams pleased his Arab fans when they heard (during an interview with a local TV channel) that he was not a supporter of the U.S. Invasion Of Iraq . Other charity work On May 25 , 2005 , Adams raised £1.3M with cousin Johnny Armitage , from a concert and auction entitled Rock By The River for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London . On May 15 of the next year, Adams returned to London to attend the Hope Foundation 's event (hosted by designer Bella Freud ), helping to raise a portion of the £250,000 to support the Palestinian refugee children. On the same day, he was made an ambassador to the Prince's Trust, an honorary appointment made by Prince Charles ' charity in London to raise awareness for young people looking for work. The following June, 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 UCLH (University College London Hospitals). AS A PHOTOGRAPHER Adams has had his photographs published in ''British Vogue '', '' Vanity Fair '', '' Harper's Bazaar '', '' Jane '', '' Interview '' magazine and '' I-D '', among others. His other photographic efforts include publishing '' Zoo Magazine '', the fashion/art magazine based in Berlin , Germany. On 1 June 2005 , he published his first book of photos in the United States with Calvin Klein called '' American Women ''; proceeds from this book go to breast cancer research for programs at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He released a similar book of photos called ''Made'' in Canada in December 1999, and another one in 2000 called ''Haven'', all of his books have been dedicated to his friend Donna, who died of breast cancer. In 2002, Adams was invited, along with other photographers from the ), another portrait of both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. On 15 March 2006 , Adams was presented with the Gold Award for his photo editorial on actor Mickey Rourke at the German Lead Awards in Hamburg, Germany. In September 2006, a retrospective portfolio of Adams's work was released by '' Stern '' magazine in Germany with a topless photograph of the singer Pink on the cover. Bryan Adams supports the ''Hear the World'' initiative as official photographer in its aim to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss. Adams recently photographed stars Joss Stone , Moby and Lindsay Lohan for their magazine, a quarterly culture and lifestyle publication dedicated to the topic of hearing. Photographic exhibitions include:
PERSONAL LIFE
DISCOGRAPHY See Also: Bryan Adams discography FILMOGRAPHY
IN POPULAR CULTURE
SEE ALSO BOOKS
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