Singer, songwriter, guitarist

From his early image as a poster boy for good times, through his award-winning collaboration on "Tears Are Not Enough"--Canada's contribution to the mid 1980s Live Aid effort--through duets with the likes of Tina Turner and Luciano Pavarotti, to proclaiming himself "18 `Til I Die," Brian Adams has forged an impressive and varied career. Even back in the mid 1980s Nicholas Jennings in Maclean's called him "arguably Canada's brightest male star" with a wider distribution "than any Canadian in history". His position as one of rock and roll's leading men has persisted. Like the white t-shirt he has favoured since rocking as a teenager, Adams' music can be described as simple and classic, with well-crafted melodies and straightforward lyrics evident in his uptempo rock songs as well as his tender ballads. "His music is about guys and girls," explained Pat Steward, Adams' drummer, to Jane O'Hara in Maclean's. "They're melodies that stick in your head."

Focus on Rock and Roll

Adams was born on November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario to parents who were former British citizens. His father came from a military family and served in the Canadian diplomatic corps, which led to frequent relocations during Brian's childhood. Adams attended strict military schools in several countries, including England, Austria, Portugal and Israel. "The discipline that they taught me in school was good," Adams recalled to Steve Pond in Rolling Stone, "because I was able to focus on things--but I didn't realize that at the time. So I got sent to the headmaster a lot." His parents separated when he was 16 and he lived with his mother in Vancouver, dropping out of school that same year to focus on rock and roll.

Adams' early musical development is echoed, if not narrated, in his 1985 hit, "Summer of `69": "I got my first real six string I Bought it at the five-and-dime I Played it till my fingers bled I It was the summer of `69." Though Adams was only ten in 1969, a year or two later he did indeed buy his first guitar and played it obsessively. "In high school," he told Pond, "I was too far into my music to even pay attention to girls." Interestingly enough, the song's narrator is put in a position of choosing between his girlfriend ("As we stood on your mother's porch / You told me it would last forever") and pursuing a music career ("I knew that it was now or never"), and opts for the latter. The song translated well to video, concluding with Adams jamming with his band in a garage as the ex-girlfriend drives by and the singer reminisces, "those were the best days of my life."

After Adams quit school he used the money his parents had saved for his higher education to buy a grand piano. He joined bands and played in nightclubs, supplementing his income by dishwashing, selling pet food, and working in record stores. One night, in the summer of `76, after listening to a local band perform in Surrey, British Columbia, Adams, according to Jennings in Maclean's "strode boldly up to the group's producer and announced that he could sing better than the vocalist. He got an audition--and the job," replacing Nick Gilder as lead vocalist for Sweeny Todd. Soon after, Adams met Jim Vallance, who had formerly written songs for the group Prism. The pair began writing together on songs recorded by such artists as Joe Cocker, Juice Newton and Bachman Turner Overdrive. They also penned "Let Me Take You Dancing," a song that became a surprise disco hit when the record company had an engineer remix the sound and speed it up. "I sounded like a chipmunk," Adams told Bruce McFee in Canadian Musician in 1989.

Even at this point, Adams knew he wanted "to make an intense album." He told McFee, "I want to make records for a long time without burning out and I want to be a headlining touring act." When he won a publishing contract and then a recording deal with A&M Records, he made the first step towards realization of this goal. Adams' self-titled, debut album however, was released to little fanfare in 1980. As a result, he wanted to call his second album Bryan Adams Hasn't Heard Of You Either, but settled on You Want It, You Got It, which featured moderately successful singles like "Coming Home," "Lonely Nights," "Fits Ya Good," and "One Good Reason." In 1983 Adams rose from obscurity with the release of his third album, Cuts Like A Knife. Driven by the single of the same name as well as rock anthems like "Straight From The Heart" and "This Time," the album went platinum in the U.S., indicating over a million copies sold. Since then Adams has been a headlining act around the world. He has hobnobbed on stage and in the studio with the likes of Tina Turner, Sting and Rod Stewart. The Mayor of Los Angeles even declared February 1st, 1985, "Bryan Adams Day."

Riding on the success of Cuts Like A Knife, Adams released Reckless in 1984, featuring radio-friendly tunes like "Run to You," "Somebody," "Kids Wanna Rock," "Summer of 69," and "It's Only Love," a duet with Tina Turner. Reckless was described by Ted Burley, editor of Canadian Musician, as "the most popular album in the history of Canadian music."

For the Record ...

Born Brian Guy Adams, November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario; son of Conrad (a military official and diplomat) and Jane Adams. Education: Dropped out of school at 16 to pursue music.

Quit school and played in bands, including Shock, touring across Canada, 1976; joined Sweeny Todd, 1977; signed recording contract with A&M Canada and with manager Bruce Allen, 1979; released Bryan Adams, 1980; co-wrote "Tears Are Not Enough" and performed at Live Aid, 1985; acted in Clint Eastwood film, Pink Cadillac, 1988; performed at the World Music Awards in Moscow, 1989; took part in the production of The Wall, Berlin, 1990; contributed record-breaking single, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You," to the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack, 1991; So Far So Good, greatest hits package, released, 1993; contributed "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" to the soundtrack for Don Juan DeMarco, 1995; 18 `Til I Die released, 1996.

Selected awards: Juno Awards: Male Vocalist of the Year, 1982 and 1983; Male Vocalist of the Year, Album (Cuts Like A Knife) and Composer of the Year (with writing partner Jim Vallance for Cuts Like A Knife), 1984; Album of the Year (Reckless), Composer of the Year (with Jim Vallance) and Male Vocalist of the Year, 1985; Male Vocalist of the Year and Composer of the Year, 1986; Male Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year, 1987; Canadian Entertainer of the Year and International Achievement Award, 1992; Male Vocalist of the Year, 1997; Music Express magazine, National Opinion Poll, Male Vocalist of the Year, 1983; MTV Award, 1986, for Best Live Performance (with Tina Turner); PRO Canada Awards, 1986; Bob Geldof Humanitarian Award, 1987; Order of British Columbia, 1990; Order of Canada, 1990; Best Male Artist of the 1980s, Canadian Recording Industry Association, 1990; Grammy Award, 1992, for Best Song Written for Film or Television ("(Everything I do) I Do It For You" with Mutt Lange and Michael Kamen).

Addresses: Agent--Bruce Allen Talent, #406, 68 Water St., Vancouver, B.C., V6B 1A4; phone: (604) 688-7274; fax: (604) 688-7118.

"Citizen Brian"

Though he was selling records at a phenomenal rate and was a huge concert draw, Adams' songwriting had not gained the favour of many rock critics. A Rolling Stone reviewer stated, "Adams has typically produced the closest thing yet to generic rock `n' roll, long on formal excellence but short on originality." Adams told Pond that during one concert performance he thought, "Man I gotta sink my teeth into something else" and that he "had this desire to write something more interesting for myself." This thought resulted in such songs as "Native Son," a protest song in favour of First Nations land rights, and "Remembrance Day," a contemplative piece on a veteran of World War I that appeared on 1987's Into the Fire, "designed to expand his music outside of concerns with youthful romance and independence," according to Larry LeBlanc in Canadian Composer.

Another song of serious intent penned around this time was "Tears Are Not Enough," a contribution to the Live Aid effort towards famine relief in Ethiopia. Written with David Foster and Jim Vallance and recorded with some of the biggest names in the Canadian music industry, including Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, the singer told Tom Harrison in a Canadian Musician interview that "writing the lyrics for that song was a real turning point. It gave us confidence and it was a real challenge to write about an issue as sensitive as that one. The musicians who sang on that record like the lyrics, too, which made Jim and I feel good. You feel honoured when Joni Mitchell says she likes your lyrics." Adams later performed the song at the Live Aid concert, televised worldwide from Wembley Stadium in London. He also began more actively supporting other causes, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace and The Prince's Trust. In 1987, he was honoured with the Bob Geldof Humanitarian Award for his efforts.

"Tears Are Not Enough" also highlighted Adams' skill in working with other writers and artists. "Most Adams I Vallance songs are guitar-driven teenage moments, songs reeking of adolescent life," concluded Larry LeBlanc in Canadian Composer. "Titles like `Summer of `69' and `Kids Wanna Rock' were showpieces of raucous exuberance while songs such as `Straight From the Heart' and `Lonely Nights,' dealing with boy-girl themes, were engagingly sentimental." Into The Fire, according to Ted Burley in Canadian Musician, "speaks volumes of the full awakening of Bryan as citizen Bryan Adams ... a spirited album and a courageous effort by an artist putting himself on the line with a powerful statement of personal growth and discovery." More introspective and socially oriented, the album sold almost two million copies, significantly lower than the multi-million selling Reckless that had preceded it. Adams pointed out to LeBlanc: "I had to make that record and I'm not disappointed with it." He continued: "At the time, I didn't want the same adulation or success of Reckless. I thought `Hearts on Fire' was a fun song. I liked the AOR possibilities of `Rebel' and I thought `Native Son' was a beautiful song." Adams and Vallance parted company in 1989.

International Hits and Canadian Content

1991's Waking Up The Neighbours, was a showcase for Adams' versatility. "There are some love songs on the album, some great party songs and some socially conscious songs as well," Adams revealed to LeBlanc in Canadian Composer. "Everything about this record is so different from what I've done. It's almost like it's a different artist but it's not. It's still yours truly belting away." Meanwhile, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You," his contribution to the soundtrack for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, became a monstrously popular hit spending 16 weeks at the number one spot on the charts and earning a Grammy Award for Adams, Robert "Mutt" Lange and Michael Kamen.

Oddly enough, his amazing worldwide success and noborders approach to creativity actually worked against Adams in his own country. In 1991, the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, who govern Canada's airwaves, restricted his airplay, declaring that Adams' album, Waking Up the Neighbours, did not have enough Canadian content, since it had been co-written and produced by British hit maker, Mutt Lange, who lived in New York. Airplay laws in this country indicate that a certain percentage of all songs played on the radio must be Canadian in origin. By declaring that the record was too `Un-Canadian,' Waking Up the Neighbours was classed as foreign and its airplay fell under restrictions.

"I didn't feel hurt, I just think it's ridiculous," Adams told writer Martin Melhuish in The Record. "I don't think any artist, whether it's a photographer, painter or musician, should be under any guidelines that are restricted by the government. Music is international," he emphasized, "and belongs to everybody. There may be some argument that CanCon gets young artists started but, if anything, I think it breeds mediocrity."

In 1993 Adams contributed another hit song, "All For Love," which he performed with Sting and Rod Stewart, to the soundtrack for The Three Musketeers. The song became yet another international hit for the Vancouver native. Adams' greatest hits album, So Far So Good, was also released in 1993, and had reached the ten million mark in sales by 1995. In a somewhat unusual pairing, Adams performed, "All For Love," "Please Forgive Me," and "O Sole Mio" with tenor Luciano Pavarotti at "Pavarotti and Friends" in Modena, Italy, in September of 1994. His song "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman," for the soundtrack to the movie Don Juan de Marco, took a familiar route to the top of the charts a year later in 1995.

18 `Til I Die reflects Adams' range of styles--from a rock anthem/ode to the good old days to a gritty ballad from a movie--but the subject matter, images, and sounds are edgier and more shocking. His song "(I Want To Be Your) Underwear," an ode to cell phone conversations among the British Royal family, is a far cry from "Everything I Do, I Do It For You." Visually, the change in his approach has been severe, most notably in the video for "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You," which places Adams in a haute couture bathroom, straddling a toilet, as the world of out-there haute couture fashion struts by.

"18 `Til I Die is an appropriate moniker for an album by a late `thirtysomething' with a Peter Pan knack of staying in tune with his adolescent longings," Meyers wrote in Canadian Musician. "Many of the lead vocals have an earthy, if not downright raunchy, edge that was only hinted at in Adams' previous recorded output." Myers continued, "It's classic rock: big hooks, honkin' guitars and a whole mess of drums. But, like shopping at the Gap, it's basic, simple and ready to wear." John Sakamoto, on the Jam Showbiz web site, concurred: "Despite the sea change that's washed over pop music in the five years since his last studio album, Adams has not just stuck to his guns, he's flaunted them. And that may well be the key

to the album's success. Rather than sound hopelessly out of step with the times, 18 `Til I Die seems a defiant choice to IGNORE the times."

As an artist who has only recorded seven studio albums over a 17-year span, Bryan Adams is successfully following the path he laid out for Jennings in Maclean's back in 1984--he has been making records for a long time and he shows no signs of burning out. With a new recording studio in the trendy Gastown area of Vancouver, Adams is set to help other artists pursue their goals, even as he continues to expand upon musical styles of his own.