Bryan Adams, OC, OBC (born November 5, 1959) is a Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter.

Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario and traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East as a child with his diplomat parents. They moved back to Canada, to the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia in the 70's and Adams started his musical career by dropping out of school at age 15.

Adams has since been inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, and in 1990, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his contribution to popular music. In 1998 he was promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada for his philanthropic work.

His best-known songs include "Summer of '69", "Heaven", "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)", "Cuts Like a Knife", and "Run to You". His two most popular albums are Reckless and Waking Up The Neighbours.

Musical career

At the age of seventeen, Adams sent a few demos to A&M Records and at eighteen was signed to a recording contract for one dollar. He has released fourteen albums since then.

Two of those first demos, both written in 1978, have surfaced over the years: "Remember" ended up on his first album, and "Let Me Take You Dancing" was remixed as a disco twelve-inch record to attain a certain beat-per-minute (BPM) and hence bears no resemblance to Adams' natural voice but it was a start which is what he was looking for.

These songs were also the start of a long songwriting partnership between A dams and co-writer Jim Vallance which led to the first solo album, Bryan Adams, released in 1980. His second album You Want It You Got It 1981, saw the radio hit "Lonely Nights", but it wasn't until his third album Cuts Like a Knife that he broke through with four hits in 1983. He quickly followed up that album with his popular Reckless at the end of 1984. It produced six Top 40 songs and was certified platinum. Next came Into the Fire in 1987 which was also certified platinum. This also saw the demise of the songwriting partnership between Adams and Vallance, but many of the fragments of their last songs ended up on the forthcoming studio album.

The 1994 album, Live!Live!Live! is the complete recording of a 3 July 1988 concert in Werchter, Belgium, which was also broadcast in Canada and on MTV around the world. One of his most successful albums is 1991's Waking up the Neighbours (see 1991 in music); it was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Adams, and featured the single "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)". This song was number one everywhere in the world in 1991 and 1992, and spent a record-breaking sixteen weeks at number one on the charts in the United Kingdom. The next album was a greatest-hits collection So Far So Good.

Social activist

In 1985, Adams contributed to the Canadian benefit record for Ethiopia called "Tears Are Not Enough". In that same year, he took part in the U.S side of the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia. He was in London to play at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988. In 1990 he joined many other guests (including Michael Kamen) for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin, Germany. Apart from that he has been engaged in projects such as Amnesty International and creating the Southern Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. He also supports many other charities, such as the Elephant Sanctuary, Hohenwald in Tennessee and Elefriends in England, both in which he advocates on his 1998 album On a Day Like Today. Bryan supports breast cancer research for cures through his photography work (see below). On January 29, 2005, the singer joined many of Canada's prominent stars in a benefit concert from Vancouver for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, and also performed at Live 8's Canadian performance in Barrie, Ontario on July 2, 2005. Adams is scheduled to appear in Doha, Qatar, on February 1, 2006 in a charity concert for Qatar's "Reach Out to Asia" campaign to help the underprivileged across the continent.

Soundtrack works

His works for movie soundtracks include:

  • "Heaven" in 1982 for the film A Night in Heaven.
  • "Drive All Night" in the 1989 film Pink Cadillac.
  • "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" from the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
  • "All for Love" from The Three Musketeers in 1993 (sung alongside Rod Stewart and Sting).
  • "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" in 1995 from the film Don Juan DeMarco.
  • "Star" from the Robin Williams film Jack.
  • "I Finally Found Someone" in 1996 from Barbra Streisand film The Mirror Has Two Faces (the song is a duet with her).
  • "When You Love Someone" in 1998 film Hope Floats
  • From the 2002 film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
    • "Here I Am"
    • "I Will Always Return"
    • "You Can't Take Me"
    • "Get off My Back"
    • "Brothers Under the Sun"
    • "Don't Let Go" (with Sarah McLachlan)
    • "This Is Where I Belong"
    • "Nothing I've Ever Known"
  • "It Ain't Over Yet" to the 2005 film Racing Stripes.

Adams has been nominated for three Academy Awards for his film compositions. He has two songs in the forthcoming film Colour Me Kubrick starring John Malkovich in early 2006 and also in the forthcoming independant film Cashback.

The mid 1990s to the present

Albums he released during this period are: 18 til I Die in Summer 1996, Bryan Adams MTV Unplugged in Winter 1997, On a Day Like Today in Autumn 1998, and The Best of Me worldwide in 1999 and in the U.S. in early 2002. In May 2002 he released the Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack.

In 2000, Adams came out to sing a few songs, including "Behind Blue Eyes", for The Who at the Royal Albert Hall. This live show was recorded for audio and video.

His latest album, Room Service was released on September 20, 2004 in Canada and in Europe; "Open Road" was its first single. The CD was released in the U.S. on May 10, 2005 on Mercury Nashville.

As a photographer

Adams also works in photography. On June 1, 2005 he published a book with Calvin Klein featuring prominent U.S. women, 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. This is not his first book in support of breast cancer research. Made in Canada was his first book, and was released in December 1999. It was a tribute to his friend Donna, who died of breast cancer, and has been his muse since her death. His second book was published in conjunction with an exhibition/auction called "Haven" at London's Saatchi Gallery. Proceeds went to The Haven Trust, a London based breast-cancer support-network supported by Prince Charles.

Adams was invited, along with other photographers from the Commonwealth, to photograph Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee; one of those photographs was used as a Canadian postage stamp in 2004, and again in 2005.

Adams has had his work published in "Vanity Fair", Harper's Bazaar, and Interview Magazine among others. He currently publishes an art and fashion magazine in Berlin, called Zoo Magazine.

Trivia

  • Adams speaks French, having lived in France. He currently lives in England. Adams is also a vegetarian.
  • Adams protested against backward Canadian Content regulations, which got changed as a result.
  • Adams is a supporter of both the Inter Milan and Chelsea soccer clubs.

Discography

Albums

  • Bryan Adams (1980)
  • You Want It You Got It (1981) #118 US #78 UK
  • Cuts Like a Knife (1983) #8 US, #6 UK #21 UK
  • Reckless (1984) #1 US, #7 UK
  • Into the Fire (1987) #7 US, #10 UK
  • Hits on Fire (Japanese double-CD) (1988)
  • Live! Live! Live! (1988, released in U.S. 1994) #17 UK
  • Waking up the Neighbours (1991) #6 US, #1 UK
  • So Far So Good (1993) #6 US, #1 UK
  • 18 til I Die (1996) #31 US, #1 UK
  • Unplugged (1997) #88 US #19 UK
  • On a Day Like Today (1998) #103 US, #11 UK
  • The Best of Me released worldwide (1999) released in the U.S. in (2002) #12 UK
  • Do to You What You Do to Me (2001) (live album recorded and released in India only)
  • Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (film soundtrack) (2002) #8 UK
  • Room Service (2004) #1 Europe #4 UK
  • Anthology (2005) #30 UK

Singles

From Bryan Adams (1980):

  • "Remember" (1980)

From You Want It You Got It (1981):

  • "Lonely Nights" (1982) #84 US

From Cuts Like a Knife (1983):

  • "Straight from the Heart" (1983) #10 US, #51 UK (1986 release)
  • "Cuts Like a Knife" (1983) #15 US
  • "This Time" (1983) #24 US, #41 UK (1986 release)

From Reckless (1984):

  • "Run to You" (1984) #6 US, #11 UK
  • "Somebody" (1985) #11 US, #35 UK
  • "Heaven" (1985) #1 US - 2 weeks, #38 UK
  • "Summer of '69" (1985) #5 US, #42 UK
  • "One Night Love Affair" (1985) #13 US
  • "It's Only Love" (with Tina Turner) (1985) #15 US, #29 UK

From Into the Fire (1987):

  • "Heat of the Night" (1987) #6 US, #50 UK
  • "Hearts on Fire" (1987) #26 US, #57 UK
  • "Victim of Love" (1987) #32 US, #68 UK

From Live! Live! Live! (1988 & 1994):

  • "I Fought the Law (1988)

From Waking up the Neighbours (1991):

  • "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (1991) #1 US - 7 weeks, #1 UK - 16 weeks, #1 Australia
  • "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" (1991) #2 US, #12 UK
  • "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" (1991) #31 US, #32 UK
  • "Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven" (1992) #13 US, #8 UK
  • "All I Want Is You" (1992) #22 UK
  • "Do I Have to Say the Words?" (1992) #11 US, #30 UK

From So Far So Good (1993):

  • "Please Forgive Me" (1993) #7 US, #2 UK, #1 Australia, #4 Latvia

From The Three Musketeers (soundtrack) (1993):

  • "All for Love" (with Rod Stewart and Sting) (1994) #1 US - 3 weeks, #2 UK, #1 Latvia - 1 week

From Don Juan DeMarco (soundtrack) (1995):

  • "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (1995) #1 US - 5 weeks, #4 UK, #2 Latvia

From Road Tested (Bonnie Raitt) (1995):

  • "Rock Steady" live with Bonnie Raitt (1995) #73 US, #50 UK

From 18 till I Die (1996):

  • "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" (1996) #52 US, #6 UK, #2 Latvia
  • "Let's Make a Night to Remember" (1996) #24 US, #10 UK, #7 Latvia
  • "Star" (1996) #13 UK
  • "18 til I Die" (1997) #22 UK, #12 Latvia

From The Mirror Has Two Faces (soundtrack) (1996):

  • "I Finally Found Someone" (with Barbra Streisand) (1996) #8 US, #10 UK, #2 Australia

From Unplugged (1997):

  • "Back to You" (1997) #18 UK, #11 Latvia
  • "I'm Ready" (1998) #20 UK, #10 Latvia

From On a Day Like Today (1998):

  • "On a Day Like Today" (1998) #13 UK, #17 Latvia
  • "When You're Gone" (with Melanie C) (1998) #3 UK, #2 Australia, #3 Latvia
  • "Cloud Number Nine" (1999) #6 UK, #4 Latvia

From The Best of Me (1999 & 2002):

  • "The Best of Me" (1999) #47 UK, #2 Latvia

From Behind the Sun (Chicane album) (2000):

  • "Don't Give Up" (Chicane with Bryan Adams) (2000) #1 UK, #8 Australia, #2 Latvia

From Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (soundtrack) (2002):

  • "Here I Am" (2002) #5 UK, #2 Latvia

From Room Service:

  • "Open Road" (2004) #21 UK, #15 Latvia
  • "Flying (2004) #39 UK
  • "This Side of Paradise" (2004)
  • "Room Service (2005)
  • "Why Do You Have To Be So Hard To Love" (2005)

From Anthology (2005):

  • "When You're Gone" (with Pamela Anderson) (2005)
  • "So Far So Good" (2006)