background	solo_singer
birth name	Geoffrey Arnold Beck
born	June 24, 1944Wallington, England
instrument	Guitar, bass, talk box, vocals, trumpet, drums, flute, contrabass
genre	Blues rock, jazz fusion, instrumental rock, hard rock, electronica, progressive rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, actor
years active	1964-present
label	EMI, Epic (punch)
associated acts	The Yardbirds, The Jeff Beck Group, The Honeydrippers, Beck, Bogert & Appice, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Big Town Playboys, Upp, Eric Clapton, Duff McKagan
website
notable instruments	Fender Jeff Beck Signature Model StratocasterJeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood }}

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists, to have played with The Yardbirds. (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are the other two.) Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.

Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and most recently, an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained a broad following or the sustained commercial success of many of his collaborators and bandmates. Beck appears on albums by Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May and ZZ Top. In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the movie ''Twins''.

He was ranked 14th in ''Rolling Stone's'' list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and the magazine has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock". He was also ranked second greatest rock guitarist of all time in Digital Dream Door, a site that ranks movies and music. MSNBC has called him a "guitarist's guitarist". Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).

Biography

Early life

}} Beck was born in 1944 to Arnold and Ethel Beck at 206 Demesne Road, Wallington, England. As a ten year old Beck sang in a church choir. As a teenager he learned to play a borrowed guitar and made several attempts to build his own instrument, first by gluing and bolting together cigar boxes for the body and an unsanded fence-post for the neck with model aircraft control-lines and frets simply painted on. When fabricating a neck for his next try he attempted to use measurements for a bass guitar.

Beck has cited Les Paul as the first electric guitar player who impressed him. Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps was an early musical influence, followed by B.B. King and Steve Cropper.

Upon leaving school he attended Wimbledon College of Art, after which he was briefly employed as a painter and decorator, a groundsman on a golf course and a car paint-sprayer. Beck's sister introduced him to Jimmy Page when both were teenagers.

Early career

Beck began his career in the 1960s. He joined "The Rumbles" a Croydon band in 1963 for a short period as lead guitarist, playing Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly songs, displaying a talent for mimicking guitar styles. His first appearance on vinyl was as a session guitarist on a 1964 Parlophone single by The Fitz and Startz entitled 'I'm Not Running Away' c/w 'So Sweet'.

In March 1965 Beck was recruited by The Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session man Jimmy Page, who had been their initial choice. The Yardbirds recorded most of their Top 40 hit songs during Beck's time with the band, which was short (but significant), allowing him only one full album, ''Yardbirds'' which became known as ''Roger the Engineer'', released in 1966. From September to November 1966 he shared lead guitar duties with Page, who initially joined as bass player in June of that year.

In February 1967, after recording the one-off "Beck's Bolero" (with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Keith Moon) and two solo hit singles in the UK, "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and "Tallyman", Beck formed The Jeff Beck Group, which featured Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and, after a series of drummers, eventually Micky Waller.

The group produced two albums for Columbia Records (Epic in the US): ''Truth'' (August 1968) and ''Beck-Ola'' (July 1969). ''Truth'', released five months before the first Led Zeppelin album, features "You Shook Me", a song written and first recorded by Willie Dixon that was also covered on the Led Zeppelin debut. It sold well (reaching number 15 on the ''Billboard'' charts). ''Beck-Ola'', while well-received, saw drummer Micky Waller replaced by Tony Newman, and was less successful both commercially and critically. Resentment, coupled with touring incidents, led the group to dissolve in July 1969.

Nick Mason recalls in his autobiography that during 1967 Pink Floyd had wanted to recruit Beck to be their guitarist after the departure of Syd Barrett but "None of us had the nerve to ask him".

After the break-up of his group Beck took part in the ''Music From Free Creek'' "super session" project, billed as "A.N. Other" and contributed lead guitar on four songs, including one co-written by him. Next he teamed up with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge in September 1969, when Bogert and Appice came to England to resolve contractual issues, but when Beck fractured his skull in a car accident near Maidstone in December the plan was postponed for two-and-a-half years, during which time Bogert and Appice formed Cactus. Beck later remarked on the 1960s period of his life: "Everyone thinks of the 1960s as something they really weren't. It was the frustration period of my life. The electronic equipment just wasn't up to the sounds I had in my head.''

In 1970, when Beck had regained his health, he set about forming a band with drummer Cozy Powell. Beck, Powell and producer Mickie Most flew to the US and recorded several tracks at Motown Studios with Motown session men, but the results remained unreleased. By April 1971 Beck had completed the line-up of this new group with guitarist/vocalist Bobby Tench, keyboard player Max Middleton and bassist Clive Chaman. The new band performed as the "Jeff Beck Group" but had a substantially different sound from the first line-up. ''Rough and Ready'' (October 1971), the first album they recorded, on which Beck wrote or co-wrote six of the album's seven tracks (the exception being written by Middleton), included elements of soul, rhythm-and-blues and jazz, foreshadowing the direction Beck's music would take later in the decade.

A second album ''Jeff Beck Group'' (July 1972) was recorded at TMI studios in Memphis, Tennessee with the same personnel. Beck employed Steve Cropper as producer and the album displayed a strong soul influence, five of the nine tracks being covers of songs by American artists. One, "I Got To Have A Song", was the first of four Stevie Wonder compositions covered by Beck. Shortly after the release of the ''Jeff Beck Group'' album the band was dissolved and Beck's management put out the statement that: "The fusion of the musical styles of the various members has been successful within the terms of individual musicians, but they didn't feel it had led to the creation of a new musical style with the strength they had originally sought."

Beck then started collaborating with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, who became available following the demise of Cactus but continued touring as Jeff Beck Group in August 1972, to fulfil contractual obligations with his promoter, with a line-up including Bogert, Appice, Max Middleton and vocalist Kim Milford. After six appearances Milford was replaced by Bobby Tench, who was flown in from the UK for the ''Arie Crown Theatre'' Chicago performance and the rest of the tour, which concluded at the Paramount North West Theatre, Seattle. After the tour Tench and Middleton left the band and the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice appeared: Appice took on the role of vocalist with Bogert and Beck contributing occasionally. They were included on the bill for ''Rock at The Oval'' in September 1972, still as the "Jeff Beck Group", which marked the start of a tour schedule of UK, the Netherlands and Germany. Another US tour began in October 1972, starting at the Hollywood Sportatorium Florida and concluding on 11 November 1972 at The Warehouse, New Orleans. In April 1973 the album ''Beck, Bogert & Appice'' was released (on Epic Records). While critics acknowledged the band's instrumental prowess the album was not commercially well received except for its cover of Stevie Wonder's hit "Superstition".

On 3 July 1973 Beck joined David Bowie on-stage to perform "The Jean Genie"/"Love Me Do" and "Around and Around". The show was recorded and filmed but none of the released editions included Beck. During October 1973 Beck recorded tracks for Michael Fennelly's album ''Lane Changer'' and attended sessions with Hummingbird, a band derived from The Jeff Beck Group, but did not to contribute to their eponymous first album

Early in January 1974 the band played at the Rainbow Theatre, as part of a European tour. The concert was broadcast in full on the US show ''Rock Around the World'' in September of the same year. This last recorded work by the band previewed material intended for a second studio album, included on the bootleg ''At Last Rainbow''. The tracks ''Blues Deluxe'' and ''BBA Boogie'' from this concert were later included on the Jeff Beck compilation ''Beckology'' (1991). Beck, Bogert & Appice dissolved in April 1974 before their second studio album (produced by Jimmy Miller) was finished. Their live album ''Beck, Bogert & Appice Live in Japan'', recorded during their 1973 tour of Japan, was not released until February 1975 by Epic/Sony.

After a few months Beck entered Underhill Studio and met with the group Upp, whom he recruited as backing band for his appearance on the BBC TV programme ''Guitar Workshop'' in August 1974. Beck produced and played on their self-titled debut album and their second album ''This Way Upp'', though his contributions to the second album went uncredited. In October Beck began to record instrumentals at AIR Studios with Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and drummer Richard Bailey, using George Martin as producer and arranger. ''Blow by Blow'' (March 1975) evolved from these sessions and showcased Beck's technical prowess in jazz-rock. The album reached number four in the charts and is Beck's most commercially-successful release. Beck, fastidious about overdubs and often dissatisfied with his solos, often returned to AIR Studios until he was satisfied. A couple of months after the sessions had finished Martin received a telephone call from Beck, who wanted to record a solo section again. Bemused, Martin replied: "I'm sorry, Jeff, but the record is in the shops!"

Beck put together a live band for a US tour, preceded by a small and unannounced gig at The Newlands Tavern in Peckham, London. He toured through April and May 1975, mostly supporting the Mahavishnu Orchestra, retaining Max Middleton on keyboards but with the new rhythm section of Wilbur Bascomb (bass) and noted session drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. In a May 1975 show in Cleveland, Ohio (Music Hall), he became frustrated with an early version of a "talk box" he used on his arrangement of The Beatles "She's A Woman," and after breaking a string, tossed his legendary Yardbirds-era Stratocaster off the stage. He did the same with the talk box and finished the show playing a Les Paul and without the box. During this tour he performed at Yuya Uchida's "World Rock Festival," playing a total of eight songs with Purdie. In addition he performed a guitar and drum instrumental with Johnny Yoshinaga and, at the end of the festival, joined in a live jam with bassist Felix Pappalardi of Mountain and vocalist Akira "Joe" Yamanaka from the Flower Travellin' Band. Only his set with Purdie was recorded and released.

He returned to the studio and recorded ''Wired'' (1976), which paired the drummer and composer Narada Michael Walden and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The album used a jazz-rock fusion style which sounded similar to the work of his two collaborators. To promote the album, Beck joined forces with the Jan Hammer Group, playing a show supporting Alvin Lee at The Roundhouse in May 1976, before embarking on a seven-month long world tour. This resulted in the live album ''Jeff Beck with The Jan Hammer Group - Live'' (1977).

At this point, Beck was a tax exile and took up residency in the US, remaining there until his return to the UK in the autumn of 1977. In the spring of 1978, he began rehearsing with bassist Stanley Clarke and drummer Gerry Brown towards a projected appearance at the Knebworth Festival, but this was cancelled after Brown dropped out. Beck toured Japan for three weeks in November 1978 with an ad-hoc group consisting of Clarke and newcomers Tony Hymas (keyboards) and Simon Phillips (drums) from Jack Bruce's band. Work then began on a new studio album at The Who's Ramport Studios in London and continued sporadically throughout 1979, resulting in ''There and Back'' in June 1980. It featured three tracks composed and recorded with Jan Hammer, while five were written with Hymas. Stanley Clarke was replaced by Mo Foster on bass, both on the album and the subsequent tours. Its release was followed by extensive touring in the USA, Japan and the UK.

1980s

In 1981 Beck made a series of historic live appearances with his Yardbirds predecessor Eric Clapton at the Amnesty International-sponsored benefit concerts dubbed ''The Secret Policeman's Other Ball'' shows. He appeared with Clapton on "Crossroads", "Further On Up The Road", and his own arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "Cause We've Ended As Lovers". Beck also featured prominently in an all-star band finale performance of "I Shall Be Released" with Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Donovan and Bob Geldof. Beck's contributions were seen and heard in the resulting album and film, both of which achieved worldwide success in 1982. Another benefit show, the ARMS Concert for Multiple Sclerosis featured a jam with Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. They performed "Tulsa Time" and "Layla". This is the only time all of the Yardbirds lead guitarists appeared on stage together.

In 1985 Beck released ''Flash'', featurng a variety of vocalists, but most notably former bandmate Rod Stewart on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready".

After a four year break, Jeff made a return to instrumental music with the album ''Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop'' (1989), the first album to feature Beck as a fingerstyle guitarist, leaving the plectrum playing style. It was only his 3rd album to be released in the 1980s. Much of Beck's sparse and sporadic recording schedule was due in part to a long battle with noise-induced tinnitus.

1990s

In the 1990s, Beck had a higher musical output. He is featured on lead guitar on Roger Waters' 1992 concept album ''Amused to Death'', and on Kate Bush's 1993 album ''The Red Shoes''.

He recorded the instrumental soundtrack album Frankie's House (1992), as well as Crazy Legs (1993), a tribute album to 50's rockabilly group Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps and their influential guitarist Cliff Gallup.

Beck rehearsed with Guns N' Roses for their concert in Paris in 1992, but did not play in the actual concert due to ear damage caused by a Matt Sorum cymbal crash, causing Beck to become temporarily deaf. The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. In Beck's acceptance speech he humorously noted that:

}} He accompanied Paul Rodgers of Bad Company on the album ''Muddy Water Blues: A Tribute to Muddy Waters'' in 1993. Jeff's next release would not be until 1999, his first foray into guitar based electronica, ''Who Else!'' The album also marked Beck's first collaboration with a female musician, Jennifer Batten, in touring, writing, and recording as well as the first time he had worked with another guitarist on his own material since playing in The Yardbirds. Beck continued to work with Batten through the post-release tour of ''You Had It Coming'' in 2001.

2000s

Jeff Beck won his third Grammy Award, this one for 'Best Rock Instrumental Performance' for the track "Dirty Mind" from ''You Had It Coming'' (2001).

The song "Plan B," from the 2003 release ''Jeff,'' earned Beck his fourth Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and was proof that the new electro-guitar style he used for the two earlier albums would continue to dominate. Jeff Beck was the opening act for B.B. King in the summer of 2003 and appeared at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2004.

In 2007, he accompanied Kelly Clarkson for her cover of Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)", during the Idol Gives Back episode of ''American Idol''. The performance was recorded live and afterwards was immediately released for sale. In the same year, he appeared once again at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, performing with Vinnie Colaiuta, Jason Rebello, and the then 21-year-old bassist Tal Wilkenfeld.

Beck announced a world tour in early 2009 and remained faithful to the same lineup of musicians as in his tour two years before, playing and recording at Ronnie Scott's in London to a sold out audience. Beck played on the song "Black Cloud" on the 2009 Morrissey album ''Years of Refusal'' and later that year, Harvey Goldsmith became Beck's Manager.

Beck was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 4 April 2009, as a solo artist. The award was presented by Jimmy Page. On 4 July 2009, David Gilmour joined Beck onstage at the Albert Hall. Beck and Gilmour traded solos on "Jerusalem" and closed the show with "Hi Ho Silver Lining".

Beck's latest album, ''Emotion & Commotion'', was released in April 2010. It features a mixture of original songs and covers such as "Over the Rainbow" and "Nessun Dorma". Joss Stone provides some of the guest vocals. Two tracks from ''Emotion & Commotion'' won Grammys in 2011: "Nessun Dorms" won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance and "Hammerhead" won the Best Rock Instrumental Performance".

Beck's 2010 World Tour band features Grammy winning musician Narada Michael Walden on drums, Rhonda Smith on bass and Jason Rebello on keyboards. Beck collaborated on "Imagine" for the 2010 Herbie Hancock album, ''The Imagine Project'' along with Seal, P!nk, India.Arie, Konono N°1, Oumou Sangare and others. He has also released a live album titled Live and Exclusive from the Grammy Museum on October 25, 2010.

In 2011, Beck received two honorary degrees from British universities. On 18 July 2011, he was honoured with a fellowship from University of the Arts London in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the field of Music". He was also presented with an honorary doctorate from University of Sussex by Sanjeev Bhaskar, the university's chancellor for “an outstanding musical career and celebrated the relationship between the university and the Brighton Institute of Modern Music (BIMM)" on 21 July 2011.

Influences

One of the most influential guitarists in the history of rock music, Jeff Beck has cited his major influences as Les Paul, The Shadows, Cliff Gallup, Ravi Shankar, Roy Buchanan, Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, Steve Cropper and Lonnie Mack. Of John McLaughlin, he said: "he has given us so many different facets of the guitar and introduced thousands of us to world music, by blending Indian music with jazz and classical. I'd say he was the best guitarist alive."

While Beck was not the first rock guitarist to experiment with electronic distortion, he nonetheless helped to redefine the sound and role of the electric guitar in rock music. Beck's work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group's 1968 album ''Truth'' were seminal influences on heavy metal music, which emerged in full force in the early 1970s.

Technique and equipment

Beck stopped regular use of a pick (plectrum) in the 1980s. He produces a wide variety of sounds by using his fingers and the vibrato bar on his signature Fender Stratocaster, although he frequently uses a wah-wah pedal both live and in the studio. As Eric Clapton once said, "With Jeff, it’s all in his hands". Along with Fender Stratocasters, Beck occasionally plays Fender Telecaster and Gibson Les Paul models as well. His amplifiers are primarily Fender and Marshall. In his earlier days with the Yardbirds, Beck also used a 1954 Fender Esquire guitar (now owned by Seymour W. Duncan, and housed in the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame) through Vox AC30s. He has also played through a variety of fuzz pedals and echo-units along with this set-up and has used the Pro Co RAT distortion pedal.

He is noted for changes of musical style and direction throughout his career. Ritchie Blackmore once praised this aspect of Jeff in an interview to Martin K. Webb, when the interviewer asked him what he means by "chance music", he replied:

During the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983 Beck used his battered Fender Esquire along with a 1954 Fender Stratocaster and a Jackson Soloist. On the Crazy Legs (1993) he played a Gretsch Duo Jet, his signature Fender Stratocaster and various other guitars. Recently Fender created a Custom Shop Tribute series version of his beat-up Fender Esquire as well as his Artist Signature series Stratocaster.

Personal life

Beck has been married to Sandra Cash since 2005. Beck describes himself as a vegetarian. He has an interest in classic Ford hot rods, performing much of the work on the exteriors and engines of the cars by himself.

Discography

See also

List of rock instrumentals

Bibliography

Carson, Annette. ''Jeff Beck: Crazy Fingers''. Backbeat books (2002). ISBN 0-87930-632-7

Horjt, Chris and Hinman, Doug. ''Jeff's book : A chronology of Jeff Beck's career 1965-1980 : from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock''. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press, (2000). ISBN 0-9641005-3-3

Foster, Mo.''17 watts?: The Birth of British Rock Guitar''. Sanctuary (1997 and 2000). ISBN 978-1-86074-267-5

References

External links

Press conference and master class by Jeff Beck in Moscow 2010

Jeff Beck Official Site

''Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame: Jeff Beck'' FuseTV

Jeff Beck at Epic Records

Jeff Beck 1954 Les Paul Oxblood

Jeff Beck unofficial website

Category:English blues guitarists Category:English songwriters Category:English rock guitarists Category:Lead guitarists Category:English vegetarians Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Wallington, London Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Yardbirds members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Blues rock musicians Category:Musicians from Tunbridge Wells Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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name	Beck
background	solo_singer
birth name	Bek David Campbell
birth date	July 08, 1970
birth place	Los Angeles, California, US
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, producer
genre	Alternative rock, anti-folk
instrument	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, sitar, banjo, slide guitar, twelve-string guitar, glockenspiel, vocoder, kalimba, melodica, beatboxing
years active	1988–present
label	DGC, Interscope, Geffen, XL, Bong Load|
associated acts	The Flaming Lips, Devendra Banhart, Charlotte Gainsbourg, The White Stripes, JSBX, Thurston Moore
website
notable instruments	1962 Silvertone Danelectro Danelectro Dano Pro }}

Beck Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck. With a pop art collage of musical styles, oblique and ironic lyrics, and postmodern arrangements incorporating samples, drum machines, live instrumentation and sound effects, Beck has been hailed by critics throughout his musical career as being amongst the most creative and idiosyncratic musicians of 1990s and 2000s alternative rock.

The four-time platinum artist rose to underground popularity with his early works, which combined social criticism (as in "MTV Makes Me Want to Smoke Crack" and "Deep Fried Love") with musical and lyrical experimentation. He first earned wider public attention for his breakthrough single "Loser", a 1994 hit.

Two of Beck's most popular and acclaimed recordings are ''Odelay'' (1996) and ''Sea Change'' (2002). ''Odelay'' was awarded Album of the Year by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone'' and by UK publications ''NME'' and ''Mojo''. ''Odelay'' also received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. Both ''Odelay'' and ''Sea Change'' appeared on ''Rolling Stone'''s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Early life

Beck was born in Los Angeles, California, to David Campbell, a Canadian musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol "star". His maternal grandfather was Al Hansen, a visual collage artist of the Fluxus school of art. Beck's paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, while his matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish; Beck's mother also has Norwegian and Swedish ancestry. When his parents separated, Beck stayed with his mother and brother in Los Angeles, where he was influenced by the city's diverse musical offerings—everything from hip hop to Latin music and his mother's art scene—all of which would later reappear in his recorded and published work.

Career

Early performing and first releases (1985–1993)

After dropping out of high school in the mid-1980s, Beck traveled to Europe and developed his musical talent as a street musician. In Germany, he spent time with his grandfather Al Hansen. The late 1980s found him in New York City, involved in the punk-influenced anti-folk music movement.

In 1988, Beck recorded a cassette entitled ''Banjo Story'', which has since become available in bootleg form. He returned to Los Angeles at the turn of the decade. He lived in a shed and took a variety of low-paying, dead-end jobs (at one point working as a leaf blower operator), all the while continuing to develop his music. Beck also sought out (or sneaked onto) stages at venues all over Los Angeles, from punk clubs to coffee shops and playing on the streets. During this time, he met Chris Ballew (founder of The Presidents of the United States of America). They performed on the streets as a duo for a while.

In 1993 Beck released his first studio album, ''Golden Feelings'', on Peter Hughes's Sonic Enemy label. It was initially released only on cassette (though later on CD in limited quantities). It has been estimated that only between 500 and 750 copies were made, making it a rare artifact. AllMusic.com would later describe the album as "an extremely interesting, entertaining, and humorous document that proves that from the start, Beck had his heart set on making experimentation his only gimmick".

"Loser", ''Mellow Gold'', and independent albums (1993–1995)

1993 saw Bong Load Custom Records (owned by Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, and Bradshaw Lambert) sign Beck to their fledgling label. His first release for Bong Load was "Loser", a collaboration between hip hop nuance producer Carl Stephenson and Beck. The song created a sensation when radio host Chris Douridas played the song on ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'', the flagship music program from Santa Monica College radio station KCRW. That exposure and a subsequent live performance on the show July 23, 1993, led to a bidding war among labels to sign Beck. Eventually, he chose Geffen Records, who offered him terms that included an allowance for the release of independent albums while under contract. Of all the record labels to offer Beck a contract, Geffen offered him the least amount of money, but the greatest amount of creative freedom.

On February 22, 1994, Flipside Records released ''Stereopathetic Soulmanure''. A sprawling 25-track album, it contained the fan favorites "Satan Gave Me a Taco", "Rowboat", and "Thunderpeel", as well nonsensical spoken tracks, noise (such as leafblowers), and live recordings. Johnny Cash would later record "Rowboat" and include it on his 1996 album ''Unchained''. Cash later said that the song "sounded like something I might have written or might have done in the [1960s, when] I was kinda going through some weird times." "Satan Gave Me a Taco" was acknowledged by Allen Ginsberg to be one of his favorite contemporary works of pop poetry.

In March 1994, Geffen released Beck's major label debut, ''Mellow Gold''. The album, created with Bong Load's Rothrock and Schnapf, as well as Carl Stephenson, turned Beck into a mainstream success. The record received the best ratings possible from ''Spin'', Robert Christgau, ''Rolling Stone's Album Guide'' and AllMusic.

On June 27, Olympia, Washington–based independent label K Records released Beck's third album of 1994, ''One Foot in the Grave''. The recording featured a number of notable musicians from the independent music scene, including Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, The Presidents of the United States of America's Chris Ballew, and Built to Spill members Scott Plouf and James Bertram.

Beck took his act on the road in 1994 with a worldwide tour, followed by a spot on the main stage of the 1995 Lollapalooza tour.

''Odelay'' (1996–1997)

When the time came to record his follow-up to ''Mellow Gold'', Beck enlisted Rothrock and Schnapf as producers and began recording an album of moody, low-key acoustic numbers to showcase his songwriting. Eventually, Beck shelved the album and pursued a more upbeat approach. Beck was introduced to the Dust Brothers, producers of the Beastie Boys' album ''Paul's Boutique,'' whose cut-and-paste, sample-heavy production suited Beck's vision of a more fun, accessible album.

The result, 1996's ''Odelay,'' would put the "one-hit wonder" criticisms to rest. The lead single, "Where It's At", received much airplay, and its video was in heavy rotation on MTV. Within the year ''Odelay'' received praise from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, appeared on countless "Best of" lists (it topped the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for "Album of the Year"), and earned a number of industry awards, including two Grammys. Besides "Where It's At", three other singles were released from the album: "Devils Haircut", "Jack-Ass" and "The New Pollution".

Beginning in 1993, Beck contributed to Forest for the Trees, an experimental trip hop project by collaborator Carl Stephenson. The project released a self-titled record in 1997, followed by an EP in 1999. Beck added spoken word, harmonica, and various other instruments.

''Mutations'' and ''Midnite Vultures'' (1998–2001)

''Odelay'' was followed in 1998 by the release of ''Mutations''. Though the album was originally slated for release by Bong Load Records, Geffen intervened and issued the record against Beck's wishes. The artist then sought to void his contracts with both record labels, and in turn the labels sued him for breach of contract. The litigation went on for years and it remains unclear to this day if it has ever been completely resolved. ''Mutations'' was produced by Beck and Nigel Godrich (frequent producer and collaborator with Radiohead) and is believed to have been intended as a stopgap measure before the proper next album. Recorded over two weeks, during which Beck recorded one song a day, the sessions produced fourteen songs. ''Mutations'' was a departure from the electronic density of ''Odelay'' and shows heavy folk and blues influences. Tracks on the album consisted of older songs, some dating back as early as 1994.

In 1999, Beck was awarded Best Alternative Music Performance for ''Mutations'' at the 42nd Grammy Awards.

In November, Geffen released the much-anticipated ''Midnite Vultures'', which was supported by an extensive world tour. For Beck, it was a return to the high-energy performances that had been his trademark as far back as Lollapalooza. The live stage set included a red bed that descended from the ceiling for the song "Debra", and the touring band was complemented by a brass section. ''Midnite Vultures'' was nominated for Best Album at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards. Beck released a number of B-sides and soundtrack-only songs as well, including "Deadweight" from the ''A Life Less Ordinary'' soundtrack, "Midnite Vultures" (curiously, not on the album of the same name), David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" from ''Moulin Rouge!'', and a cover of The Korgis' "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime", which appeared in two memory-alteration-themed productions: the 2004 movie ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'' and the last episode of the first season of ''Dollhouse''. He is also credited on the French band Air’s 2001 album ''10 000 Hz Legend'' for vocals on the songs "Don't Be Light" and "The Vagabond" (as well as harmonica on the latter). He sang a duet with Emmylou Harris on ''Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons'', performing "Sin City".

''Sea Change'' (2002–2003)

In 2001, the ''Beck'' EP, which consists of B-sides from the ''Midnite Vultures'' era, was released. The EP was only available from Beck's website, and only 10,000 copies were printed.

In 2002, Beck released ''Sea Change'', which, like ''Mutations'', was produced by Nigel Godrich. It became Beck's first US Top 10 album, reaching #8. The album also received critical acclaim, earning five stars from ''Rolling Stone'' (the magazine's highest rating) and placing second in the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 2002. ''Sea Change'' was conceptualized around one unifying theme: the end of a relationship. The album featured string arrangements by Beck's father, David Campbell, and a sonically dense mix reminiscent of ''Mutations''. Although some radio singles were released, no commercial singles were made available to the public. In August 2002, prior to the release of ''Sea Change'', Beck embarked on a solo acoustic tour of small theaters and halls, during which he played several songs from the forthcoming album. The post-release ''Sea Change'' tour featured The Flaming Lips as Beck's opening and backing band.

A song Beck co-wrote with William Orbit, "Feel Good Time", was recorded by pop singer Pink for inclusion on the soundtrack of the 2003 film ''Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle''. Beck also covered the Bruce Haack song titled "Funky Lil Song" for Dimension Mix, a tribute album dedicated to the music of electronic music pioneer Haack and his Dimension 5 Records, which his long time friend and collaborator Ross Harris produced to benefit Cure Autism Now.

''Guero'' and ''The Information'' (2004–2007)

In 2004, Beck returned to the studio to work on his sixth major-label studio album. The record, ''Guero'', was produced by the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer and features a collaboration with Jack White of The White Stripes; it marked a return to ''Odelay''-era sound. The album was released in March 2005 and enjoyed critical acclaim from most mainstream press, earning four of five stars from ''Rolling Stone'', as well as a "Critic's Choice" recognition from ''The New York Times''. The album received a less enthusiastic response from ''Pitchfork Media'', which ran a lukewarm and disappointed 6.6 out of 10 review; it was also given poor reviews by ''Q'' magazine, ''Dusted'' and ''Mojo''. The album debuted at #2 on the ''Billboard'' charts, pushing 162,000 copies in the first week and giving Beck his best week ever in terms of commercial sales and chart position. Since the release of ''Guero'', the album's first single, "E-Pro" (which samples the drum track from the Beastie Boys hit "So What'cha Want"), has been well received by the mainstream rock community, receiving significant play time on mainstream radio. The second single, "Girl", received decent play time on mainstream radio and heavy airplay on college and independent radio. The third and final single of the album was "Hell Yes." The deluxe edition DVD version of the album featured more than 100 videos. Viewers could use the two additional video streams and four subpicture streams to create their own visual remixes for each track. The DVD package was so advanced that a small percentage of DVD players were unable to access certain tracks, due to the complicated nature of the technology used by video artists D-Fuse.

On February 1, 2005, Beck released an EP featuring four remixes of songs from ''Guero'' by independent artists who use sounds from various early 8-bit video game devices like the Game Boy. The EP, ''GameBoy Variations'', featured "Ghettochip Malfunction" [Hell Yes] and "GameBoy/Homeboy" [Que' Onda Guero], both remixed by the band 8-Bit, and also had "Bad Cartridge" [E-Pro] and "Bit Rate Variation in B-Flat" [Girl], the last two being remixed by Paza {The X-Dump}. The EP cover art shows a long-haired person headbanging to his Game Boy, which is plugged into an amplifier like an electric guitar. This EP was featured in an issue of ''Nintendo Power''. A music video for "Gameboy/Homeboy" was made by Wyld File. Also at this time, Beck released ''A Brief Overview'', a promotional retrospective album featuring tracks from ''Guero'', ''Sea Change'', ''Mutations'', ''Midnite Vultures'' and ''Odelay''. This compilation also features "Ghettochip Malfunction" and two versions of "E-Pro," the lead single from ''Guero''.

Beck performed at the music and arts festival Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee on June 17, 2006, with a set that featured many songs from ''Guero''. In addition to his band, Beck was accompanied by a group of puppets, dressed as him and members of his band. Live video feed of the puppets' performance was broadcast on video screens to the audience. The puppet show was included throughout his 2006 world tour. On December 6, 2005, the remix album Guerolito was released, featuring the entire Guero album remixed by acclaimed musicians as well as cover art by Marcel Dzama.

Beck's seventh major-label studio album, ''The Information'', which again reunited him with Nigel Godrich, was released on October 3, 2006. The release marked the first time in seven years that Beck released studio albums in consecutive years. The album reportedly took more than three years to make and has been described as "quasi hip-hop". It came with a sheet of stickers, which were to be used to "make your own album cover." Because of this, ''The Information'' was disqualified by the Official Chart Company from entering the UK Albums Chart, but in the US it gave Beck his third straight Top 10 studio album peak on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #7. The lead US single, "Nausea," officially went to radio on September 5, 2006. In the UK, the first single was "Cellphone's Dead".

A non-album single, "Timebomb", was released on iTunes on August 21, 2007, and the limited edition vinyl 12" was released on November 2, 2007, with an instrumental version of the song on the B-side. In December, 2007, it was announced that "Timebomb" had been nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance.

''Modern Guilt'' and ''Scott Pilgrim'' soundtrack (2008–present)

In February 2008, Beck stated in an interview with ''Rolling Stone'' that he had been working on a new album "with an unnamed producer" and that he expected it to be released by the end of the year. In early March 2008, the unnamed producer was revealed to be Danger Mouse. The new album ''Modern Guilt'' was released on Interscope in North America and on XL Records in the rest of the world. The single "Chemtrails" was made available on Beck's MySpace and website. In early June, Beck performed several songs from the new album at The Echo in Los Angeles. ''Modern Guilt'' was released in July 2008. A complete acoustic version of ''Modern Guilt'', recorded in Japan, was featured as videos on Beck's website in 2009.

In an August 2010 interview with Pitchfork Media, Beck revealed that he wanted to release at least a song by the end of the summer. That culminated in Beck-written songs for fictionalized band Sex Bob-omb on the ''Scott Pilgrim'' movie soundtrack.

On December 13, 2010, RCRD LBL premiered a Beck remix of Lykke Li's "Get Some."

Collaborations and contributions

On June 18, 2009, Beck announced that he was starting an experiment called Record Club, in which he and other musicians would record cover versions of entire albums in one day. The first album covered by Beck's Record Club was ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. Starting on June 18, the club began posting covers of songs from the album on Thursday evenings, each with its own video. On September 4, 2009, Beck announced the second Record Club album, ''Songs of Leonard Cohen''. Contributors included MGMT, Devendra Banhart, Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother and Binki Shapiro of Little Joy. In the third Record Club venture, Wilco, Feist, Jamie Lidell and James Gadson joined Beck to cover Skip Spence's ''Oar''. The first song, "Little Hands", was posted on Beck's website on November 12, 2009. The Record Club has since covered albums by INXS and Yanni

On June 19, 2009, Beck announced Planned Obsolescence, a weekly DJ set put together by Beck or guest DJs. Soon after, on July 7, Beck announced that his website would be featuring "extended informal conversations with musicians, artists, filmmakers, and other various persons" in a section called Irrelevant Topics. Then, on July 12, he added a section called Videotheque, which he said would contain "promotional videos from each album, as well as live clips, tv show appearances and other rarities".

Also in 2009, Beck collaborated with Charlotte Gainsbourg on her album ''IRM'', which was released in January 2010. Beck wrote the music, co-wrote the lyrics, and produced and mixed the album. The lead single, "Heaven Can Wait", is a duet by Beck and Gainsbourg.

In late February 2010, it was announced that electronic artist Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow had collaborated with Beck on two songs, "Fresh Hex" and "Grape Aerosmith", on his upcoming album ''Maniac Meat''. Tobacco revealed that in making the album, Beck sent the vocal parts to him, and that they had never actually met.

In March 2010, Beck revealed that he had produced songs for the new Jamie Lidell album, ''Compass''.

In the summer of 2010, Beck contributed songs to both ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' soundtrack, with "Let's Get Lost" (a duet with Bat for Lashes), and ''True Blood (HBO Original Series Soundtrack, Vol. 2)'', with "Bad Blood". He also contributed songs to soundtrack of the movie ''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'', which was released in August 2010. Two of the songs that Beck specifically wrote for the film appeared in its theatrical trailer.

In 2011, he collaborated with Seu Jorge on a track entitled Tropicália (Mario C. 2011 Remix) for the Red Hot Organization's most recent charitable album "Red Hot+Rio 2." The album is a follow-up to the 1996 "Red Hot + Rio." Proceeds from the sales will be donated to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues. He also contributed on the song "Attracted to Us" on Turtleneck & Chain, the newest album from The Lonely Island.

Also in 2011, Beck produced a solo album by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth called ''Demolished Thoughts''. An album he produced for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, ''Mirror Traffic'', was released in August 2011.

Musical style

Beck's musical style has been considered alternative and indie. He has been known to play many of the instruments in his music himself. He has also done some remixes for fellow artists, notably David Bowie and Björk. Beck has been known to synthesize several musical elements together in his music, including folk, Latin, hip hop, funk, many types of rock and blues. He has also taken music from Los Angeles as a reference point in his songs.

Pitchfork Media applauded ''Midnite Vultures'', saying, "Beck wonderfully blends Prince, Talking Heads, ''Paul's Boutique'', 'Shake Your Bon-Bon', and Mathlete on ''Midnite Vultures'', his most consistent and playful album yet." The review continued to comment on Beck, saying that his mix of goofy piety and ambiguous intent helped the album. '' A Beck song called "Harry Partch," a tribute to the composer and his "Corporeal" music, employs Partch's 43-tone scale.

Art career

During 1998, Beck's art collaborations with his grandfather Al Hansen were featured in an exhibition entitled "Beck & Al Hansen: Playing With Matches", which showcased solo and collaborative collage, assemblage, drawing and poetry works. The show toured from the Santa Monica Museum of Art to galleries in New York City and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. A catalog of the show was published by Plug In Editions/Smart Art Press.

Personal life

From 1991 to 2000, Beck was in a relationship with designer Leigh Limon. Their breakup is said to have inspired his 2002 album, ''Sea Change''. He wrote most of the songs for the album in one week after the breakup. Beck married actress Marissa Ribisi, the twin sister of actor Giovanni Ribisi, in April 2004, shortly before the birth of their son, Cosimo Henri. Ribisi gave birth to their daughter, Tuesday, in 2007.

Scientology

Beck has been involved in Scientology for most of his life; his wife, Marissa, is also a second-generation Scientologist. Marissa and her twin brother, Giovanni, were delivered by Beck's mother, Bibbe. Beck publicly acknowledged his affiliation with Scientology for the first time in an interview published in ''The New York Times Magazine'' on March 6, 2005. Further confirmation came in an interview with the Irish ''Sunday Tribune's'' ''i Magazine'' on June 11, 2005, where he was quoted as saying, "Yeah, I'm a Scientologist. My father has been a Scientologist for about 35 years, so I grew up in and around it." When questioned by the interviewer about Scientology's core beliefs, he replied:

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Appearances in media

The 1986 punk rock musical ''Population: 1'' features a young Beck in a small nonspeaking role alongside Tomata du Plenty of The Screamers. Beck also appeared in ''Southlander'' (2001), an American independent film by Steve Hanft and Ross Harris.

Beck has performed on ''Saturday Night Live'' six times; these shows were hosted by Kevin Spacey, Bill Paxton, Christina Ricci, Jennifer Garner, Tom Brady and Hugh Laurie. During his 2006 performance in the Hugh Laurie episode, Beck was accompanied by the puppets that had been used on-stage during his world tour. He has made two cameo appearances as himself on ''Saturday Night Live'': one in a sketch about medicinal marijuana, and one in a VH1 ''Behind the Music'' parody that featured "Fat Albert & the Junkyard Gang."

Beck performed a guest voice as himself in Matt Groening's animated show ''Futurama'', in the episode "Bendin' in the Wind". He performed in episode 10 of the fourth season of ''The Larry Sanders Show'', in which the producer character Artie (Rip Torn) referred to him as a "hillbilly from outer space". He also made a very brief voice appearance in 1998 cartoon feature film, ''The Rugrats Movie'', and guest-starred as himself in a 1997 episode of ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' entitled "Edelweiss."

Beck has also made appearances in the Adult Swim show ''Mission Hill''. Accepting an award, he comes up on stage wearing the new "Spicy pants" trend. In consequence the main character begins throwing all of his "Beck" albums out his upper-story window.

In an episode of ''Celebrity Deathmatch'', Beck was featured fighting Björk in a "battle to be the best monosyllabic musician of all time", which ended with both of them slain by Bach, who appeared via a time machine.

On January 22, 2010, Beck appeared on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'''s last show as a backup guitarist for a Will Ferrell–led rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" alongside ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons, Ben Harper, and O'Brien himself on guitar.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Golden Feelings'' (1993)

''A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight'' (1994)

''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' (1994)

''Mellow Gold'' (1994)

''One Foot in the Grave'' (1994)

''Odelay'' (1996)

''Mutations'' (1998)

''Midnite Vultures'' (1999)

''Sea Change'' (2002)

''Guero'' (2005)

''The Information'' (2006)

''Modern Guilt'' (2008)

References

External links

Whiskeyclone.net, large, informative Beck site

Stewoo.net, the largest Beck fan forum

Beck at ''Rolling Stone''

Category:1970 births Category:American alternative country singers Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American buskers Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Jewish descent Category:American musicians of Norwegian descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American musicians of Swedish descent

Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American Scientologists Category:Anti-folk musicians Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:K Records artists Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:XL Recordings artists

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name	Jimmy Page
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
birth name	James Patrick Page
born	January 09, 1944Heston, Middlesex, England
instrument	Guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, theremin, bass, banjo, harmonica, dobro, sitar, keyboards, tambourine, tamboura, hurdy gurdy, pedal steel guitar
genre	Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock, rock and roll, folk rock
occupation	Musician, songwriter, producer
years active	1957–present
label	Swan Song, Atlantic, Geffen, Fontana, Mercury
associated acts	The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, The Honeydrippers, The Firm, Coverdale and Page, Page and Plant, Herman's Hermits, XYZ, Joe Cocker, The Edge, Jack White, Donovan, The Black Crowes
website
notable instruments	}}

James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.

Jimmy Page is viewed by critics and fans alike as one of the most influential and important guitarists and songwriters in rock music. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine has described him as "the pontiff of power riffing & probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown." In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked No.2 in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time" and, in 2007, No.4 on ''Classic Rock Magazine'''s "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". Page was ranked ninth in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; once as a member of The Yardbirds (1992), and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995).

Early years

Jimmy Page was born to parents James and Patricia Page in the West London suburb of Heston, which today forms part of the London Borough of Hounslow. His father was an industrial personnel manager and his mother was a doctor's secretary. In 1952 they moved to Feltham, and later again to Miles Road, Epsom in Surrey, which is where Page came across his first guitar. "I don't know whether [the guitar] was left behind by the people [in the house] before [us], or whether it was a friend of the family's — nobody seemed to know why it was there." First playing the instrument at the age of twelve years, he took a few lessons in nearby Kingston, but was largely self-taught:

When I grew up there weren't many other guitarists ... There was one other guitarist in my school who actually showed me the first chords that I learned, and I went on from there. I was bored so I taught myself the guitar from listening to records. So obviously it was a very personal thing.

Among Page's early influences were rockabilly guitarists Scotty Moore and James Burton, who both played on recordings made by Elvis Presley. Hearing the Elvis Presley song "Baby Let's Play House" is cited by Page as being his inspiration to take up playing the guitar. Although he appears on BBC1 in 1957 with another guitar, Page states that his first guitar was a second-hand 1959 Futurama Grazioso, which was later replaced by a Telecaster.

Page's musical tastes included skiffle (a popular English music genre of the time) and acoustic folk playing, particularly that of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, and the blues sounds of Elmore James, B.B. King, Willie Dixon, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Freddie King and Hubert Sumlin. "Basically, that was the start: a mixture between rock and blues."

At the age of 13, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's ''All Your Own'' talent quest programme in a skiffle quartet, one performance of which aired on BBC TV in 1957. The group played "Mama Don't Want To Skiffle Anymore" and another very American-flavoured song, "In Them Ol' Cottonfields Back Home". Televised Contest. When asked by Wheldon what he wanted to do after schooling, Page said, "I want to do biological research" to find a cure for "cancer, if it isn't discovered by then".

In an interview with ''Guitar Player'' magazine, Page stated that "there was a lot of busking in the early days, but as they say, I had to come to grips with it, and it was a good schooling." Page would take a guitar to school each day and have it confiscated and handed back to him at 4:00 P.M. Although he had an interview for a job as a laboratory assistant, he ultimately chose to leave Danetree Secondary School, West Ewell, to pursue music instead.

Initially, Page had difficulty finding other musicians with whom he could play on a regular basis. "It wasn't as though there was an abundance. I used to play in many groups... anyone who could get a gig together, really." Following stints backing recitals by Beat poet Royston Ellis at the Mermaid Theatre between 1960–61, and singer Red E. Lewis, he was asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band, The Crusaders, after Christian had seen a fifteen-year-old Page playing in a local hall. Page toured with Christian for approximately two years and later played on several of his records, including the November 1962 single, "The Road to Love".

During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with glandular fever (infectious mononucleosis) and couldn't continue touring. While recovering, he decided to put his musical career on hold and concentrate on his other love, painting, and enrolled at Sutton Art College in Surrey. As he explained in 1975:

Session musician

While still a student, Page would often perform on stage at The Marquee with bands such as Cyril Davies' All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated and with guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. He was spotted one night by John Gibb of Brian Howard & The Silhouettes, who asked him to help record a number of singles for Columbia Graphophone Company, including "The Worrying Kind". Mike Leander of Decca Records first offered Page regular studio work. His first session for the label was the recording "Diamonds" by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, which went to Number 1 on the singles chart in early 1963.

After brief stints with Carter-Lewis and the Southerners, Mike Hurst and the Method, and Mickey Finn and the Blue Men, Page committed himself to full-time session work. As a session guitarist he was known as 'Little Jim' so there was no confusion with other noted British session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. Page was mainly called in to sessions as "insurance" in instances when a replacement or second guitarist was required by the recording artist. "It was usually myself and a drummer", he explained, "though they never mention the drummer these days, just me ... Anyone needing a guitarist either went to Big Jim [Sullivan] or myself." He has also stated that "In the initial stages they just said, play what you want, cos at that time I couldn't read music or anything."

Page was the favoured session guitarist of producer Shel Talmy. As a result, he secured session work on songs for The Who and The Kinks. Page is credited with playing acoustic twelve string guitar on two tracks on The Kinks' debut album "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain" and possibly on the b-side "I Gotta Move". He played six-string rhythm guitar on the sessions for The Who's first single "I Can't Explain" (although Pete Townshend was reluctant to allow Page's contribution on the final recording, Page also played lead guitar on the B-side "Bald Headed Woman"). Page's studio output in 1964 included Marianne Faithfull's "As Tears Go By", The Nashville Teens' "Tobacco Road", The Rolling Stones' "Heart of Stone" (released on ''Metamorphosis''), Van Morrison & Them's "Baby Please Don't Go" and "Here Comes the Night", Dave Berry's "The Crying Game" and "My Baby Left Me", Brenda Lee's "Is It True," and Petula Clark's "Downtown".

In 1965 Page was hired by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham to act as house producer and A&R; man for the newly-formed Immediate Records label, which also allowed him to play on and/or produce tracks by John Mayall, Nico, Chris Farlowe, Twice as Much and Eric Clapton. Page also formed a brief songwriting partnership with then romantic interest, Jackie DeShannon. He also composed and recorded songs for the John Williams album ''The Maureeny Wishful Album'' with Big Jim Sullivan. Page worked as session musician on Donovan Leitch's ''Sunshine Superman'' (1966) and the Johnny Hallyday albums ''Jeune Homme'' (1968) and ''Je Suis Né Dans La Rue'' (1969), the Al Stewart album ''Love Chronicles'' (1969), and played guitar on five tracks of Joe Cocker's debut album, ''With a Little Help from My Friends''.

When questioned about which songs he played on, especially ones where there exists some controversy as to what his exact role was, Page often points out that it is hard to remember exactly what he did given the enormous number of sessions he was playing at the time. In a radio interview he explained that "I was doing three sessions a day, fifteen sessions a week. Sometimes I would be playing with a group, sometimes I could be doing film music, it could be a folk session ... I was able to fit all these different roles."

Although Page recorded with many notable musicians, many of these early tracks are only available as bootleg recordings, several of which were released by the Led Zeppelin fan club in the late 1970s. One of the rarest of these is the early jam session featuring Jimmy Page playing with Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, featuring a cover of "Little Queen of Spades" by Robert Johnson. Several songs which featured Page's involvement were compiled on the twin album release, ''Jimmy Page: Session Man''.

Page decided to leave studio work when the increasing influence of Stax Records on popular music led to the greater incorporation of brass and orchestral arrangements into recordings at the expense of guitars. However, he has stated that his time as a session player served as extremely good schooling for his development as a musician:

The Yardbirds

In late 1964, Page was approached about the possibility of replacing Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds, but he declined the offer out of loyalty to his friend. In February 1965 Clapton quit the Yardbirds, and Page was formally offered Clapton's spot, but because he was unwilling to give up his lucrative career as a session musician, and because he was still worried about his health under touring conditions, he suggested his friend, Jeff Beck. On 16 May 1966, drummer Keith Moon, bass player John Paul Jones, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, Jeff Beck and Page recorded "Beck's Bolero" in London's IBC Studios. The experience gave Page an idea to form a new supergroup featuring Beck, along with The Who's John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums. However, the lack of a quality vocalist and contractual problems prevented the project from getting off the ground. During this time, Moon suggested the name "Lead Zeppelin" for the first time, after Entwistle commented that the proceedings would take to the air like a lead balloon.

Within weeks, Page attended a Yardbirds concert at Oxford. After the show he went backstage where Paul Samwell-Smith announced that he was leaving the group. Page offered to replace Samwell-Smith and this was accepted by the group. He initially played electric bass with the Yardbirds before finally switching to twin lead guitar with Beck when Chris Dreja moved to bass. The musical potential of the line-up was scuttled, however, by interpersonal conflicts caused by constant touring and a lack of commercial success, although they released one single, "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago". (While Page and Jeff Beck played together in The Yardbirds, the trio of Page, Beck and Clapton never played in the original group at the same time. The three guitarists did appear on stage together at the ARMS charity concerts in 1983.)

After Beck's departure, the Yardbirds remained a quartet. They recorded one album with Page on lead guitar, ''Little Games''. The album received indifferent reviews and was not a commercial success, peaking at only number 80 on the Billboard Music Charts. Though their studio sound was fairly commercial at the time, the band's live performances were just the opposite, becoming heavier and more experimental. These concerts featured musical aspects that Page would later perfect with Led Zeppelin, most notably performances of "Dazed and Confused".

After the departure of Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1968, Page reconfigured the group with a new line-up to fulfill unfinished tour dates in Scandinavia. As he said:

To this end, Page recruited vocalist Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham, and he was also contacted by John Paul Jones who asked to join. During the Scandinavian tour the new group appeared as "The New Yardbirds", but soon recalled the old joke by Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Page stuck with that name to use for his new band. Peter Grant changed it to "Led Zeppelin", to avoid a mispronunciation of ''"Leed Zeppelin."''

Led Zeppelin

Page has explained that he had a very specific idea in mind as to what he wanted Led Zeppelin to be, from the very beginning:

Post-Led Zeppelin career

Led Zeppelin broke up in 1980 following the death of drummer John Bonham at Page's home, The Old Mill House at Clewer in Berkshire. For some time Page refused to touch a guitar out of sadness for the loss of his friend Bonham, but he eventually made a return to the stage at a Jeff Beck show in March 1981 at the Hammersmith Odeon. Also in 1981 Page joined with Yes bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White to form a supergroup called XYZ (for ex-Yes-Zeppelin). They rehearsed several times, but the project was shelved. Demos of these sessions have turned up on bootleg and they reveal that some of the material emerged on later projects, notably The Firm's "Fortune Hunter" and Yes songs "Mind Drive" and "Can You Imagine?". Page would later join Yes on stage in 1984 at Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, playing "I'm Down".

In 1982 Page collaborated with director Michael Winner to record the ''Death Wish II'' soundtrack. This, and several subsequent Page recordings including ''Death Wish III'' soundtrack (1985), were recorded and produced at his own recording studio, The Sol in Cookham, which he had purchased from Gus Dudgeon in the early 1980s.

In 1983 Page appeared with the A.R.M.S. (Action Research for Multiple Sclerosis) charity series of concerts which honoured Small Faces bass player Ronnie Lane, who suffered from the disease. For the first shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Page's set consisted of songs from the ''Death Wish II'' soundtrack (with Steve Winwood on vocals) and an instrumental version of "Stairway to Heaven". A four-city tour of the United States followed, with Paul Rodgers of Bad Company replacing Winwood as vocalist. During the US tour, Page and Rodgers also performed "Midnight Moonlight" which would later be recorded for The Firm's first album. All of the shows featured an on stage jam of "Layla" that reunited Page with Yardbirds guitarists Beck and Eric Clapton. According to the book ''Hammer of the Gods'', it was reportedly around this time that Page told friends that he'd just given up heroin after seven years of use. On 13 December 1983, Page joined Robert Plant on-stage for one encore at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

Page next linked up with Roy Harper for the 1984 album (''Whatever Happened to Jugula?'') and occasional concerts, performing a predominantly acoustic set at folk festivals under various guises such as the MacGregors, and Themselves. Also in 1984 Page recorded with former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant as The Honeydrippers on the album''The Honeydrippers: Volume 1'', and with John Paul Jones on the film soundtrack ''Scream for Help''.

Page subsequently collaborated with Paul Rodgers to record two albums under the name The Firm. The first album, released in 1985, was the self-titled ''The Firm''. Popular songs included "Radioactive" and "Satisfaction Guaranteed". The album peaked at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' pop albums chart and went gold in the US. It was followed by ''Mean Business'' in 1986. The band toured in support of both albums but soon split up.

Various other projects followed, such as session work for Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and The Rolling Stones (on their 1986 single "One Hit (to the Body)"). In 1986, Page reunited temporarily with his ex-Yardbirds band members to play on several tracks of the Box of Frogs album ''Strange Land''. Page released a solo album entitled ''Outrider'' in 1988 which featured contributions from Robert Plant, with Page contributing in turn to Plant's solo album ''Now and Zen'', which was released the same year. Page also embarked on a collaboration with David Coverdale in 1993 entitled Coverdale Page.

Throughout these years Page also reunited with the other former members of Led Zeppelin to perform live on a few occasions, most notably in 1985 for the Live Aid concert with both Phil Collins and Tony Thompson filling drum duties. However, the band members considered this performance to be sub-standard, with Page having been let down by a poorly tuned Les Paul. Page, Plant and Jones, as well as John Bonham's son Jason, performed at the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show on 14 May 1988, closing the 12-hour show. In 1990, a Knebworth concert to aid the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre and the British School for Performing Arts and Technology saw Plant unexpectedly joined by Page to perform "Misty Mountain Hop", "Wearing and Tearing" and "Rock and Roll". Page also performed with the band's former members at various private family functions.

In 1994, Page reunited with Plant for the penultimate performance in ''MTV'''s "Unplugged" series. The 90-minute special, dubbed ''Unledded'', premiered to the highest ratings in MTV's history. In October of the same year, the session was released as the CD ''No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded'', and in 2004 as the DVD ''No Quarter Unledded''. Following a highly successful mid-90s tour to support ''No Quarter'', Page and Plant recorded 1998's ''Walking into Clarksdale''.

Since 1990, Page has been heavily involved in remastering the entire Led Zeppelin back catalogue and is currently participating in various charity concerts and charity work, particularly the ''Action for Brazil's Children Trust'' (ABC Trust), founded by his wife Jimena Gomez-Paratcha in 1998. In the same year, Page played guitar for rap singer/producer Puff Daddy's song "Come with Me", which heavily samples Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" and was included in the soundtrack of ''Godzilla''. The two later performed the song on ''Saturday Night Live''.

In October 1999, Page teamed up with The Black Crowes for a two-night performance of material from the Led Zeppelin catalogue and old blues and rock standards. The concert was recorded and released as a double live album, ''Live at the Greek'' in 2000. In 2001 he made an appearance on stage with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards in Frankfurt, where they performed a version of Led Zeppelin's "Thank You".

In 2005, Page was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his Brazilian charity work for Task Brazil and Action For Brazil's Children's Trust, made an honorary citizen of Rio de Janeiro later that year, and was awarded a Grammy award.

In November 2006, Led Zeppelin was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. The television broadcasting of the event consisted of an introduction to the band by various famous admirers (including Roger Taylor, Slash, Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, Jack White and Tony Iommi), a presentation of an award to Jimmy Page, and then a short speech by the guitarist. After this, rock group Wolfmother played a tribute to Led Zeppelin, playing the song "Communication Breakdown".

In 2006, Page attended the induction of Led Zeppelin to the UK Music Hall of Fame. During an interview for the BBC for said event, he expressed plans to record new material in 2007, saying "It's an album that I really need to get out of my system... there's a good album in there and it's ready to come out" and "Also there will be some Zeppelin things on the horizon".

On 10 December 2007, the surviving members of Led Zeppelin, as well as John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham played a charity concert at the O2 Arena London.

For the 2008 Olympics, Jimmy Page, David Beckham and Leona Lewis represented Britain during the closing ceremonies on 24 August 2008. Beckham rode a double-decker bus into the stadium, and Page and Lewis performed "Whole Lotta Love".

In 2008 Page co-produced a documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim entitled ''It Might Get Loud''. The film examines the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of Page, The Edge, and Jack White. The film premiered on 5 September 2008 at the Toronto Film Festival. Page also participated in the 3 part BBC documentary ''London Calling: The making of the Olympic handover ceremony'' on 4 March 2009. On 4 April 2009, Page inducted Jeff Beck into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Page has announced his 2010 solo tour while talking to the Sky News on 16 December 2009.

On 7 June 2008, Page and John Paul Jones appeared with the Foo Fighters to close out the band's concert at Wembley Stadium, performing "Rock and Roll" and "Ramble On."

In January 2010, Jimmy Page announced he is publishing an autobiography through Genesis Publications, in a hand-crafted, limited edition of 2,500 copies. Page has also been honoured with a first-ever Global Peace Award by the United Nations' Pathways to Peace organisation after confirming reports that he would be among the headliners at a planned Show of Peace Concert in Beijing, China on 10 October 2010.

On 13 July 2011, Page made an unannounced appearance with The Black Crowes at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.

Legacy and influence

Page's past experiences both in the studio and with the Yardbirds were very influential in contributing to the success of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s. As a producer, composer, and guitarist he helped make Led Zeppelin a prototype for countless future rock bands, and was one of the major driving forces behind the rock sound of that era, influencing a host of other guitarists. Allmusic states that "just about every rock guitarist from the late '60s/early '70s to the present day has been influenced by Page's work with Led Zeppelin". For example, Dictators bassist Andy Shernoff states that Jimmy Page's sped up, downstroke guitar riff in "Communication Breakdown", an influential song that contained elements of protopunk, was an inspiration for The Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone's downstroke guitar style. Ramone, who has described Page as "probably the greatest guitarist who ever lived", stated in the documentary ''"Ramones:The True Story"'' that he improved at his down-stroke picking style by playing the song over and over again for the bulk of his early career. Brian May of Queen, who was also influenced by Page, has said "I don't think anyone has epitomised riff writing better than Jimmy Page – he's one of the great brains of rock music". Tom Scholz of Boston was heavily influenced by Jimmy Page and credits the dual guitar harmonies in Led Zeppelin's "How Many More Times" as the inspiration for Boston's distinctive sound. Page's guitar solo from the song "Heartbreaker" has been credited by Eddie Van Halen as being the inspiration for his two-hand tapping technique after he had seen Led Zeppelin perform in 1971. Similarly, Steve Vai has also commented about the song in a September 1998 ''Guitar World'' interview: "This one [Heartbreaker] had the biggest impact on me as a youth. It was defiant, bold, and edgier than hell. It really is the definitive rock guitar solo."

Many other rock guitarists were also influenced by Jimmy Page, such as Ace Frehley, Joe Satriani, John Frusciante, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Joe Perry, Richie Sambora, Angus Young, Slash, Dave Mustaine, Mike McCready, Jerry Cantrell, Stone Gossard, Mick Mars, Paul Stanley, Alex Lifeson, and Dan Hawkins.

Page has been described by ''Uncut'' as the "rock's greatest and most mysterious guitar hero". According to ''msnbc.com'' Jimmy Page "played some of the most fundamental and memorable guitar in rock history—from the heaviest crunch to the most delicate acoustic finger picking." Page's solo in the famous epic "Stairway to Heaven" has been voted by readers of ''Guitar World'' and ''Total Guitar'' as the greatest guitar solo of all time, and he was named 'Guitarist of the Year' five times during the 1970s in ''Creem'' magazine's annual reader poll. ''Guitar World'' wrote: "Truly a guitar god, Jimmy Page is one of the most captivating soloists the rock world has ever known." In 1996 ''Mojo Magazine'' ranked him number 7 on their list of "100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time". In 2002 he was voted the second greatest guitarist of all time in a ''Total Guitar'' magazine reader poll. In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine named him number nine on their list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time". In 2007, ''Classic Rock Magazine'' ranked him #4 on their list of the "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". ''Gigwise.com'', an online music magazine, ranked Page #2 on their list of the "50 greatest guitarists ever" in 2008. In August 2009, ''Time Magazine'' ranked him the 6th greatest electric-guitar player of all time. In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked #2 on Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time".

David Fricke, a senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, described Jimmy Page in 1988 as "probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown." Roger Daltrey of The Who has been a longtime fan of Page and expressed his desire to form a supergroup with Page in 2010 saying: "I’d love to do something, I’d love to do an album with Jimmy Page." Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones has described Jimmy Page as "one of the best guitar players I've ever known." Jimmy Page was the first inductee onto the British Walk of Fame in August 2004. Page was awarded "Living Legend Award" at ''Classic Rock Magazine'' Roll of Honour 2007. In June 2008, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Surrey for his services to the music industry. Page was inducted into ''Mojo'' Hall Of Fame at the magazine's award ceremony on 11 June 2010.

In August 2010, Auburn University graduate student Justin Havird named a new species of fish "Lepidocephalichthys zeppelini" after Led Zeppelin, because the fish's pectoral fin reminded him of the double-neck guitar used by Jimmy Page.

Equipment and recording techniques

Guitars

For the recording of most of Led Zeppelin material from Led Zeppelin's second album onwards, Page used a Gibson Les Paul guitar (sold to him by Joe Walsh) with Marshall amplification. A Harmony Sovereign H-1260 was used in-studio on ''Led Zeppelin III'' and ''Led Zeppelin IV'' and on-stage from 5 March 1971 to 28 June 1972. During the studio sessions for ''Led Zeppelin'', and later for recording the guitar solo in "Stairway to Heaven", he used a Fender Telecaster (a gift from Jeff Beck). He also used a Danelectro 3021, tuned to DADGAD, most notably on live performances of "Kashmir".

Page also plays his guitar with a cello bow, as on the live versions of the songs "Dazed and Confused" and "How Many More Times". This was a technique he developed during his session days. On MTV's ''Led Zeppelin Rockumentary'', Page said that he obtained the idea of playing the guitar with a bow from David McCallum, Sr. who was also a session musician. Page used his Fender Telecaster and later his Gibson Les Paul for his bow solos.

Notable guitars

1959 Fender Telecaster (given to Page by Jeff Beck and repainted with a psychedelic dragon design by Page) played with the Yardbirds. Used to record the first Led Zeppelin album and used on the early tours during 1968–1969. In 1972, it was used for recording the "Stairway to Heaven" solo.

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 1) (Given as a gift to Page by Joe Walsh) modified with a shaved neck and the addition of a push/pull pot to put the humbuckers out of phase while the toggle is in the middle position. English luthier Roger Giffin re-produced an exact replica of this guitar for Page in 1991 (nicknamed No. 3, Jimmy had a deal with Gibson that he would receive the first guitar from the 26 custom guitars that were designed). Giffin's work was later copied for Gibson's original run of Jimmy Page Signature model Les Pauls in the mid-1990s. This guitar was also used by Gibson as the model for the company's second run of Page signature models in 2004. Produced by Gibson and aged by luthier Tom Murphy, this second generation of Page tribute models was limited to 25 guitars signed by Page himself; and only 150 guitars in total for the aged model issue.

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (No. 2) with a shaved down neck to match the profile on his No.1; He added four push/pull pots to coil split the humbuckers as well as phase and series switches which were added under the pick guard after the break-up of Led Zeppelin.

1971 Gibson EDS-1275 (used for playing "Stairway to Heaven", "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song", "Celebration Day" during live concerts and the Knebworth, "Tangerine" at the 1975 Earls Court shows, and "Sick Again" throughout the 1977 North American tour)

1959 Danelectro 59-DC (tuned to DADGAD and used live for "White Summer", "Black Mountain Side", "Kashmir" and "Midnight Moonlight" with The Firm).

Danelectro 3021 (tuned to open G and used on the ''Outrider'' tour for "In My Time Of Dying". This one has a smaller pickguard, as opposed to the large "seal" pickguard on his first Danelectro.

1967 Vox 12-String used during the recording for the Yardbirds Little Games album and for on-stage appearances.

1960 Black Gibson Les Paul Custom (with Bigsby Tremolo) – stolen in 1970. An ad was placed by Page for the recovery of this highly modified instrument but the guitar was never recovered. In 2008 the Gibson Custom Shop produced a limited run of 25 re-creations of the guitar, each with a Bigsby Tremolo and a new custom 6-way toggle switch.

Due to the fact the guitar was too heavy, one of Jimmy Page's Les Paul Custom Black Beauty guitars is now owned by Dan Hawkins of The Darkness.

1969 Gibson Les Paul Standard (seen in "The Song Remains The Same" during the theremin/solo section of "Whole Lotta Love" and for "Kashmir" at the O2 reunion concert. This guitar was later fitted with a Parsons-White B-string bender and used extensively by Page from the mid-to-late 1980s onward, including the Outrider tour, and the Page/Plant "Unledded" special on MTV.

1964 Lake Placid Blue Fender Stratocaster (Used during recording sessions for ''In Through the Out Door'' at Earls Court 1975 and in 1979 at Knebworth for ''In the Evening'').

1966 Cream Fender Telecaster (Used on ''Physical Graffiti'' and on All My Love during the Tour Over Europe 1980).

1953 Brown Fender Telecaster featuring a Parsons and White B-string bender, and neck salvaged from the "Dragon Telecaster". Seen primarily during the 1980s The Firm and Outrider era. Also used at Knebworth in 1979, notably on "Ten Years Gone" and "Hot Dog".

1965 Fender Electric XII (12-String) used to record Thank You and Stairway to Heaven.

Strings

Ernie Ball electric guitar strings

Signature models

Gibson released Jimmy Page Signature Les Paul which was discontinued in 1999, then released another version in 2004, which has also been discontinued. The 2004 version included 25 guitars signed by Page, 150 aged by a former Gibson employee (an acknowledged ageing 'master'), and 840 'unlimited' production guitars. The Jimmy Page Signature EDS-1275 has been produced by Gibson. Recently, Gibson reproduced Page's 1960 Les Paul Black Beauty, the one stolen from him in 1970, with modern modifications. This guitar was sold in 2008 with a run of 25, again signed by Page, plus an additional 500 unsigned guitars.

In December 2009, Gibson released the 'Jimmy Page "Number Two" Les Paul'. This is a re-creation of Page's famous number 2 Les Paul used by him since about 1974 until present. The model includes the same pick-up switching setup as devised by Page, shaved-down neck profile, Burstbucker pick-up at neck and 'Pagebucker' at the bridge. A total of 325 were made in three finishes: 25 Aged by Gibson's Tom Murphy, signed and played by Page ($26,000), 100 aged ($16,000) and 200 with VOS finish ($12,000).

Amplifiers and effects

He usually recorded in studio with a Vox AC30, Fender, and Orange amplification. The first Led Zeppelin album and the solo on "Stairway to Heaven" were played on a Fender Telecaster through a Supro amplifier.

Page used a limited number of effects, including a Maestro Echoplex, a Dunlop Cry Baby, and an MXR phaser and Blue Box (distortion/octaver). Page also played a theremin.

Music production techniques

Jimmy Page is credited for the innovations in sound recording he brought to the studio during the years he was a member of Led Zeppelin, many of which he had initially developed as a session musician:

This apprenticeship ... became a part of [learning] how things were recorded. I started to learn microphone placements and things like that, what did and what didn't work. I certainly knew what did and didn't work with drummers because they put drummers in these little sound booths that had no sound deflection at all, and the drums would just sound awful. The reality of it is the drum is a musical instrument, it relies on having a bright room and a live room ... And so bit by bit I was learning really how ''not'' to record.

He developed a reputation for employing effects in new ways and trying out different methods of using microphones and amplification. During the late 1960s, most British music producers placed microphones directly in front of amplifiers and drums, resulting in the sometimes "tinny" sound of the recordings of the era. Page commented to ''Guitar World'' magazine that he felt the drum sounds of the day in particular "sounded like cardboard boxes." Instead, Page was a fan of 1950s recording techniques, Sun Studios being a particular favourite. In the same ''Guitar World'' interview, Page remarked, "Recording used to be a science", and "[engineers] used to have a maxim: distance equals depth." Taking this maxim to heart, Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as much as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first British producers to record a band's "ambient sound" – the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other.

For the recording of several Led Zeppelin tracks, such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "You Shook Me", Page additionally utilised "reverse echo" – a technique which he claims to have invented himself while with The Yardbirds (he had originally developed the method when recording the 1967 single "Ten Little Indians"). This production technique involved hearing the echo before the main sound instead of after it, achieved by turning the tape over and employing the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal.

Page has stated that, as producer, he deliberately changed the audio engineers on Led Zeppelin albums, from Glyn Johns for the first album, to Eddie Kramer for ''Led Zeppelin II'', to Andy Johns for ''Led Zeppelin III'' and later albums. He explained that "I consciously kept changing engineers because I didn't want people to think that they were responsible for our sound. I wanted people to know it was me."

John Paul Jones acknowledged that Page's production techniques were a key component of the success of Led Zeppelin:

In an interview that Page himself gave to ''Guitar World'' magazine in 1993, he remarked on his work as a producer:

Personal life

Page had relationships with a number of rock groupies in the 1970s, including Pamela Des Barres, Bebe Buell and Lori Maddox. French model Charlotte Martin was Page's partner from 1970 to about 1982 or 1983. Page called her 'My Lady'. Together they have a daughter, Scarlet Page (born in 1971), who is a photographer.

From 1986 to 1995 Page was married to Patricia Ecker, a model and waitress. They have a son, James Patrick Page III (born April 1988). Page later married Jimena Gómez-Paratcha, whom he met in Brazil on the No Quarter tour. He adopted her oldest daughter Jana (born 1994), and they have two children together: Zofia Jade (born 1997) and Ashen Josan (born 1999).

In 1972 Page bought, from Richard Harris, the home which William Burges (1827–1881) designed for himself in London, The Tower House. "I had an interest going back to my teens in the pre-Raphaelite movement and the architecture of Burges", he said. "What a wonderful world to discover." The reputation of Burges rests on his extravagant designs and his contribution to the Gothic revival in architecture in the nineteenth century.

From 1980 to 2004 Page owned The Mill House, Mill Lane, Windsor, which was formerly the home of actor Michael Caine. Fellow Led Zeppelin band member John Bonham died at the house in 1980.

From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, Page owned the Boleskine House, the former residence of occultist Aleister Crowley. Sections of Page's fantasy sequence in the film ''The Song Remains the Same'' were filmed at night on the mountain side directly behind Boleskine House.

According to ''The Sunday Times'' Rich List, Page's assets are worth £75 million as of 2009. He resides in West Sussex.

Recreational drug use

Page has acknowledged heavy recreational drug use throughout the 1970s. In an interview with ''Guitar World'' magazine in 2003, he stated, "I can't speak for the [other members of the band], but for me drugs were an integral part of the whole thing, right from the beginning, right to the end." After the band's 1973 concert tour of the United States, Page told Nick Kent, "Oh, everyone went over the top a few times. I know I did and, to be honest with you, I don't really remember much of what happened."

In 1975, Page began to use heroin, a fact attributed to Richard Cole, who stated that Page (in addition to himself) was taking the drug during the recording sessions of the album ''Presence'' in that year, and that Page admitted to him shortly afterwards that he was addicted to the drug.

By Led Zeppelin's 1977 tour of the United States, Page's heroin addiction was beginning to hamper his guitar playing performances. By this time the guitarist had lost a noticeable amount of weight. His onstage appearance was not the only obvious change; his addiction caused Page to become so inward and isolated it altered the dynamic between him and Plant considerably. During the recording sessions for ''In Through the Out Door'' in 1978, Page's diminished influence on the album (relative to bassist John Paul Jones) is partly attributed to his heroin addiction, which resulted in his absence from the studio for long periods of time.

Page reportedly kicked his heroin habit in the early 1980s. In a 1988 interview with ''Musician'' magazine, Page took offence when the interviewer noted that heroin had been associated with his name, and insisted "Do I look as if I'm a smack addict? Well, I'm not. Thank you very much."

In an interview he gave to ''Q magazine'' in 2003, Page responded to a question as to whether he regrets getting so involved in heroin and cocaine:

Interest in the occult

The appearance of four symbols on the jacket of Led Zeppelin's fourth album has been linked to Page's interest in the occult. The four symbols represented each member of the band. Page's own so-called "Zoso" symbol originated in 'Ars Magica Arteficii' (1557) by Gerolamo Cardano, an old alchemical grimoire, where it has been identified as a sigil consisting of zodiac signs. The sigil is reproduced in "Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils" by Fred Gettings.

During tours and performances after the release of the fourth album, Page often had the "Zoso" symbol embroidered on his clothes, along with zodiac symbols. These were visible most notably on his "Dragon Suit", which included the signs for Capricorn, Scorpio and Cancer which are Page's Sun, Ascendant, and Moon signs, respectively.

The artwork inside the album cover of ''Led Zeppelin IV'' is from a painting by William Holman Hunt, influenced by the traditional Rider/Waite Tarot card design for the card called "The Hermit". Page transforms into this character during his fantasy sequence in Led Zeppelin's concert film ''The Song Remains the Same''.

In the early 1970s Page owned an occult bookshop and publishing house, "The Equinox Booksellers and Publishers" in Kensington High Street, London, eventually closing it as the increasing success of Led Zeppelin resulted in his having insufficient time to devote to it. The company published a facsimile of English occultist's Aleister Crowley's 1904 edition of ''The Goetia''. Page has maintained a strong interest in Crowley for many years. In 1978, he explained:

Page was commissioned to write the soundtrack music for the film ''Lucifer Rising'' by another occultist and Crowley admirer, underground movie director Kenneth Anger. Page ultimately produced 23 minutes of music which Anger felt was insufficient because the film ran for 28 minutes and Anger wanted the film to have a full soundtrack. Anger claimed Page took three years to deliver the music, and the final product was only 23 minutes of droning. The director also slammed the guitarist in the press by calling him a "dabbler" in the occult and an addict, and being too strung out on drugs to complete the project. Page countered that he had fulfilled all his obligations, even going so far as to lend Anger his own film editing equipment to help him finish the project.

Although Page collected works by Crowley, he has never described himself as a Thelemite nor was he ever initiated into the O.T.O. The Equinox Bookstore and Boleskine House were both sold off during the 1980s, as Page settled into family life and participated in charity work.

Discography

Single

"She Just Satisfies"/"Keep Moving" (February 1965)

Albums

Pre-Led Zeppelin (1963–1969)

Many pre-Led Zeppelin session recordings have been released on various labels and compilation packages, including:

''Blues Anytime 1, 2, 3'' series on Immediate Records featuring the Immediate All-Stars, mid 1960s

''No Introduction Necessary'' (1968), Recordings feat. John Paul Jones, Albert Lee, Nicky Hopkins, Clem Cattini and Keith de Groot

''Jimmy Page and Friends – Wailing Sounds'' (2006). Includes ''Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends'' album (1970) + six tracks from the 1968 sessions for Keith De Groot's debut album.

''Guitar Boogie'' (1971) Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton compilation album from the recordings on the ''Blues Anytime'' series on Immediate Records.

''Special Early Works'' (1972), 1965 session recordings with Sonny Boy Williamson

''Smoke and Fire'' (1984), session recordings with Jeff Beck, Noel Redding and Nicky Hopkins

''Jimmy Page: Session Man Vol. 1'' (1989)

''Jimmy Page: Session Man Vol. 2'' (1990)

''Jimmy's Back Pages...The Early Years'' (1992)

''Jimmy Page and His Heavy Friends: Hip Young Guitar Slinger'' (2000, double cd)

''This Guitar Kills: More 60s Groups & Sessions – remastered by Jimmy Page'' (2007, the 2003 ed. is not remastered) (double cd)

''Jimmy Page and Friends'' (2006, double cd)

Please note that there are several duplicates amongst all these albums.

Post-Led Zeppelin

References

Published sources

Mylett, Howard (1984) ''Jimmy Page: Tangents Within a Framework'', London: Omnibus Press, ISBN 0-7119-0265-8.

Welch, Chris (1985) ''Power & Glory: Robert Plant & Jimmy Page'', London: Zomba Books, ISBN 0-946391-74-2.

External links

Official Jimmy Page site

Official Led Zeppelin site

ASCAP titles

Jimmy Page by Jimmy Page – Genesis Publications Limited Edition Book

Category:English blues guitarists Category:English heavy metal guitarists Category:English rock guitarists Category:English session musicians Category:English songwriters Category:TVT Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kerrang! Awards winners Category:Lead guitarists Category:Led Zeppelin members Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Pedal steel guitarists Category:People from Heston Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Windsor, Berkshire Category:Slide guitarists Category:The Yardbirds members Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Skiffle Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians

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name	Rod Stewart
background	solo_singer
birth name	Roderick David Stewart
alias	"Rod the Mod"
born	January 10, 1945North London, England
instrument	Vocals, guitar, harmonica
genre	Rock, pop, blues rock, soul
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1964–present
label	Mercury, Warner Bros., J
associated acts	Shotgun Express, The Steampacket, The Jeff Beck Group, Faces
website	RodStewart.com
notable instruments	}}

Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry.

With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album ''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album)''. His work with The Jeff Beck Group and Faces proved to be influential on the formation of the punk rock and heavy metal genres.

With his career in its fifth decade, Stewart has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best selling artists of all time. In the UK, he has garnered six consecutive number one albums, and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the U.S, with four of these reaching number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". He was voted at #33 in ''Q Magazine'''s list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on ''Rolling Stone'' 100 Greatest Singers of all time. In 1994, Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life

Roderick David Stewart was born in Highgate, North London, the youngest of the five children of Robert Stewart and Elsie Gilbart. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while Elsie was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. Married in 1928, the couple had two sons and two daughters while living in Scotland, then they moved to Highgate. Stewart came after an eight-year gap following his youngest sibling; he was born at home during World War II, half an hour after a German V-2 missile warhead fell on the local Highgate police station.

The family was neither affluent, nor poor and by all accounts Stewart was a spoiled child as the youngest; Stewart has called his childhood "fantastically happy". He had an undistinguished record at Highgate Primary School and failed the eleven plus exam. He then attended the William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School in Hornsey. His father retired from the building trade at age 65, then opened a newsagent's shop on the Archway Road when Stewart was in his early teens; the family lived over the shop. Stewart's main hobby was railway modelling.

The Stewart family was mostly focused on football; Robert had played on a local amateur side and managed some as well, and one of Stewart's earliest memories were the pictures of Scottish players such as George Young and Gordon Smith that his brothers had on the wall. Rod was the most talented footballer in the Stewart family and was a strong supporter of Arsenal F.C.. Combining natural athleticism with near-reckless aggression, he became captain of the school football team and played for Middlesex Schoolboys as centre-half.

The family were also great fans of the singer Al Jolson and would sing and play his hits. Stewart collected his records and saw his films, read books about him, and was influenced by his performing style and attitude towards his audience. His introduction to rock and roll was hearing Little Richard's 1956 hit "The Girl Can't Help It" and seeing Bill Haley & His Comets in concert. His father bought him a guitar in January 1959; the first song he learned was the folk tune "It Takes a Worried Man to Sing a Worried Song" and the first record he bought was Eddie Cochran's "C'mon Everybody". In 1960, he joined a skiffle group with schoolfriends called the Kool Kats, playing Lonnie Donegan and Chas McDevitt hits.

Stewart left school at age 15 and worked briefly as a silk screen printer. Spurred on by his father, his ambition was to become a professional footballer. In 1961 he joined on as an apprentice with Brentford F.C., a Third Division club at the time. However, he disliked the early morning travel to West London and the daily assignment to clean the first team's boots. His playing effectiveness at centre-half was hindered by his slight build — but only — and he pushed himself so much that he sometimes vomited at the side of the pitch. After up to two months of play in pre-season fixtures, Stewart left the team, to the great disappointment of his father. Stewart later reflected that: "I had the skill but not the enthusiasm." Regarding possible career options, Stewart concluded, "Well, a musician's life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can't do that and play football. I plumped for music ... They're the only two things I can do actually: play football and sing."

Music career

1961–63: Early efforts

Stewart worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy, then as a grave digger at Highgate Cemetery, partly to face a childhood fear of death. He worked in a North Finchley funeral parlour and as a fence erector and sign writer. In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with The Raiders and got a singing audition with well-known record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a rude sound. Stewart began listening to British and American topical folk artists such as Ewan MacColl, Alex Campbell, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and especially Derroll Adams and the debut album of Bob Dylan. He became attracted to beatnik attitudes and left-wing politics, living for a while in a beatnik houseboat at Shoreham-by-Sea. Stewart was an active supporter of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at this time, joining the annual Aldermaston Marches in 1961 through 1963 and being arrested on three occasions when he took part in sit-ins at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall for the cause. His commitment was not total, however, as he also used the marches as a way to meet and bed girls. In 1962 he had his first serious relationship, with London art student Suzannah Boffey (and a friend of future model and actress Chrissie Shrimpton); he moved to a bed-sit in Muswell Hill to be near her. She became pregnant, but neither Rod nor his family wanted him to enter marriage; the baby girl was given for adoption and Rod's and Suzannah's relationship ended.

In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wizz Jones, busking at Leicester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica. On several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Finally this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963.

In the spring of 1962, Stewart joined The Ray Davies Quartet, later known as the successful British band The Kinks, as their lead singer. He had known three of their members at William Grimshaw School and at the time, Ray Davies was uncomfortable with the lead vocalist role. He performed with the group on at least one occasion, but was soon dropped due to complaints about his voice from then-drummer John Start's mother as well as musical differences with the band and (as Pete Quaife later recalled) Davies' fear that Stewart would take over.

In 1963, Stewart adopted the Mod lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky rooster hairstyle that would become his trademark. (It originated from large amounts of his sisters' hair lacquer, backcombing, and his hands holding it in place to protect it from the winds of the Highgate Underground station.) Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

After returning to London, Stewart joined a rhythm and blues group, the Dimensions, in October 1963 as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. It was his first professional job as a musician, although Stewart was still living at home and working in his brother's painting and picture frame shop. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. The group performed weekly at the famed Studio 51 club on Great Newport Street in London, where The Rolling Stones often headlined; this was Stewart's entrée into the thriving London R & B scene, and his harmonica playing improved in part from watching Mick Jagger on stage. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed.

1964–67: Long John Baldry, Steampacket, and "Rod the Mod"

On or around 5 January 1964, Stewart was drunk and waiting on the Twickenham railway station platform, playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica after having seen a rhythm and blues show by Cyril Davies and the All Stars at Eel Pie Island. All Stars singer Long John Baldry discovered him and invited him to sit in with the group (which passed into his hands and was renamed the Hoochie Coochie Men when Davies died of leukaemia on 7 January); when Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother. Quitting his day job at age nineteen, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as "Rod the Mod" Stewart, the nickname coming from his dandyish style of grooming and dress. Baldry touted Stewart's abilities to ''Melody Maker'' magazine and the group enjoyed a weekly residence at London's fabled Marquee Club. In June 1964, Stewart made his recording début (without label credit) on "Up Above My Head", the B-side to a Baldry and Hoochie Coochie Men single.

While still with Baldry, Stewart embarked on a simultaneous solo career. He made some demo recordings, was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club and signed to a solo contract in August 1964. He appeared on several regional television shows around the country and recorded his first single in September 1964. Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of Sonny Boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", was recorded released in October 1964; despite Stewart performing it on the popular television show ''Ready Steady Go!'', it failed to enter the charts. Also in October Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men after having a row with Baldry.

Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the Southampton R & B outfit The Soul Agents. The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences (and indeed became lifelong friends), and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs, and Rick Brown; their first appearance was in support of The Rolling Stones in July 1965. The group was conceived as a white soul revue, analogous to The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, with multiple vocalists and styles ranging from jazz to R & B to blues. Steampacket toured with the Stones and The Walker Brothers that summer, ending in the London Palladium; seeing the audience react to the Stones gave Stewart his first exposure to crowd hysteria. Stewart, who had been included in the group upon Baldry's insistence, ended up with most of the male vocal parts. Steampacket was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers, although Gomelsky did record one of their Marquee Club rehearsals.

Stewart's "Rod the Mod" image gained wider visibility in November 1965, when he was the subject of a 30-minute Rediffusion, London television documentary titled "An Easter with Rod" that portrayed the Mod scene. His parallel solo career attempts continued on EMI's Columbia label with the November 1965 release of "The Day Will Come", a more heavily arranged pop attempt, and the April 1966 release of his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", with the Brian Auger Trinity. Both failed commercially and neither gained positive notices. Stewart had spent the better part of two years listening mostly to Cooke; he later said, "I didn't sound like anybody at all ... but I knew I sounded a bit like Sam Cooke, so I listened to Sam Cooke." This recording solidified that singer's position as Stewart's idol and most enduring influence; he called it a "crossing of the water."

Stewart departed from Steampacket in March 1966, with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit. Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 as co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden. Amongst the other members were Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green (who would go on to form Fleetwood Mac), and Peter Bardens. Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra-heavy "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round", before disbanding. Stewart later disparaged Shotgun Express as a poor imitation of Steampacket, and said "I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material." By now, Stewart had bounced around without achieving much success, with little to distinguish himself among other aspiring London singers other than the emerging rasp in his voice.

1967–69: Jeff Beck Group

Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined the Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964; the two soon became fast friends. During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie Most wanting to reduce Stewart's role; they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their B-sides. Stewart's sputtering solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of non-hit "Little Miss Understood" on Immediate Records. The Jeff Beck Group toured Western Europe in spring 1968, recorded, and were nearly destitute; then assistant manager Peter Grant booked them on a six-week tour of the United States starting in June 1968 with the Fillmore East in New York. The first-time-in-America Stewart suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success, with Robert Shelton of ''The New York Times'' calling the group exciting and praising "the interaction of Mr. Beck's wild and visionary guitar against the hoarse and insistent shouting of Rod Stewart," and ''New Musical Express'' reporting that the group was receiving standing ovations and pulling receipts equal to those of Jimi Hendrix and The Doors.

In August 1968, their first album ''Truth'' was released; by October it had risen to number 15 on the US albums chart but failed to chart in the UK. The radical, groundbreaking, landmark album featured Beck's masterly guitar technique and manipulated sounds as Stewart's dramatic vocalising tackled the group's varied repertoire of blues, folk, rock, and proto-heavy metal. Stewart also co-wrote three of the songs, and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the sandpaper quality in his voice. The group toured America again at the end of the year to a very strong reception, then suffered from more personnel upheaval (something that would continue throughout Beck's career). In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Wood's departure. Stewart later recalled: "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that." The group's second album, ''Beck-Ola'', was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK, bracketing the time the group was dissolving; it also made number 15 in the US albums chart and placed to number 39 in the UK albums chart. During his time with the group, Stewart initially felt overmatched by Beck's presence, and his style was still developing; but later Stewart felt the two developed a strong musical, if not personal, rapport. Much of Stewart's sense of phrasing was developed during his time with the Jeff Beck Group. Beck sought to form a new supergroup with Carmine Appice and Tim Bogert (of the similarly just-breaking-up Vanilla Fudge) joining him and Stewart, but Stewart had other plans.

1969–71: Solo Career establishment

Mercury Records A&R; man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and in October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969. Meanwhile, in May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left English band The Small Faces. Ron Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and in October 1969 Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer. The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones, who soon decided to call the new line-up Faces.

''An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down'' became Stewart's first solo album in 1969 (it was known as ''The Rod Stewart Album'' in the US). It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, inclusive of a British working-class sensibility, with both original material ("Cindy's Lament" and the title song) and cover versions (Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town" and Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags").

Faces released their debut album ''First Step'' in early 1970 with a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones. While the album did better in the UK than in the US, the Faces quickly earned a strong live following. Stewart released his second album, ''Gasoline Alley'' that autumn (Elkie Brooks later achieved a hit with a version of the title track in 1983). Rod's approach was similar to his first album, as exemplified by the title track; and mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a solo tour. Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on "In a Broken Dream", recorded in April 1969 but not released until 1970. His payment was a set of seat covers for his car. It was re-released in 1972 to become a worldwide hit.

1971-74: ''Every Picture Tells a Story''

Stewart's 1971 solo album ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' made him a household name when the B-side of his minor hit "Reason to Believe", "Maggie May", started receiving radio play. The album and the single hit number one in both the US and the UK simultaneously, a chart first, in September. A loss of innocence tale set off by a striking mandolin part (by Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne), "Maggie May" was also named in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's ''500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll'', which is one of three songs by him to appear on that list. The rest of the album was equally strong, with "Mandolin Wind" again showcasing that instrument; "(I Know) I'm Losing You" adding hard-edged soul to the mix; and "Tomorrow Is a Long Time", a cover of a Bob Dylan song. But the ultimate manifestation of the early Stewart solo style was the Stewart-Wood-penned "Every Picture Tells a Story" itself: powered by Mick Waller's drumming, Pete Sears's piano, and Wood's guitar work in a largely acoustic arrangement; it is a fast, rocking, headlong romp relating the picaresque adventures of the singer.

The second Faces album, ''Long Player'', was released in early 1971 and enjoyed greater chart success than ''First Step''. The Faces also got their only US Top 40 hit with "Stay With Me" from their third album ''A Nod Is as Good as a Wink...To a Blind Horse'' released in late 1971. This album reached the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic on the back of the success of ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. Throughout this period there was a marked dichotomy between Stewart's solo and group work, the former being meticulously crafted while the latter tended towards the boozy and sloppy. Steve Jones from The Sex Pistols regarded The Faces very highly and named them as a main influence on the British punk rock movement.

The Faces toured extensively in 1972 with growing tension in the band over Stewart's solo career enjoying more success than the band's. Stewart released ''Never a Dull Moment'' in the same year. Repeating the ''Every Picture'' formula for the most part, it reached number two on the US album charts and number one in the UK, and enjoyed further good notices from reviewers. "You Wear It Well" was a hit single that reached number 13 in the US and went to number one in the UK, while "Twisting the Night Away" made explicit Stewart's debt to Sam Cooke. For the body of his early solo work Stewart earned tremendous critical praise. ''Rolling Stone'''s 1980 ''Illustrated History of Rock & Roll'' includes this in its Stewart entry:

Rarely has a singer had as full and unique a talent as Rod Stewart; rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely. Once the most compassionate presence in music, he has become a bilious self-parody — and sells more records than ever [...] a writer who offered profound lyricism and fabulous self-deprecating humour, teller of tall tales and honest heartbreaker, he had an unmatched eye for the tiny details around which lives turn, shatter, and reform [...] and a voice to make those details indelible. [... His solo albums] were defined by two special qualities: warmth, which was redemptive, and modesty, which was liberating. If ever any rocker chose the role of everyman and lived up to it, it was Rod Stewart.

The Faces released their final album ''Ooh La La,'' which reached number one in the UK and number 21 in the US in 1973. The band toured Australasia, Japan, Europe and the UK in 1974 to support the album and the single "Pool Hall Richard".

1974-75: ''Smiler'' and Faces tour

In late 1974 Stewart released his ''Smiler'' album. In Britain, it reached number one, and the single "Farewell" number seven, but only number 13 on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts and the single "Mine for Me" only number 91 on the ''Billboard'' pop singles charts. It was his last original album for Mercury Records. After the release of the double album compilation ''The Best of Rod Stewart'' he switched to Warner Bros. Records and remained with them throughout the vast majority of his career.

In 1975 the Faces toured the US twice (with Ronnie Wood joining The Rolling Stones' US tour in between) before Stewart announced the Faces' break-up at the end of the year.

1975–77: ''Atlantic Crossing'' and further releases

In 1975, Rod Stewart moved to the US, applying for citizenship due to his love affair with Britt Ekland and a protest against the UK tax authorities, who were taking approximately 84% of his income. He released the ''Atlantic Crossing'' album for his new record company, using producer Tom Dowd and a different sound based on the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. ''Atlantic Crossing'' marked both a return to form and a return to the Top 10 of the ''Billboard'' album charts. The first single, a cover of the Sutherland Brothers song "Sailing", was a number one hit in the UK, but it only reached the Top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK Top 10 a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about ''HMS Ark Royal'', and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. His Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart Of Mine" was also a Top 100 hit in 1976. Additionally in 1976 Stewart covered The Beatles' song "Get Back" for the ephemeral musical documentary ''All This and World War II''.

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for eight weeks and the Australian ARIA chart with the ballad "Tonight's the Night", with an accompanying music video featuring Ekland. It came from the ''A Night on the Town'' album, which went to number two on the ''Billboard'' album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by ''Atlantic Crossing''. "The First Cut Is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went number one in the UK in 1977, and top 30 in the US. "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a Top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.

1977-81: ''Blondes Have More Fun''

''Foot Loose & Fancy Free'' featured Rod's own band, the original Rod Stewart Group that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis, from 1977 continued Stewart's run of chart success, again reaching number two. "You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. The rocker "Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. Stewart scored another UK number one and US number one single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was a crossover hit reaching number five on the ''Billboard'' black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1978's ''Blondes Have More Fun...or do they?,'' which went to number one on the ''Billboard'' album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years.

A focal point of criticisms about this period was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", which was atypical of his earlier output, and disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become "tarty", has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. However, the song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal" and a lawsuit ensued. Stewart donated his royalties from the song to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979.

Rod moved a bit to a more New Wave direction in 1980 by releasing the album ''Foolish Behaviour''. The album produced one hit single "Passion"; that proved particularly popular in South Africa (reaching no. 1 on the Springbok Top 20 Charts and Radio 5 Charts in early 1981). It also reached No. 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Charts. Later in 1981, Stewart added further elements of New Wave and synth pop to his sound for the ''Tonight I'm Yours'' album. The title song reached #20 in the U.S., while "Young Turks" reached the Top 5 with the album going platinum. In August 1981, MTV was launched in the US with several of Stewart's videos in heavy rotation. On 18 December 1981, Stewart played the Los Angeles Forum, along with Kim Carnes and Tina Turner. This show was broadcast around the world to a television audience of 35 million.

1982–2001: ''Body Wishes'', and continued success

Stewart's career then went into a relative slump, and his albums between ''Tonight I'm Yours'' (1981) and ''Out of Order'' (1988) received harsh criticism from many critics. He was also criticised for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours. He only had four Top 10 singles between 1982 and 1988, "Young Turks" (#5,1982), "Some Guys Have All the Luck" (#10, 1984), "Infatuation" (#6, 1984) and "Love Touch" (#6, 1986), although "Baby Jane" became his sixth and final UK number one in 1983. It reached #14 in the US. The corresponding ''Camouflage'' album went gold in the UK, and the single "Infatuation" (which featured his old friend Jeff Beck on the guitar) received considerable play on MTV. The second single "Some Guys Have All The Luck" reached #15 in the UK and #10 in the US. A reunion with Jeff Beck produced a successful take on Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready", but an attempt to tour together fell apart after a few dates. He reached UK number two in 1986 with "Every Beat Of My Heart".

In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio festival in Rio de Janeiro before an estimated audience of over 100,000. In 1988, he returned with ''Out Of Order'', produced by Duran Duran's Andy Taylor and by Bernard Edwards of Chic. "Lost in You", "Forever Young", "Crazy About Her", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No" from that album were all top 15 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and mainstream rock charts, with the latter even reaching the Top Five. "Forever Young" was an unconscious revision of Bob Dylan's song of the same name; the artists reached an agreement about sharing royalties. The song reached #12 in the U.S.

In January 1989, Stewart set out on the South American leg of the Out of Order Tour playing to sell-out audiences throughout Americas. There were 80,000 people at his show at Corregidora Stadium, Querétaro, México (9 April), and 50,000 at Jalisco Stadium, Guadalajara, Jalisco (12 April). In Buenos Aires, the audience at the River Plate Stadium, which seats 70,000+, was at over 90,000, with several thousand outside the stadium. Firehoses were sprayed on the crowd to avoid heat prostration.

Stewart's version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train" went to number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1990. This song was taken from a four-CD compilation set called ''Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964–1990''. The ''Vagabond Heart'' album continued his comeback with "Rhythm of My Heart" reaching #5 on ''Billboard'', and "The Motown Song" reaching the top 10. Also in 1990 he recorded "It Takes Two" with Tina Turner, which reached number five on the UK charts. In 1991 Stewart contributed guest lead vocals to the song "My Town" by the Canadian band Glass Tiger.

In 1993, he recorded "All For Love" with Sting and Bryan Adams for the soundtrack to the movie ''The Three Musketeers''; the single reached number one on the US charts. Also in 1993, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood to record an ''MTV Unplugged'' special that included "Handbags and Gladrags", "Cut Across Shorty", and four selections from ''Every Picture Tells A Story''. The show also featured an acoustic version of Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", which topped the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart and #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A rendition of "Reason to Believe" also garnered considerable airplay. The resulting ''Unplugged...and Seated'' album reached number two on the Billboard 200 album charts.

Stewart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, presented by Jeff Beck. On 31 December on the same year he played in front on 4.2 million people on Copacabana beach in Rio, and made it into the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for staging the largest outdoor concert in history.

By the early 1990s, Stewart had mostly abandoned creating his own material, saying that he was not a natural songwriter and that the tepid response to his recent efforts was not rewarding. In 1995, Stewart released ''A Spanner in the Works'' containing a single written by Tom Petty "Leave Virginia Alone," which reached the Top 10 of the adult contemporary charts. The latter half of the 1990s was not so commercially successful, though the 1996 album ''If We Fall in Love Tonight'' managed to ship gold and hit #19 on the Billboard album chart, thanks in large part to an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

''When We Were the New Boys'', his final album on the Warner Bros. label released in 1998, contained versions of songs by Britpop acts such as Oasis and Primal Scream, and reached number two on the UK album charts. In 2000, Stewart decided to leave Warner Bros. and moved to Atlantic Records, another division of Warner Music Group. In 2001, he released ''Human'', his only album for Atlantic. ''Human'' only just reached the Top 50 in 2001 with the single "I Can't Deny It" going Top 40 in the UK and Top 20 in the adult contemporary.

Stewart then signed to Clive Davis' new J Records label. ''The Story So Far: The Very Best Of Rod Stewart'', a greatest hits album compiled from his time at Warner Bros., went to the Top 10 in the UK and reached number one in places like Belgium and France in 2001.

2002–09: ''The Great American Songbook'' releases

By 2002, Stewart had sold over 100 million records during his career. Stewart then concentrated on singing 1930s and 1940s pop standards from the "Great American Songbook", written by songwriters such as Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, and George and Ira Gershwin, with great popular success. These albums have been released on Clive Davis's J Records label and have seen Stewart enjoy album sales equal to the 1970s.

The first album from the songbook series, ''It Had to Be You: the Great American Songbook'', reached number four on the US album chart, number eight in the UK and number ten in Canada when released in late 2002. The track "These Foolish Things" (which is actually a British, not American, song) reached number 13 on the Billboard adult contemporary charts and number two in Taiwan. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" went Top 20 on the world Internet charts and Top 30 on the adult contemporary charts.

The second series album, ''As Time Goes By: the Great American Songbook 2'', reached number two in the US, number four in the UK and number one in Canada. "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", a duet with Cher, went Top 20 on the US adult contemporary charts and Top 5 in Taiwan. "Time After Time" was another Top 30 track on the US adult contemporary charts. A musical called ''Tonight's The Night'', featuring many of Stewart's songs opened, 7 November 2003 at London's Victoria Palace Theatre. It is written and directed by Ben Elton, who previously created a similar production; ''We Will Rock You'', with music by Queen.

In 2004, Stewart reunited with Ronnie Wood for concerts of Faces material. A Rod Stewart and the Faces best of ''Changing Faces'' reached the Top 20 of the UK album charts. ''Five Guys Walk into a Bar...'', a Faces box set compilation, went into the shops. Stewart has also mentioned working with Wood on an album to be entitled ''You Strum, I'll Sing''. In late 2004, ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'', the third album in Stewart's songbook series, was released. It was his first US number one album in 25 years, selling over 200,000 albums in its first week. It also debuted at number one in Canada, number three in the UK and Top 10 in Australia. His version of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", featuring Stevie Wonder, made the Top 20 of the world adult charts. He also recorded a duet with Dolly Parton for the album - "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Stewart won his first ever Grammy Award for this album.

The year 2005 saw the release of the fourth songbook album, ''Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4''; it included duets with Diana Ross and Elton John. Within weeks of its release, the CD made it to number two on the Top 200 list. In late 2006, Stewart made his return to rock music and his new approach to country music with the release of ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'', a new album featuring rock and southern rock milestones from the last four decades, including a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?", which was released as the first single. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard charts with 184,000 copies in its first week. The number one debut was helped by a concert in New York City that was on MSN Music and an appearance on ''Dancing with the Stars''. He performed tracks from his new album Live from the Nokia Theater on 9 October. Control Room broadcast the event Live on MSN and in 117 movie theatres across the country via National CineMedia.

On 12 December, he performed for the first time at The Royal Variety Performance at The London Coliseum in front of HRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, singing another Cat Stevens number, "Father and Son", and Glasgow singer/songwriter Frankie Miller's song It's a Heartache, made famous by Bonnie Tyler. On 22 December 2006 Stewart hosted the 8th Annual ''A Home for the Holidays'' special on CBS at 8:00 pm (PST). In 2007, Rod's son Sean starred in the A&E; television show ''Sons of Hollywood'', in which Rod's role as a parent is a major theme. Rod Stewart performed "Sailing" and "Baby Jane" plus "Maggie May" at the memorial concert for Princess Diana in the same year.

On 11 June 2008, Stewart announced that the Faces are discussing a reunion for at least one or two concerts.

2009-present: ''Songbook''

On 20 May 2009, Stewart performed "Maggie May" on the grand finale of ''American Idol'' season 8. On 2 July 2009 Stewart performed his only UK date this year at Home Park, Plymouth. On 29 September 2009 a 4-CD, 65-track compilation entitled ''Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998'' was released; it is composed of previously-unreleased tracks and outtakes from the bulk of his career. Stewart has also mentioned plans for a compilation of covers of soul classics, the possible release of another edition of the ''Great American Songbook'' album and a country covers album.

On 14 November 2009, Stewart recorded a TV program in the UK for ITV that was screened on 5 December 2009. The music in the programme featured tracks from his new album and some old favourites. On 14 Jan 2010, Rhino records released Stewart's "Once in a Blue Moon" a "lost album" originally recorded in 1992, featuring ten cover songs including the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", Dylan's "The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar" and Stevie Nicks' "Stand Back", as well as Tom Waits' "Tom Traubert's Blues." On 19 October 2010, Stewart released another edition of his Great American Songbook series titled "Fly Me to the Moon...The Great American Songbook Volume V" on J Records.

Stewart performed with Stevie Nicks on The Heart & Soul Tour. Starting 20 March 2011 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the tour visits arena concerts in North America – with performances in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Tampa and Montreal confirmed.

Stewart headlined the Sunday show at the 2011 Hard Rock Calling Festival on 26 June at London's Hyde Park. Stewart signed on to a two year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, commencing on 24 August. Performing his greatest hits, the residency also sees him perform selected tracks from his upcoming, untitled blues album.

Personal life

In May 2000, Stewart was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, for which he underwent surgery in the same month. It had been previously reported he suffered from a benign vocal cord nodule. Besides being a major health scare, the resulting surgery also threatened his famous voice, and he had to re-learn how to sing. Since then he has been active in raising funds for The City of Hope Foundation charity to find cures for all forms of cancer, especially those affecting children.

Stewart plays for his LA Exiles team made up of mostly English expatriates plus a few celebrities, including Billy Duffy of The Cult, in a senior soccer league in Palos Verdes, California He still kicks footballs into the audience during concerts. He is a well-known supporter of Celtic F.C., which he mentions in his hit "You're in My Heart", and the Scotland national team. Stewart also follows Manchester United as his English side, and he explains his love affair with both Celtic and Man United in Frank Worall's book ''Celtic United''.

Stewart is a keen model railway enthusiast. His 23 x 124-foot HO scale layout in his Los Angeles home is modelled after the New York Central and the Pennsylvania Railroads during the 1940s. Called the Three Rivers City, the layout was featured in the cover story of the December 2007 and December 2010 issues of ''Model Railroader'' Magazine. In the 2007 article Stewart said that he would rather be in a model railroad magazine than a music magazine. His passion for the hobby has been cited as contributing to the end of his second marriage. He has a second layout at his UK home. That layout is based on Britain's East Coast Main Line. Stewart's home is located in Epping, Essex on part of the Copped Hall estate

A keen car enthusiast, Stewart owns one of the 400 Ferrari Enzos. In 1982, Stewart was car-jacked on Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard, while he was parking his $50,000 Porsche. The car was subsequently recovered.

On 11 October 2005, Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. (Star number 2093) On 18 April and 19 April 2006 Stewart was the guest artist and celebrity vocal coach on ''American Idol'', leading the remaining seven finalists in singing entries from the Great American Songbook.

Stewart was estimated to have a fortune of £115 million in the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of 2011, making him one of the 20 richest people in the British music industry.

Relationships and family

Stewart is known for his liaisons with women (fathering eight children with five of them): ModelDee Harrington ActressBritt Ekland rowspan="2" ModelKelly Emberg rowspan="2" rowspan="2"

Length
1963–1964	Art studentSusannah Boffey	Sarah Streeter (born 1963)
1971–1975	|
1975–1977	|
rowspan="2">First marriage1979-1984	Alana Hamilton<	(ex-wife of actor George Hamilton) ||	Kimberly Stewart (born 21 August 1979)	Kimberly gave birth to her first child with oscar-winning actor Benicio Del Toro, making Rod Stewart a grandfather.
Sean Stewart (reality TV star)	Sean Stewart (born 1 September 1980)
1983–1990	|	Ruby Stewart (born 17 June 1987)
rowspan="2">Second marriage1990-2006	ModelRachel Hunter ||	Renée Stewart (born 1 June 1992)	They separated in 1999 and eventually divorced in 2006.
Liam McAlister Stewart (born 4 September 1994)
	ModelPenny Lancaster-Stewart ||	Alastair Wallace Stewart (born 27 November 2005 in London)	The couple married on 16 June 2007 on board the yacht ''Lady Ann Magee'' moored in the Italian port of Portofino.
Aiden Stewart (born 16 February 2011)

In reference to his divorces, Rod Stewart was once quoted as saying, "Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and just give her a house."

Awards and recognition

Awarded CBE in 2007 New Year's Honours.

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, 2005, ''Stardust ... The Great American Songbook Volume III''

''Diamond Award'' of World Music Awards show for over 100 million records sold worldwide, 2001.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1994

Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, 2006

According to Stewart, soul singer James Brown called him music's "best white soul singer" in September 2006.

List of bands

During his career, Rod Stewart has been a member of a number of groups including:

Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions (1963)

The Hoochie Coochie Men (1964–1965)

Soul Agents (1965–1966)

Shotgun Express (1966)

The Jeff Beck Group (1966–1969)

Faces (1969–1975)

Discography

Stewart's album and single sales total have been variously estimated as more than 100 million, or at 200 million, in either case earning him a place on the list of best-selling music artists.

UK/US number one albums

1971 ''Every Picture Tells a Story'' (UK / US)

1972 ''Never a Dull Moment'' (UK )

1973 ''Sing It Again Rod'' (UK )

1974 ''Smiler'' (UK )

1975 ''Atlantic Crossing'' (UK )

1976 ''A Night on the Town'' (UK )

1978 ''Blondes Have More Fun'' (US )

1979 ''Greatest Hits, Vol. 1'' (UK )

2004 ''Stardust: the Great American Songbook 3'' (US )

2006 ''Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time'' (US )

UK/US number one singles

1971 "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe" (UK/US)

1972 "You Wear It Well" (UK)

1975 "Sailing" (UK)

1976 "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" (US)

1977 "I Don't Want to Talk About It" / "The First Cut Is the Deepest" (UK)

1978 "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" (UK, US)

1983 "Baby Jane" (UK)

1993 "All for Love" (US) (featuring Bryan Adams and Sting, first appearing on the official soundtrack from the movie "The Three Musketeers")

See also

Best selling music artists

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (US)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

Coronet Apartments

Crooner

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

BBC Derby profile

Five audio interview clips from 1981

''Q'' magazine's "100 Greatest Singers" list

Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:Anglo-Scots Category:BRIT Award winners Category:British blues singers Category:British buskers Category:British expatriates in the United States Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:Cancer survivors Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English male singers Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:English pop singers Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:English tenors Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Mercury Records artists Category:Musicians from London Category:People from Epping Category:People from Highgate Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees‎ Category:Scottish tenors Category:Singers from London Category:World Music Awards winners

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name	Steven Tyler
background	solo_singer
birth name	Steven Victor Tallarico
alias	"Demon of Screamin'"
birth date	March 26, 1948
birth place	Yonkers, NY, US
instrument	Vocals, harmonica, piano, percussion, maracas, guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, violin, flute, mellotron, hammered dulcimer, accordion, saxophone, trumpet, drums
genre	Hard rock, blues rock, heavy metal
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor, multi-instrumentalist, talent judge
years active	1964–present
associated acts	Aerosmith, Chain Reaction, The Strangeurs }}

Steven Tyler (born Steven Victor Tallarico on March 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is the father of actress Liv Tyler. He is also known as the "Demon of Screamin'" and is equally known for his on-stage acrobatics. During his high-energy performances, he usually dresses in bright, colorful outfits with his trademark scarves hanging from his microphone stand. In the 1970s, Tyler rose to prominence as the frontman of Aerosmith, which released such milestone hard rock albums as ''Toys in the Attic'' and ''Rocks''. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Tyler had a heavy drug and alcohol addiction, and the band's popularity waned.

He completed drug rehabilitation in 1986 and has subsequently maintained sobriety for over 20 years, aside from an addiction to prescription painkillers in the late 2000s, for which he successfully received treatment in 2009. After Aerosmith launched a remarkable comeback in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the albums ''Permanent Vacation'', ''Pump'', and ''Get a Grip'', Tyler became a household name and has remained a relevant rock icon. As a result, he has since embarked on several solo endeavors including guest appearances on other artists' music as well as film and TV roles (including as a judge on ''American Idol''). However, he has continued to record music and perform with Aerosmith, after more than 41 years in the band. He is included among ''Rolling Stone'''s 100 Greatest Singers. He was also ranked 3rd on ''Hit Parader'''s Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time. In 2001 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Aerosmith, and he was the presenter when AC/DC was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life

Steven Victor Tallarico was born March 26, 1948 in Yonkers, New York, the son of Susan (née Blancha), a secretary, and Victor A. Tallarico, a classical musician and pianist. His father was of Italian and German descent and his mother was of Polish, Russian and English ancestry (his maternal grandfather had changed his surname from "Czarnyszewicz" to "Blancha"). Tyler has stated that he grew up "under his father's piano", and that from what his father played, he got "that emotional thing" that he has with music. When he was sixteen, he formed his first band, called The Strangeurs, later changed to Chain Reaction, where he was the drummer, and later the lead singer. Tyler also had been part of a few local bands, like William Proud and The Left Banke. He was expelled from Roosevelt High School due to his drug use. He graduated from the Leonard Quintano for Young Professionals School in 1967. He attended Woodstock with Joe Perry and Joey Kramer, his future Aerosmith bandmates.

Career

Formation and success of Aerosmith (1970–1978)

Before Aerosmith was formed, Tyler wrote what would become one of Aerosmith's signature songs, "Dream On". In 1969, Tyler attended a local rock show in Sunapee, New Hampshire where he first saw future band-mates Joe Perry (guitars) and Tom Hamilton (Bass), who at the time were playing in a band called the Jam Band. Tyler later stated he was struck by their raw power and attitude. Around 1970, Tyler, Perry, and Hamilton decided to form a band. However, Tyler, who had typically performed drums in many of his previous bands, insisted that he be the frontman and lead singer of this band. Joey Kramer, a friend of Tyler's from New York, was recruited to play drums. They also added Tyler's boyhood friend Ray Tabano as a second guitarist. The band moved to Boston and shared a small apartment on Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford in 1971.

After spending time on the Boston club circuit under the tutelage of their first manager, Frank Connelly, the band began working with New York managers Steve Leber and David Krebs. Leber describes the band as "the closest thing I've ever seen to the Rolling Stones." On October, 1971, the managers arranged the gig at the legendary nightclub Max's Kansas City to showcase the group to record company executives. They subsequently signed a record deal with Columbia Records in 1971 and released their eponymous debut album in 1973. This was followed by ''Get Your Wings'' in 1974. Around this time, Aerosmith continued to tour wherever they could, and opened for bands like Mott the Hoople. The band had a minor hit in "Dream On", which peaked at No.59 in 1973, but it wasn't until the back-to-back releases of ''Toys in the Attic'' (1975) and ''Rocks'' (1976) that Aerosmith broke into the mainstream. In 1975, they achieved their first Top 40 hit in "Sweet Emotion". Soon after, "Dream On" was re-released and hit No. 6 in 1976, followed by another Top 10 hit "Walk This Way". Additionally, ''Rocks'' produced the hit singles "Last Child", "Back in the Saddle", and "Home Tonight". By 1976, Aerosmith found themselves headlining huge stadiums and major rock music festivals. That year, Tyler emerged as a prominent rock star and sex symbol in his own right, gracing the cover of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. 1977's ''Draw the Line'' continued the band's success, and they were catapulted to international fame and recognition, launching tours in Europe and Japan. A series of Hot 100 hits continued throughout the remainder of the decade, including "Draw the Line", "Kings and Queens", and "Chip Away the Stone". Aerosmith's first five albums have also all since gone multi-platinum, and all five are considered to be among the greatest hard rock albums of all time. Aerosmith toured heavily throughout the mid to late 1970s, and their live shows during this time period were captured through 1978's live album ''Live Bootleg!'' and the 1989 VHS release ''Live Texxas Jam '78''. 1978 also saw Tyler make his acting debut as the leader of The Future Villain Band in the film ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', alongside his fellow Aerosmith band-mates. The film also spawned Aerosmith's cover of the Beatles hit "Come Together", which would be Aerosmith's last Top 40 single for nine years.

Decline of Aerosmith (1979–1983)

As the decade wore on, the fast-paced life of touring, recording, living together, and using drugs began to take its toll on the band. Tyler and Perry often were called the Toxic Twins for their legendary intake of stimulants and heroin. Their relationship is well documented in many of Aerosmith's video releases as well as in the Aerosmith ''Behind the Music''. On July 28, 1979, after a huge fight at a concert in Cleveland, Perry left Aerosmith to begin his own band, The Joe Perry Project. ''Night in the Ruts'' was released that fall, and Aerosmith forged on with new guitarist Jimmy Crespo. In the fall of 1980, Tyler was injured in a serious motorcycle crash that left him hospitalized for two months and unable to tour or record for much of 1981. When the band re-convened to begin recording, Tyler formed a writing partnership with Crespo, co-writing and producing the album ''Rock in a Hard Place'' (1982). Brad Whitford had left in 1981, shortly after recording the guitar parts for the album's lead single, "Lightning Strikes". Whitford was replaced by Rick Dufay, and the band continued to tour into 1983. Tyler's drug abuse increasingly became problematic, and he collapsed on-stage.

Reuniting and getting clean (1984–1986)

On February 14, 1984, Perry and Whitford, who left the band in 1979 and 1981 respectively, showed up at an Aerosmith show. According to the band's ''Behind the Music'' special on VH1, Tyler alleges he made the first phone call to Perry encouraging them to meet up again. Backstage, they all met, and Perry and Whitford agreed to join the band once again. With the new reunion, the band also fired their managers Leber and Krebs, hired new manager Tim Collins (who was managing Joe Perry) and signed a new record contract with Geffen Records.

Aerosmith embarked on a reunion tour, the "Back in the Saddle Tour", and proceeded to record once again, releasing ''Done with Mirrors'' in 1985. The band was still using drugs, however, especially Tyler, who collapsed at a show in Springfield, Illinois, on the 1984 tour. In 1986, the band held a meeting in which the band members staged an intervention on Tyler and convinced him to enter a drug rehabilitation program.

After Tyler had successfully completed rehab, every other member of Aerosmith eventually followed suit; all had successfully exited their respective programs at various times in the mid-late 1980s.

Comeback and superstardom (1986–1999)

Aerosmith rose to prominence again when Tyler and Perry appeared on Run–D.M.C.'s cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" in 1986, a track that combined elements of hip-hop and rock, that broke down the barriers between the two genres, broke rap into the mainstream, and introduced Aerosmith to a new generation. The track hit No.4 on the charts and launched a famous music video that saw heavy rotation. This paved the way for Aerosmith to mount a significant comeback. Tyler and Perry renewed their songwriting partnership but were now also working with outside songwriting collaborators brought in by the record company, like Desmond Child and Jim Vallance. In addition, to help give Aerosmith a slick sound that would be accessible to mainstream audiences, they were receiving help from producer Bruce Fairbairn and A&R; man John Kalodner. Aerosmith released ''Permanent Vacation'' in 1987, which became a huge multi-platinum success and launched three Top 20 hits ("Dude (Looks Like a Lady)", "Angel", and "Rag Doll"). The band launched a tour with the emerging Guns N' Roses opening many shows. ''Permanent Vacation'' was followed by 1989's ''Pump'', which was even more successful, selling 7 million copies and producing three Top 10 hits ("Love in an Elevator", "Janie's Got a Gun", and "What it Takes") and one Top 40 hit ("The Other Side"). ''Pump'' in particular saw Tyler expand his musical horizons, co-writing the innovative hit "Janie's Got a Gun", which won the band their first Grammy award. The band toured with many up-and-coming acts and performed in locations like Australia for the first time. In the late 1980s, Tyler also guested on albums by comedian Sam Kinison, Alice Cooper (a fellow 70s rocker also launching a successful comeback) and popular contemporaries Mötley Crüe. Around that time, Tyler and Perry also appeared at a Bon Jovi concert in Milton Keynes and performed "Walk This Way".

With the twin successes of ''Permanent Vacation'' and ''Pump'', the band became an MTV sensation and Tyler became a household name. The band were featured on a "Wayne's World" sketch on ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1990, which is ranked as the No.1 moment of all time on the show. That same year, Aerosmith recorded one of the first episodes of ''MTV Unplugged''. In 1991, Aerosmith was one of the first bands to be featured on ''The Simpsons''. That year, the band also signed a $30 million record deal with their old label Columbia, which they would begin recording for later that decade. The box set ''Pandora's Box'' was released by Columbia in late 1991, and the band filmed a music video for "Sweet Emotion" to promote the release. Earlier in the year, the band also performed "Dream On" with an orchestra at MTV's 10th Anniversary celebration; their filmed performance was used as the official video for the song. After a brief break, the band returned to the studio in 1992 to record their next album. The band's A&R; man John Kalodner criticized some of the early material being considered for this album, targeting Tyler's sexually profane lyrics in particular. As Tyler was no longer using drugs, some members of the band and their management had believed Tyler had now become a sex addict. thumb|left|150px|Steven Tyler performing on the Get a Grip Tour in 1993. However, the band eventually began recording again and released ''Get a Grip'' in 1993, which became their most successful album worldwide, selling over 15 million copies and producing a series of hit singles ("Livin' on the Edge", "Cryin'", "Amazing", "Crazy"). While the album saw mixed reviews and received some criticism for over-using outside collaborators, Aerosmith won more awards during this time than any other, winning two Grammy Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, two American Music Awards, a People's Choice award, and a Billboard Award. The band became well-known for their videos at this time, which featured film-like storylines and up-and-coming actors and actresses like Edward Furlong, Stephen Dorff, Jason London, Josh Holloway, and most notably Alicia Silverstone. Tyler's daughter Liv made her acting debut in the band's video for "Crazy" in 1994. The band also launched their biggest and most extensive tour yet, performing over 240 shows in nearly 30 countries, including touring Latin America for the first time and performing in many European countries for the first time.

After the 18-month long Get a Grip Tour ended in December 1994, the band took a break in 1995 to spend time with their families. This break was needed due to the grueling lifestyle of the previous 10 years under the helm of manager Tim Collins, who helped orchestrate much of the band's comeback and sustained success. Tyler and Perry also began writing for a new album, and the band performed a couple one-off shows in Boston to try out the new material, and vacationed together with their families in Florida. Aerosmith, however, almost broke up after the band's manager spread rumors that band members were saying bad things about each other and that Tyler was being unfaithful to his wife and using drugs again during recording sessions in Miami. The band subsequently fired Collins in 1996 in the middle of recording for their next album. In 1997, they released ''Nine Lives'', which went double platinum, launched three hits ("Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees)", "Hole in My Soul", and "Pink"), and won the band their fourth Grammy for "Pink". They toured for over two years in support of the album. In 1997, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were featured in a commercial for the Gap. That fall, the band's tell-all autobiography was released.

In 1998, while on tour in support of ''Nine Lives'', Tyler suffered a ligament injury when his mic stand came crashing into his knee. Tyler and the band finished the show, but they had to cancel several dates, and Tyler had to wear a leg cast while filming the video for "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing". The song was the band's first No.1 hit and the only song to date by a rock band to debut at No.1 on the Hot 100. It has since become a slow-dance staple, and at the time introduced Aerosmith and Steven Tyler to yet another new generation. The song was written for the film ''Armageddon'', which featured Tyler's daughter Liv.

In 1999, Tyler and Perry joined Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. to perform "Walk This Way" at the MTV Video Music Awards. Earlier that year, the band saw the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith open at Walt Disney World.

Continued success and touring (2000–08)

In 2001, Aerosmith played at the Super Bowl XXXV Halftime Show and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band also released the album ''Just Push Play'', which featured the Top 10 hit "Jaded". The band went on tour again in the summer of 2001, and since then Aerosmith has toured every year, except 2008. After the September 11 attacks, the band performed at the benefit concert "United We Stand" in Washington, D.C. Tyler donned a full-length jacket featuring the American flag, and the band performed a brief set including "Livin' on the Edge", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "Just Push Play", and "Walk This Way". The band flew back to Indianapolis to perform a show that same night.

In 2002, Aerosmith's two-hour long ''Behind the Music'' was released, chronicling the band's tumultuous history and current activities and touring. They were also honored as MTV Icons. In the summer, they released the compilation ''O, Yeah! The Ultimate Aerosmith Hits'', which went double platinum and included the new track "Girls of Summer", which spawned a namesake tour with Kid Rock and Run–D.M.C. opening.

In 2003, Tyler received an honorary degree from Berklee College of Music, and, in 2005, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Boston. In 2003, Tyler also inducted AC/DC into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tyler sang with AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson for a performance of "You Shook Me All Night Long". Later in the year, Tyler went on tour with Aerosmith for the Rocksimus Maximus Tour with KISS.

In 2004, Aerosmith released the blues cover album ''Honkin' on Bobo'' and launched a brief tour with Cheap Trick, focused on smaller markets. That summer, Tyler starred in a commercial for Sony's Cyber-shot camera, which also included the Aerosmith song "The Grind", a new song featured on ''Honkin' on Bobo''. Later that year, Tyler sang the National Anthem to kick off the 2004 World Series at Fenway Park. The 2004 film ''The Polar Express'' featured Tyler singing "Rockin' on Top of the World" alongside a group of computer-animated elves resembling Aerosmith.

In 2005, Tyler sang lead vocals on Santana's hit single "Just Feel Better" and made a cameo appearance in the film ''Be Cool''.

In 2006, after recovering from throat surgery and the grueling Rockin' the Joint Tour, Steven Tyler performed with Joe Perry and the Boston Pops Orchestra for the orchestra's annual Fourth of July concert, his first major public appearance since the surgery. During the concert, which was broadcast nationally on CBS, Tyler, Perry, and the orchestra performed a medley of "Walk This Way", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" and "Dream On". That year, Tyler also recorded a duet with country music artist Keith Anderson, titled "Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll". The song, a remixed version of a song found on Anderson's debut album, was released as a single on the U.S. Hot Country Songs charts.

Later that year, the Aerosmith compilation ''Devil's Got a New Disguise'' was released, which included two new tracks. Tyler hit the road with Aerosmith again for the Route of All Evil Tour with Mötley Crüe and also made several more public appearances. He made a cameo appearance on the sitcom ''Two and a Half Men'', playing himself. On October 14, 2006, Tyler sang "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch at Game No.3 of the National League Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. On November 24, he volunteered by serving Thanksgiving dinner to the needy at a restaurant in West Palm Beach, Florida, before an Aerosmith show there.

In 2007, Tyler kept active in Aerosmith with the band's world tour which saw them perform in 19 countries. Also that year, Tyler and daughter Liv were profiled on ''E! True Hollywood Story.

On May 21, 2008, Tyler checked into Las Encinas Hospital rehabilitation clinic in Pasadena, California, to recover from multiple leg surgeries. He made a public statement saying that "The 'foot repair' pain was intense, greater than I'd anticipated. The months of rehabilitative care and the painful strain of physical therapy were traumatic. I really needed a safe environment to recuperate where I could shut off my phone and get back on my feet." In June 2008, ''Guitar Hero: Aerosmith'' was released, the franchise's first video game based solely around one band and the most successful game based around a band. On July 14, 2008, Tyler's mother, Susan Rey Tallarico, died at the age of 84. On July 18, 2008, Steven Tyler appeared with Billy Joel at the last concert to be played at Shea Stadium. Backed by Joel's band, he sang lead vocals on "Walk This Way". In August 2008 HarperCollins won an auction to publish Tyler's autobiography. That same month, Tyler performed with trumpeter Chris Botti in Boston. In December 2008, Tyler made a surprise appearance at the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concerts at Nassau Coliseum (December 12, 2008) and the Izod Center (December 13, 2008). At the Izod Center, he collaborated with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion".

Recent events (2009–present)

On August 5, 2009, while on the Guitar Hero Aerosmith Tour, Tyler fell off a stage near Sturgis, South Dakota, injuring his head and neck and breaking his shoulder. He was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital. Aerosmith was forced to cancel the rest of their 2009 tour, except for two shows in Hawaii in October. Back in 2007, Aerosmith had to cancel their first concert in Maui, which resulted in a class action lawsuit involving 8,000 plaintiffs. Attendees received tickets and, in some cases, reimbursements for out of pocket expenses. The band also performed in early November at an auto race in Abu Dhabi.

On November 9, 2009, it was reported that Steven Tyler had no contact with the other members of Aerosmith and that they were unsure if he was still in the band. On November 10, 2009, Joe Perry confirmed that Steven Tyler had quit Aerosmith to pursue a solo career and was unsure whether the move was indefinite. No replacement was announced. Despite rumors of leaving the band, and notwithstanding Perry's comment as reported earlier the same day, Tyler joined The Joe Perry Project onstage November 10, 2009, at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza and performed "Walk This Way." According to sources at the event, Tyler assured the crowd that despite rumors to the contrary, he is "not quitting Aerosmith." On December 22, 2009, ''Rolling Stone'' reported that Tyler had checked into rehab for pain management.

In 2010, Steven Tyler embarked on the Cocked, Locked, Ready to Rock Tour with Aerosmith, which saw them perform over 40 concerts in 18 countries. On September 16, 2010, it was reported that Tyler would have his first solo project. He wrote "Love Lives", which serves as a theme song for the Japanese sci-fi movie ''Space Battleship Yamato''. The song was based on the English translated script, as well as on some clips of the film itself. The single was released on November 24, a week before the movie was released. A preview of the single can be heard in the movie's trailers. On September 22, 2010, Fox confirmed that Tyler would join ''American Idol'' as a member of the judging panel for the program's tenth season, alongside Randy Jackson and Jennifer Lopez. In December 2010, Tyler performed at the Kennedy Center Honors, honoring Paul McCartney by performing several tracks from ''Abbey Road''.

On January 19, 2011, Tyler made his debut appearance as a judge on ''American Idol'', during the premiere of the show's tenth season, which aired through the end of May. On April 2, 2011, Tyler presented an award at the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards. The following day, Steven Tyler performed with Carrie Underwood at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Underwood and Tyler performed Underwood's song "Undo It" and completed their segment with an energetic version of the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way". On May 3, 2011, Tyler released his autobiography ''Does the Noise in My Head Bother You?'' The book was accompanied by the new single "(It) Feels So Good", released May 10. The single reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. In addition, during breaks in between ''Idol'', Tyler worked on new material for Aerosmith's next studio album. Tyler performed the Aerosmith song "Dream On" on the season finale of ''American Idol'' on May 25.

In August 2011, it was announced that Tyler would be the inspiration for Andy Hilfiger's new fashion line, Andrew Charles. In addition to serving as the inspiration for all menswear, Steven and his daughter, Chelsea Tyler, will appear in the line's advertising campaign. Steven is also developing a signature scarf collection called "Rock Scarf" for Andrew Charles. Both the Andrew Charles collection and the Rock Scarf line will be exclusively available in select Macy's stores and on macys.com starting September of 2011.

Tyler is currently working with the other members of Aerosmith on the band's next studio album. After finishing up in the studio, the band will tour Latin America and Japan in the fall of 2011. In addition, Tyler has confirmed he will be on season 11 of ''American Idol'' which is set to air in January 2012.

Dirico Motorcycles (formerly Red Wing Motorcycles)

On September 15, 2007, at New Hampshire International Speedway, Steven announced the launch of Dirico Motorcycles (formerly Red Wing Motorcycles). Dirico's bikes are designed by Steven Tyler, engineered by Mark Dirico, and built by AC Custom Motorcycles in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Steven has been a long time motorcycle fan and riding enthusiast. About the new Dirico Motorcycles, Tyler said, “You get on one of these bikes and you can ride for days. These bikes are slick, rugged, and just damn cool. And they’re amazing to look at.”

Steven Tyler also participates in a variety of charity auctions involving motorcycles, including the Ride for Children charity.

Steven is also friends with Paul Teutul from American Chopper fame

Personal life

Family and relationships

In 1975, Tyler convinced the parents of 16 year old groupie Julia Holcomb (sometimes spelled Holcolm) to sign over guardianship to him so that he could live with her in Boston. They dated and did drugs together for three years. Holcomb was referred to as "Diana Hall" by the editor of the Aerosmith autobiography ''Walk This Way'' in an attempt to conceal her identity, but other sources have confirmed her identity. Pressures leading to their split included both their age difference (Tyler was 27 when they first met), a house fire, and a pregnancy that resulted in an abortion. Band member Ray Tabano wrote in ''Walk This Way'' that the abortion "really messed Steven up" because the child was a boy. Tyler wrote, "It was a big crisis. It's a major thing when you're growing something with a woman, but they convinced us that it would never work out and would ruin our lives...You go to the doctor and they put the needle in her belly and they squeeze the stuff in and you watch. And it comes out dead. I was pretty devastated. In my mind, I'm going, Jesus, what have I done?"

After returning Holcomb to her parents, Tyler had a brief relationship with fashion model Bebe Buell, during which he fathered actress Liv Tyler (Buell initially claimed that the father was Todd Rundgren to protect her daughter from Tyler's drug addiction).

In 1978, he married Cyrinda Foxe, from daughter Liv's marriage to British musician Royston Langdon from the band Spacehog.

On May 28, 1988, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Tyler married clothing designer Teresa Barrick. A statement from Tyler's publicist read in part, "Despite Aerosmith's desire to keep the tour going as long as possible, [Tyler's] doctors advised him not to continue performing to give his voice time to recover." Aerosmith's remaining North American tour dates in 2006 on the Rockin' the Joint Tour were subsequently canceled.

The surgery, to correct a popped blood vessel in his throat, was a success. In the words of Tyler: "He just took a laser and zapped the blood vessel." After a few weeks of rest, Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith entered the studio on May 20, 2006 to begin work on their new album.

On July 3–4, 2006, Tyler and Joe Perry performed at the Boston Waterfront with the Boston Pops Orchestra and sang the songs "Dream On", "Walk This Way", and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" as part of the Boston July 4 Fireworks Spectacular. The concert was notable as Tyler's first public performance since the surgery. A tour launched later in fall 2006 with Mötley Crüe, titled the Route of All Evil Tour.

Steven Tyler's throat surgery was featured in 2007 on an episode of the National Geographic Channel series, ''Incredible Human Machine''.

Hepatitis C

In a September 2006 interview with ''Access Hollywood'', Steven Tyler revealed that he had been suffering from Hepatitis C for the past 11 years. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2003 and had undergone extensive treatment from 2003–2006, including 11 months of interferon therapy, which he said was "agony".

Discography

With Aerosmith

Collaborative work

Year	!Song	!Artist	!Album
	"Walk This Way"	Run-D.M.C. featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
		Sam Kinison; guest performers include Steven Tyler	''Have You Seen Me Lately?''
	Various tracks	Alice Cooper; guest performers include Steven Tyler
	"Slice of Your Pie"	Mötley Crüe; guest performers include Steven Tyler
	"Sticky Sweet"	Mötley Crüe; guest performers include Steven Tyler	''Dr. Feelgood''
	"Roots, Rock, Reggae"	Bob Marley featuring Steven Tyler	''Chant Down Babylon''
	"Misery"		''Missundaztood''
	"Sing for the Moment"	Eminem featuring Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (uncredited; Dream On sample used; New recording not done)	''The Eminem Show''
	"I'm a King Bee"	Steven Tyler and Joe Perry	''Lightning in a Bottle Soundtrack''
	"Just Feel Better"
	"Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll"	Keith Anderson featuring Steven Tyler	''Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll''
	"Cryin'" and "Smile"	Chris Botti featuring Steven Tyler	''Chris Botti in Boston''

Solo work

Year	Single	Chart Positions
!width=45
2010		–
2011		35

Filmography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role |- | 1978 || ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' || Member of the Future Villain Band |- | 1988 || ''The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years'' || Himself |- | 1990 || ''Saturday Night Live'': Musical guest; "Wayne's World" sketch || Himself |- | 1991 || ''The Simpsons'': "Flaming Moe's" episode || Himself (voice) |- | 1993 || ''Wayne's World 2'' || Himself |- | 1993 || ''Saturday Night Live'': Musical guest; "Bad Dancer" sketch || Himself |- | 1997 || ''Saturday Night Live'': Musical guest; "Mary Katherine Gallagher" sketch || Himself |- | 1999 || ''Clubland'' || David Foster |- | 2001 || ''Saturday Night Live'': Musical guest || Himself |- | 2003 || Lizzie McGuire||Father Christmas/Himself |- | 2004 || ''The Polar Express'' || Elf Lieutenant / Elf Singer |- | 2004 || ''Goodnight Joseph Parker'' || Sammy |- | 2005 || ''Be Cool'' || Himself |- | 2006 || ''Two and a Half Men'': two episodes || Himself |- | 2009 || ''Chris Botti in Boston'' || Himself |- | 2011 || ''American Idol'' || Talent Judge (Himself) |}

Awards and nominations

See also

Toxic Twins

References

External links

Category:1948 births Category:Aerosmith members Category:People of Calabrian descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Polish descent Category:American musicians of Russian descent Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American male singers Category:American rock singers Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American tenors Category:Berklee College of Music alumni Category:English-language singers Category:Idol series judges Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York Category:People from Yonkers, New York Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers

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