Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams - A Biography
With a career spanning over 20 years and worldwide album sales exceeding 44 million copies, Bryan Adams' "I'm a guy that's just lucky to be here" attitude seems rather simple compared to his career achievements.

He holds the records of the longest running No.1 single in Britain with his hit from the movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You'.Adams has topped the charts in the USA four times with soundtrack hits 'Heaven', '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You', 'All For Love', (with Rod Stewart and Sting)and 'Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?'. His songs have achieved the No. 1 position in over 20 countries, resulting in overwhelming record salesinternationally. He has been awarded the Order of Canada from the country of his birth as well as The Order of British Columbia from his home province for outstanding achievement as a Canadian citizen. Canada also awarded him "Artist of the Decade" in 1990 along with hundreds of gold and muti-platinum awards from around the world, he has become Canada's No.1 musical ambassador. His long time involvement with Greenpeace has brought many of their campaigns to the forefront of international attention including saving the rainforests and more recently, establishing a whale sanctuary in the Antarctic. Bryan's contribution to Canada's African famine relief project 'Tears are not enough', raised over 2 million dollars and he was awarded The Harry Chapin Award for his effort. Adams has also participated in His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales' Prince's Trust Charity Concerts in England along with performances at Live Aid, The Amnesty International World Tour and the Concert for Nelson Mandela. He has been nominated 12 times for Grammy Awards, winning in 1992 for Best Song from a motion picture with '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You' - a song that garnered a nomination for an Academy Award in 1992 as well.

Pavarotti
Barely out of his teens when he signed to A&M records, Adams spent the early part of the 80's in a non-stop whirlwind of touring, which has contributed to his incendiary live shows becoming legendary across America. Cuts Like A Knife (1983), which took just eight months to hit platinum, gave Adams his first stateside Top 10 smash, the anthemic "Straight From The Heart". With Reckless (1984) he earned his first No.1 album and several Top 10 hits. With yet another multi-platinum album to his credit - 1987's Into The Fire - Adams ended the decade on a high note.

When he broke a three year sabbatical, the results were nothing less than spectacular: 1991's lush ballad '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You', became an international standard and placed Adams' name in The Guiness Book Of World Records for the longest stay atop the U.K. singles charts. Abetted by producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, he then recorded the ten million selling Waking Up The Neighbours, his most fully realised set to that point before undertaking a lengthy world tour. In 1993 he released a greatest hits album So Far So Good which has sold 13 million worldwide to date. An 18 month world tour followed which included an historic concert in Vietnam in 1994 and a performance with Pavarotti in Italy.

Personal Favourite
And now, after more than a year of intensive low-key, recording, Bryan Adams returns with 18 Till I Die, an album he characterises as his personal favourite - "I've definitely had more fun doing this record than I had at any time during the 80's ," he says - "This all came together so easily, with so little stress. I'm really happy about that." He has an innate knack of creating instantly memorable, adrenalin-surging rock 'n' roll tracks and 18 Till I Die is no exception, containing many potential hits that always populate Adams albums. The stripped-down energy of his eighth and latest set livens up to Adams' rough characterisation. From the good-natured swagger of 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You', to the raucously defiant energy that imbues the punky 'We're Gonna Win', Adams has clearly taken the album's title to heart.

Attitude
"It's not so much that I'm writing literally about age as I am an attitude," says the singer. "That attitude extends a lot further than rock 'n' roll. The imagery on this album is about feeling that no matter what's happening with your job or whatever, it's not going to get you down." That upbeat mood extends throughout 18 Till I Die, from the playful sexuality that percolates through the harmonica - fuelled juke-jump 'Do To You' and the tongue-in-cheek '(I Wanna Be Your) Underwear' to the unabashed romanticism instilled deep in affecting interludes like 'Let's Make It A Night To Remember'. As ever, Adams' craggy emotion-filled voice carries the show.

Bryan's musical message and outstanding live concerts have established him as one of the world's best rock performers and he continues to work diligently to spread his message of music and environmental concerns to an audience of millions around the globe.