NEW YORK – November 1, 2015 (Gephardt Daily) — In an exclusive interview with Bryan Adams, the singer discussed his music and his career.
Adams is celebrating his latest Album “Get Up” which has been just been released and is available for download.
“It didn’t really start out as an album. It started out as a couple of guys making tracks and then making music.” The singer went on to say, “One day I woke up and said ‘You know what? We really have an album here.'”
About his string of hit songs over the years, Adams told me “It’s nice to look down over the set list and have a selection of songs to choose from that have been out there for a long time… you never know how the music is going to be taken by people, you don’t know how it’s going to influence people and you don’t even know if people are going to hear it.”
About Bryan Adams:
At the age of 14, Adams worked as a dish washer to save money for a guitar. He started auditioning as a guitarist while rehearsing his own band in his mother’s rented basement in North Vancouver. Adams elected to sing until they found a singer, but they never found one.
In 1978, at the age of 18, Adams met Jim Vallance introduced by a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Vallance was the former drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician and songwriter. They agreed to meet at Vallance’s home studio a few days later, which proved to be the beginning of a partnership which still exists today.
Later in 1978, Adams signed to A&M records for one dollar. 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 was recorded on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released.
The 1980s:
Adams’s self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance.
“Cuts Like a Knife,” which was released in January 1983, was Adams’s breakout album due mainly to the lead singles. “Straight from the Heart” was the most successful song, reaching number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
Another single, “Cuts Like a Knife” charted at number 15. “This Time” also placed on the Hot 100. Music videos were released for four of the singles from the album. “Cuts Like a Knife” arguably became Adams’s most recognizable and popular song from the album. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television channels.
Adams’ next album “Reckless” was released in November 1984 and featured the singles, “Run to You”, “Summer of ’69”, “Heaven”, “One Night Love Affair”, “Somebody”, and “It’s Only Love”, a duet with Tina Turner.
All the singles had accompanying music videos and all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 but only “Run to You”, “Summer of ’69”, and “Heaven” peaked in the top ten. “Heaven” became the most successful single from “Reckless” at the time of its release on the pop charts, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the mainstream rock chart.
In December 1984, Adams embarked on a two-year world tour to launch the album starting in Canada and United States, then into Japan, Australia, back to the UK and again to Canada. After winning four Juno Awards, he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with two dates at the Paladium in Los Angeles.
The 1990s:
Adams’s next album, “Waking Up the Neighbours,” co-produced by Adams and Mutt Lange, peaked at number six on the Billboard 200.
“The album was released in September 1991 and featured “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”, his second #1 hit single in the Billboard Hot 100. This song was featured on the album and in the movie ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,’ starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman.
The single topped the charts in numerous countries around the world including big markets such as the US, the UK, France, Australia and Germany. “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” spent 16 consecutive weeks at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, breaking a record previously held by Slim Whitman with Rose Marie since 1955, this record still stands today.
In 1993 he collaborated with Rod Stewart and Sting for the single “All for Love” written for the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie Three Musketeers. The single topped the charts worldwide.
In November 1993, Adams released a compilation album entitled So Far So Good, the album included a brand new song called “Please Forgive Me”, that became another number 1 single in Australia as well as reaching the Top 3 in the US, the UK and Germany.
It was followed in 1995 by, “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” (song released with the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie Don Juan DeMarco). It became another number 1 in the US and Australia as well as a Top 5 hit in the UK and Germany.
On 27 July 1996, Adams performed at the Wembley Stadium in London in front of a crowd of approximately 70,000. It was his second sold-out concert there.
To commemorate the millennium, Adams released “The Best of Me,” his most comprehensive collection of songs at that time, which also included two new songs, the title track “The Best of Me” and the UK number 1 track “Don’t Give Up”. The album reached the Top 10 in Germany and was certified three times platinum in Canada and Platinum in the UK. The single from the album, “The Best of Me” was a successful hit with the exception of the US, where neither the single or the album were released by Interscope Records.
The 2000’s:
In 2002, Adams wrote and performed the songs for the DreamWorks animated film, ‘Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.’ The songs were included on the film’s soundtrack. The most successful single from the soundtrack was “Here I Am”, a British Top 5 and German Top 20 hit.
In 2006, Adams wrote and performed the theme song “Never Let Go” which was featured in the closing credits of the film “The Guardian” starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Adams also co-wrote the song “Never Gonna Break My Faith” for the film Bobby. The song was performed by the R&B singers Aretha Franklin andMary J. Blige and earned him a Golden Globe Nomination in 2007.
Adams released his eleventh album internationally on 17 March 2008. It was appropriately called 11. The album was released in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club retail stores on 13 May 2008.
In November 2010, Adams released the acoustic album “Bare Bones.” It was recorded live at various locations on his “Bare Bones Tour” earlier in the year. It was certified gold in India a year later.
On 19 November 2011, Adams wrote and recorded the dance music single/video for the Loverush UK! single “Tonight in Babylon” in Southwark, London.
On 31 January 2012, Adams announced a 20-date concert tour across Canada between April and June to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the “Waking Up the Nation Tour”.
In an interview on 18 March 2014, Adams revealed that he has signed a three album contract with Verve Records in the US. With one album celebrating the 30th Anniversary of “Reckless,” a new album of covers, and another one with new songs produced by Jeff Lynne.
On 30 September 2014, Adams released a new album titled “Tracks of My Years.” The album reached #1 on the Canadian album chart. The album contains cover songs and one original song written with Jim Vallance.
On 13 July 2014, Adams presented a live concert on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Canada. Adams was moved by the crowd and mentioned: “Quebec City is the Capital of music and artists.”
In November 2015, Adams will release his first album of all new material since “11.”
The album, titled “Get Up!,” was co-written by longtime collaborator Jim Vallance and produced by Jeff Lynne.
