Heart is a rock band which started in Seattle in the 1960s. It became famous with the release of “Dreamboat Annie” in 1976 when the band-members were living in Vancouver.
Heart was started by Steve Fossen and brothers Roger and Mike Fisher in Seattle. Ann Wilson joined the band in Seattle in 1970. Nancy Wilson joined the band in 1974. From then, Ann and Nancy wrote almost all of the band’s songs. From 1976, the band was very successful, and sold many millions of records.
Ann Wilson was the lead singer and sometimes played the flute. Roger Fisher played the lead guitar and sang. Steve Fossen played the bass guitar. Nancy Wilson played lots of different types of guitar and sang. Mike Fisher managed the band and also looked after the sound and the lights. In 1975 some extra people joined the band. Michael DeRosier played the drums. Howard Leese played lots of different instruments and stayed with the band until 1998.
The Fisher brothers left the band in 1979. Steve Fossen and Michael DeRosier left the band in 1982. Denny Carmassi played the drums, Mark Andes played the bass guitar, and Nancy Wilson played the lead guitar. The band did not do much in the 1990s, but Ann & Nancy started doing things again in the early 2000s. Since then, the band has made lots of appearances in public and on TV.
Journey had their biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987, when Steve Perry was lead vocalist; they released a series of hit songs, including “Don’t Stop Believin’” (1981), which in 2009 became the top-selling track in iTunes history among songs not released in the 21st century.[7][8]Escape, Journey’s seventh and most successful album, reached number one on the Billboard 200 and yielded another of their most popular singles, “Open Arms“. The 1983 follow-up album, Frontiers, was almost as successful in the United States, reaching number two and spawning several successful singles; it broadened the band’s appeal in the United Kingdom, where it reached number six on the UK Albums Chart. Journey enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s and have since regrouped twice; first with Steve Augeri from 1998 to 2006,[9] then with Arnel Pineda from 2007 to the present.[10]
Sales have resulted in 25 gold and platinum albums, in addition to the 15-time platinum RIAA Diamond Certified, 1988’s Greatest Hits album.[11] They have had 19 top-40singles in the US (the second-most without a Billboard Hot 100 number-one single behind Electric Light Orchestra with 20), six of which reached the top 10 of the US chart and two of which reached number one on other Billboard charts, and a number-six hit on the UK Singles Chart in “Don’t Stop Believin'”. In 2005, “Don’t Stop Believin'” reached number three on iTunes downloads. Originally a progressive rock band, Journey was described by AllMusic as having cemented a reputation as “one of America‘s most beloved (and sometimes hated) commercial rock/pop bands” by 1978, when they redefined their sound by embracing pop arrangements on their fourth album, Infinity.[12]
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Journey has sold 48 million albums in the US, making them the 25th-best selling band. Their worldwide sales have reached over 100 million records globally, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time.[13] A 2005 USA Todayopinion poll named Journey the fifth-best US rock band in history.[14][15] Their songs have become arena rock staples and are still played on rock radio stations around the world. Journey ranks number 96 on VH1‘s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Cheap Trick released their self-titled debut album in 1977 and, later that year, found success in Japan with the release of their second album, In Color. 1978’s Heaven Tonight included the power pop classic “Surrender“. The band achieved mainstream popularity in the United States in 1979 with the triple-platinum live album At Budokan and a Top 10 single, a live recording of “I Want You to Want Me[6].” They followed with Dream Police (1979), their most commercially successful studio album, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard 200 chart.[7] After struggling with declining popularity and lineup changes in the 1980s, Cheap Trick experienced a major resurgence toward the end of the decade when they topped the US charts with “The Flame“.
The band has continued releasing new music into the 21st century and maintains a constant touring schedule, having performed live more than 5,000 times since their formation.[8] Cheap Trick have sold more than 20 million albums[9] and built a dedicated cult following. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
Their final studio album, Synchronicity (1983), was No. 1 in both the UK and the US, selling over 8 million copies in the US alone. Its lead single, “Every Breath You Take“, became their fifth UK number one, and first in the US. During this time, the band were considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the US; in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them “the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in the world.”[2][3] The Police disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour that ended in August 2008. They were the world’s highest-earning musicians in 2008, due to their reunion tour.[4]
The Cars were at the forefront of the merger of 1970s guitar-oriented rock with the new synthesizer-oriented pop that became popular in the early 1980s. Robert Palmer, music critic for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars’ musical style: “They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the ’50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend.”[5]
The Cars disbanded in 1988.[6] Orr died in 2000 from pancreatic cancer. In 2007, Easton and Hawkes joined Todd Rundgren and others to form the offshoot band The New Cars. The surviving original members of the Cars reunited in 2010 to record the band’s seventh and final album, Move Like This, which was released in May 2011.[7] Following a short tour in support of Move Like This, the band once again went on hiatus. In April 2018, the Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and reunited to perform at the induction ceremony.[4] It was the band’s final performance with Ocasek, who died on September 15, 2019, of cardiovascular disease.[8]
Boston is an American rock band formed by Tom Scholz in Boston, Massachusetts, that had its most commercial successes during the 1970s and 1980s. The band’s core members included multi-instrumentalist, founder and leader Scholz, who played the majority of instruments on the band’s 1976 self-titled debut album, and lead vocalist Brad Delp, among a number of other musicians who varied from album to album.[1] Boston’s best-known songs include: “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“, “Hitch a Ride”, “Party”, “Amanda” and “Feelin’ Satisfied“. The band has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 31 million units sold in the United States, of which 17 million were the band’s debut album and seven million copies of the band’s second studio album, Don’t Look Back (1978), making the group some of the world’s best-selling artists.[2][3] Altogether, the band has released six studio albums in a career spanning over 48 years. Boston was ranked the 63rd-best hard rock artist by VH1.[4]
After Delp’s death in 2007, a number of other vocalists have taken the stage; currently the lead singer is Tommy DeCarlo. Other current members of the band include guitarist Gary Pihl, bassist Tracy Ferrie, drummer Jeff Neal and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Beth Cohen.[5] Stryper front man and vocalist Micheal Sweet filled in on vocals after the death of Brad Delp.
Patricia Mae Giraldo (néeAndrzejewski; formerly Benatar; born January 10, 1953) is an American rock singer and songwriter. In the United States, she has had two multi-platinum albums, five platinum albums, and 15 Billboard top 40 singles,[1] while in Canada she had eight straight platinum albums, and she has sold over 35 million albums worldwide.[citation needed] She is also a four-time Grammy Award winner. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022.
Her 1979 debut album, In the Heat of the Night, was her breakthrough in North America, especially in Canada where it reached No. 3 on the album chart. Two singles from it were hits: “Heartbreaker” and “We Live for Love”, the latter written by her lead guitarist and future husband, Neil Giraldo. Her second album, 1980’s Crimes of Passion, was her most successful work, peaking at No. 2 in North America and France, being certified 4× and 5× platinum in the US and Canada, respectively. Its single “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” reached the top 10 in the US and Canada and is considered to be her best-known song. Her third album, Precious Time (1981), was another success, topping the US Album Chart and becoming her first top 10 album in Australia. Its single “Fire and Ice” charted highly in the US and Canada. Her next release, Get Nervous (1982), sold less well than her previous two albums, but did include the North American hit “Shadows of the Night“.
In 1983 her sound began to move towards more atmospheric pop. The single “Love Is a Battlefield” (1983) was her biggest hit in most countries, reaching No. 1 in the Netherlands, Australia and on the US Rock Tracks chart, and No. 5 on the US Hot 100. The live album it came from, Live from Earth, was her biggest seller in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. In 1984, she released Tropico and its lead single “We Belong“, which reached the top 10 in several countries, including No. 5 on the US Hot 100.
Her 1985 album, Seven the Hard Way, sold less well, but it yielded two singles harking back to the rock vein: “Invincible“, a top 10 hit in North America, and “Sex as a Weapon“. Her follow-up, Wide Awake in Dreamland (1988), marked a resurgence in sales in Canada and Australia, and was her biggest hit in the UK. Its rocker, “All Fired Up“, was a significant hit in Canada, Australia and the US. She released four additional albums between 1991 and 2003.
Pat Benatar was born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski on January 10, 1953, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City.[2] Her mother, Mildred (née Knapp; 1928–2016), was a beautician, and her father, Andrew (Andrzej) Andrzejewski (1926–2009), was a sheet-metal worker.[3] Her father was of Polish descent and her mother was of German, English, and Irish ancestry.[4] Her family moved to North Hamilton Avenue in Lindenhurst, New York, a village in the Long Island town of Babylon.[5]
She became interested in theater and began voice lessons at Daniel Street Elementary School, singing her first solo at the age of eight, a song called “It Must Be Spring”.[citation needed] At Lindenhurst Senior High School (1967–1970), she participated in musical theatre, playing Queen Guinevere in the school production of Camelot, marching in the homecoming parade, singing at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, and performing a solo of “The Christmas Song” on a holiday recording of the Lindenhurst High School Choir in her senior year.[citation needed]
Sir Elton Hercules JohnCHCBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947[1]) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his work during the 1970s and for his lasting impact on the music industry, his music and showmanship have had a significant impact on popular music.[2] His songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin is one of the most successful in history.[3]
John was raised in Pinner and learned to play piano at an early age, winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied for five years. He formed the blues band Bluesology in 1962, but left in 1967 to embark on a solo career and met Taupin the same year. For two years, they wrote songs for other artists, and John worked as a session musician. In 1969, John released his debut album Empty Sky, and a year later formed the Elton John Band, also releasing his first hit single, “Your Song“.[4] John’s critical success was at its peak in the 1970s, when he released a string of chart-topping albums both in the US and UK, which began with Honky Château (1972) and culminated with Rock of the Westies (1975).[5] His success continued in the 1980s and 1990s, having several hit singles and albums in both decades,[6][7] and he has continued to record new music since.[8][9] John has also had success in musical films and theatre, composing music for The Lion King, Aida, and Billy Elliot the Musical. John’s final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road (2018–2023), became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time.[10] His life and career were dramatised in the 2019 biopic Rocketman.
John is an HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser and has been involved in the fight against AIDS since the late 1980s.[11][12][13] He established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992, which has raised over £300 million since its inception, and a year later he began hosting his annual AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Party, which has since become one of the biggest high-profile Oscar parties in the Hollywood film industry.[14] John was the chairman and director of Watford F.C. from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 to 2002, and is an honorary life president of the club.[15][16] From the late 1970s to the late 1980s, John developed a severe addiction to drugs and alcohol, but has been clean and sober since 1990.[17] In 2005 he entered a civil partnership with his long-term partner, the Canadian filmmaker David Furnish. They married in 2014, when same-sex marriage became legal in England and Wales.[18]
Supertramp were a British rock band that formed in London in 1970. They experienced their greatest global success in 1979 with their sixth album Breakfast in America. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending progressive rock and pop styles as well as for a sound that relied heavily on Wurlitzer electric piano.[5][6] The group’s lineup changed numerous times throughout their career, with Davies being the only constant member throughout its history. The classic lineup, which lasted ten years from 1973 to 1983, comprised Davies, Hodgson, Dougie Thomson (bass), Bob Siebenberg (drums) and John Helliwell (saxophone).
Initially a prog-rock group, they began moving towards a more pop-oriented sound with their third album, Crime of the Century (1974), the first album with the classic lineup.[5] The band reached their commercial peak with 1979’s Breakfast in America, which yielded the international top 10 singles “The Logical Song“, “Breakfast in America“, “Goodbye Stranger” and “Take the Long Way Home“. Their other top 40 hits included “Dreamer” (1974), “Give a Little Bit” (1977) and “It’s Raining Again” (1982). In 1983, Hodgson left the group to pursue a solo career. The band continued with Davies as the sole leader until 1988, after which they disbanded and periodically reformed in various configurations, with two further albums resulting from these.
As of 2007, Supertramp album sales exceeded 60 million.[7] They attained significant popularity in North America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. Their highest sales levels were in Canada, where they had two diamond-certified (ten-times platinum) albums (Crime of the Century and Breakfast in America), and their only number 1 singles anywhere (“The Logical Song” and “Dreamer”).
