The World's 1000 Greatest Male Musicans On IMBD
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Sir Paul McCartney is a key figure in contemporary culture as a singer, composer, poet, writer, artist, humanitarian, entrepreneur, and holder of more than 3 thousand copyrights. He is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for most records sold, most #1s (shared), most covered song, "Yesterday," largest paid audience for a solo concert (350,000+ people, in 1989, in Brazil). He is considered one of the most successful entertainers of all time.
He was born James Paul McCartney on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool General Hospital, where his mother, Mary Patricia (Mohin), was a medical nurse and midwife. His father, James "Jim" McCartney, was a cotton salesman and a pianist leading the Jim Mac's Jazz Band in Liverpool. He has Irish and English ancestry. Young McCartney was raised non-denominational. He studied music and art, and had a happy childhood with one younger brother, Michael. At age 11, he was one of only four students who passed the 11+ exam, known as "the scholarship" in Liverpool, and gained a place at Liverpool Institute for Boys. There he studied from 1953 to 1960, earning A level in English and Art.
At the age of 14, Paul McCartney was traumatized by his mother's sudden death from breast cancer. Shortly afterward, he wrote his first song. In July 1957 he met John Lennon during their performances at a local church fête (festival). McCartney impressed Lennon with his mastery of guitar and singing in a variety of styles. He soon joined Lennon's band, The Quarrymen, and eventually became founding member of The Beatles, with the addition of George Harrison and Pete Best. After a few gigs in Hamburg, Germany, the band returned to Liverpool and played regular gigs at the Cavern during 1961.
In November 1961, they invited Brian Epstein to be their manager, making a written agreement in January 1962. At that time McCartney and Harrison were under 21, so the paper wasn't technically legal, albeit it did not matter to them. What mattered was their genuine trust in Epstein. He improved their image, secured them a record deal with EMI, and replaced drummer Best with Ringo Starr. With a little help from Brian Epstein and George Martin, The Beatles consolidated their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork, launching the most successful career in the history of entertainment.
The Beatles contributed to music, film, literature, art, and fashion, made a continuous impact on entertainment, popular culture and the lifestyle of several generations. Music became their ticket to ride around the world. Beatlemania never really ended since its initiation; it became a movable feast in many hearts and minds, a sweet memory of youth, when all you need is love and a little help from a friend to be happy. Their songs and images carrying powerful ideas of love, peace, help, and imagination evoked creativity and liberation that outperformed the rusty Soviet propaganda and contributed to breaking walls in the minds of millions, thus making impact on human history.
All four members of The Beatles were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Paul McCartney had the privilege of a better musical education, having studied classical piano and guitar in his childhood. He progressed as a lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, as well as a singer-songwriter. In addition to singing and songwriting, Paul McCartney played bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboards, as well as over 40 other musical instruments.
McCartney wrote more popular hits for the Beatles than other members of the band. His songs Yesterday, Let It Be, Hey Jude, Blackbird, All My Loving, Eleanor Rigby, Birthday, I Saw Her Standing There, I Will, Get Back, Carry That Weight, P.S. I Love You, Things We Said Today, "Hello, Goodbye," Two of Us, Why Don't We Do It in the Road?, Helter Skelter, Honey Pie, When I'm 64, Lady Madonna, She's a Woman, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," Mother Nature's Son, Long And Winding Road, Rocky Raccoon, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Fool on the Hill, You Never Give Me Your Money, Your Mother Should Know, The End, Yellow Submarine, and many others are among the Beatles' best hits. Yesterday is considered the most covered song in history with over three thousand versions of it recorded by various artists across the universe.
Since he was a teenager, McCartney honored the agreement that was offered by John Lennon in 1957, about the 50/50 authorship of every song written by either one of them. However, both were teenagers, and technically, being under 21, their oral agreement had no legal power. Still, almost 200 songs by The Beatles are formally credited to both names, regardless of the fact that most of the songs were written individually. The songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was really working until the mid-60s, when they collaborated in many of their early songs. Their jamming on a piano together led to creation of their first best-selling hit 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in 1963.
In total, The Beatles created over 240 songs, they recorded many singles and albums, made several films and TV shows. Thousands of memorable pictures popularized their image. In their evolution from beginners to the leaders of entertainment, they learned from many world cultures, absorbed from various styles, and created their own. McCartney's own range of interests spanned from classical music and English folk ballads to Indian raga and other Oriental cultures, and later expanded into psychedelic experiments and classical-sounding compositions. His creative search has been covering a range of styles from jazz and rock to symphonies and choral music, and to cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre compositions.
Epstein's 1967 death hurt all four members of The Beatles, as they lost their creative manager. Evolution of each member's creativity and musicianship also led to individual career ambitions, however, their legacy as The Beatles remained the main driving force in their individual careers ever since. McCartney and The Beatles made impact on human history, because their influence has been liberating for generations of nowhere men living in misery beyond the Iron Curtain.
Something in their songs and images appealed to everybody who wanted to become free as a bird. Their songs carrying powerful ideas of real love, peace, help, imagination and freedom evoked creativity and contributed to breaking chains and walls in the minds of millions. The Beatles expressed themselves in beautiful and liberating words of love, happiness, freedom, and revolution, and carried those messages to people across the universe. Their songs and images helped many freedom-loving people to come together for revolutions in Prague and Warsaw, Beijing and Bucharest, Berlin and Moscow. The Beatles has been an inspiration for those who take the long and winding road to freedom.
McCartney was 28 when he started his solo career, and formed his new band, Wings. His first solo album, "McCartney," was a #1 hit and spawned the evergreen ballad "Maybe I'm Amazed", yet critical reaction was mixed. He continued to release music with Wings, that eventually became one of the most commercially successful groups of the 70s. "Band on the Run" won two Grammy Awards and remained the Wings' most lauded work. The 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre" stayed at #1 in the UK for nine weeks, and was highest selling single in the UK for seven years. In 1978 McCartney's theme "Rockestra" won him another Grammy Award. In 1979, together with Elvis Costello, he organized Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. In 1979, McCartney released his solo album "Wonderful Christmastime" which remained popular ever since.
In 1980 McCartney was arrested in Tokyo, Japan, for marijuana possession, and after a ten-day stint in jail, he was released to a media firestorm. He retreated into seclusion after the arrest, and was comforted by his wife Linda. Yet he had another traumatic experience when his ex-band-mate, John Lennon, was shot dead by a crazed fan near his home in New York City on December 8, 1980. McCartney did not play any live concerts for some time because he was nervous that he would be "the next" to be murdered.
After almost a year of absence from the music scene, McCartney returned in 1982 with the album "Tug of War," which was well received by public and enjoyed great critical acclaim. He continued a successful career as a solo artist, collaborated with wife Linda McCartney, and writers such as Elvis Costello. During the 80s, McCartney released such hits as 'No More Lonely Nights' and his first compilation, "All the Best." In 1989, he started his first concert tour since the John Lennon's murder.
In 1994, the three surviving members of The Beatles, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown song "Free as a Bird." It was preserved by Yoko Ono on a tape recording made by Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed by George Martin at the Abbey Road Studios with the voices of three surviving members. The Beatles Anthology TV documentary series was watched by 420 million people in 1995.
During the 1990s McCartney concentrated on composing classical works for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, such as "The Liverpool Oratorio" involving a choir and symphony, and "A Leaf" solo-piano project, both released in 1995. That same year he was working on a new pop album, "Flaming Pie," when his wife Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, and caring for his wife during her illness meant only sporadic public appearances during that time. The album was released in 1997 to both critical and commercial success, debuting at #2 on both the UK and US pop charts. That same year he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II as Sir Paul McCartney for his services to music.
In April 1998, Linda McCartney, his beloved wife of almost 30 years, mother of their four children, and his steady partner in music, died of breast cancer. McCartney suffered from a severe depression and undergone medical treatment. He spent much of the next year away from the public eye, emerging only to campaign on behalf of his late wife for animal rights and vegetarian causes.
He eventually returned to the studio, releasing an album of rock n'roll covers in 1999. "Run Devil Run" made both Entertainment Weekly and USA Today's year-end top ten lists. McCartney also slowly returned to the public spotlight with the release of his another classical album, "Working Classical" in November 1999, in recording by the London Symphony Orchestra. His 2000 release "A Garland for Linda" was a choral tribute album, which raised funds to aid cancer survivors.
In 2000 he was invited by Heather Mills, a disabled ex-model, to her 32nd birthday. McCartney wrote songs dedicated to her, he and Mills developed a romantic relationship and became engaged in 2001. However, the year brought him a cascade of traumatic experiences. On September 11, 2001, Paul McCartney was sitting on a plane in New York when the World Trade Center tragedy occurred in front of his eyes, and he was able to witness the events from his seat. Yet there was another sadness, as his former band-mate George Harrison died of cancer in November, 2001.
Recuperating from the stressful year, McCartney received the 2002 Academy Award nomination for the title song to the movie Vanilla Sky (2001), and also went on his first concert tour in several years. In June, 2002, Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills married in a castle in Monaghan, Ireland. Their daughter, Beatrice Milly McCartney, was born in October 2003. Four years later, the high profile marriage ended in divorce, after a widely publicized litigation. "Whenever you're going through difficult times, I'm at the moment, it's really cool to be able to escape into music" says Paul McCartney.
In 2003 Paul McCartney rocked the Red Square in Moscow with his show "Back in USSR" which was attended by his former opponents from the former Soviet KGB, including the Russian president Vladimir Putin himself, who invited McCartney to be the guest of honor in the Kremlin. In 2004 Paul McCartney received a birthday present from the Russian president. In June 2004, he and Heather Mills-McCartney stayed as special guests at suburban Royal Palaces of Russian Tsars in St. Petersburg, Russia. There he staged a spectacular show near the Tsar's Winter Palace in St. Petersburg where the Communist Revolution took place, just imagine.
In 2005 the Entertainment magazine poll named The Beatles the most iconic entertainers of the 20th Century. In 2006, the guitar on which Paul McCartney played his first chords and impressed John Lennon, was sold at an auction for over $600,000.
On June 18, 2006, Paul McCartney celebrated his 64th birthday, as in his song "when I'm Sixty-Four." McCartney's celebrity status, made it a cultural milestone for a generation of those born in the baby-boom era who grew up with the music of The Beatles during the 1960s. The prophetic message in the song has been intertwined with McCartney's personal life and his career.
In 2007 McCartney left his longtime label, EMI, and signed with Los Angeles based Hear Music. He learned to play mandolin to create a refreshing feeling for his latest album "Memory Almost Full," then appeared in Apple Computer's commercial for iPod+iTunes to promote the album. In June 2007 McCartney appeared together with Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and Guy Laliberté in a live broadcast from the "Revolution" Lounge at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
His 3-DVD set "The McCartney Years" with over 40 music videos and hours of Historic Live Performances was released in November 2007. His classical album "Ecco Cor Meum" (aka.. Behold My Heart), recorded with the Academy of St. Martin of the Fields and the boys of King's college Choir, was voted Classical Album of the Year in 2007. That same year, Paul McCartney began dating Nancy Shevell. The couple married in 2011, in London. Sir Paul's "On the Run Tour" once again took him flying across world from July through December 2011 giving sold out concerts in the USA, Canada, UK, United Arab Emirates, Italy, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
In July 2012, Paul McCartney rocked the opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He delivered a live performance of The Beatles's timeless hit "Hey Jude" and engaged the crowd of people from all over the world to join his band in a sing along finale. The show was seen by a live audience of close to 80000 people at the Olympic Park Stadium in addition to an estimated TV audience of two billion people worldwide.
On the long and winding road of his life and career, Sir Paul McCartney has been a highly respected entertainer and internationally regarded public figure.- Music Artist
- Composer
- Actor
John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, which he attended) who, with the addition of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, later became The Beatles.
After some years of performing in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany, "Beatlemania" erupted in England and Europe in 1963 after the release of their singles "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me". That same year, John's first wife Cynthia Lennon welcomed their only son Julian Lennon, named after John's mother. The next year the Beatles flew to America to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka The Ed Sullivan Show), and Beatlemania spread worldwide. Queen Elizabeth II granted all four Beatles M.B.E. medals in 1965, for import revenues from their record sales; John returned his four years later, as part of an antiwar statement. John and the Beatles continued to tour and perform live until 1966, when protests over his calling the Beatles phenomenon "more popular than Jesus" and the frustrations of touring made the band decide to quit the road. They devoted themselves to studio work, recording and releasing albums such as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Magical Mystery Tour" and the "White Album". Instead of appearing live, the band began making their own "pop clips" (an early term for music videos), which were featured on television programs of the time.
In the late 1960s John began performing and making albums with his second wife Yoko Ono, as the Beatles began to break up. Their first two albums, "Two Virgins" and "Life With The Lions", were experimental and flops by Beatles standards, while their "Wedding Album" was almost a vanity work, but their live album "Live Peace In Toronto" became a Top Ten hit, at the end of the 1960s.
In the early 1970s John and Yoko continued to record together, making television appearances and performing at charity concerts. After the release of John's biggest hit, "Imagine", they moved to the US, where John was nearly deported because of his political views (a late-'60s conviction for possession of hashish in the U.K. was the excuse given by the government), but after a four-year legal battle he won the right to stay. In the midst of this, John and Yoko separated for over a year; John lived in Los Angeles with personal assistant May Pang, while Yoko dated guitarist David Spinozza. When John made a guest appearance at Elton John's Thanksgiving 1974 concert, Yoko was in the audience, and surprised John backstage. They reconciled in early 1975, and Yoko soon became pregnant. After the birth of their son Sean Lennon, John settled into the roles of "househusband" and full-time daddy, while Yoko became his business manager; both appeared happy in their new life together.
After a five-year break from music and the public eye, they made a comeback with their album "Double Fantasy", but within weeks of their re-emergence, Lennon was murdered on the evening of December 8, 1980 by Mark David Chapman, a one-time Beatles fan angry and jealous over John's ongoing career, who fatally shot Lennon four times in the back outside his apartment building, The Dakota, as Lennon was returning from a recording session. Within minutes after being shot, John Lennon was dead at age 40. His violent death was a sudden and tragic end to the life of a talented singer and musician who wanted to make a difference in the world.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Producer
A master musician, a film producer and actor, best known as the lead guitarist and occasionally lead vocalist of The Beatles, George Harrison was born February 25, 1943, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. He was also the youngest of four children, born to Harold Harrison and Louise Harrison.
Like his future band mates, Harrison was not born into wealth. Louise was largely a stay-at-home mom while her husband Harold drove a school bus for the Liverpool Institute, an acclaimed grammar school that George attended and where he first met a young classmate, Paul McCartney. By his own admission, Harrison was not much of a student and what little interest he did have for his studies washed away with his discovery of the electric guitar and American rock-'n'-roll.
There were a lot of harmonies in the Harrison household. He had a knack of sorts for it by age 12 or 13, while riding a bike around his neighborhood and hearing Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel", playing from a nearby house. By the age of 14 George--who was a fan of such legends as , Harrison, who grew up in the likes of listening to such rock legends Carl Perkins, Little Richard and Buddy Holly--had purchased his first guitar and taught himself a few chords.
McCartney', who had recently joined up with another Liverpool teenager, John Lennon, in a skiffle group known as The Quarrymen, invited Harrison to see the band perform. Harrison and Lennon had a few things in common, such as the fact that they both attended Dovedale Primary School but didn't know each other. Their paths finally crossed in early 1958. McCartney had been egging the 17-year-old Lennon to allow the 14-year-old Harrison to join the band, but Lennon was reluctant; as legend has it, after seeing McCartney and Lennon perform, George was granted an audition on the upper deck of a bus, where he wowed Lennon with his rendition of popular American rock riffs.
The 17-year-old Harrison's music career was in full swing by 1960. Lennon had renamed the band The Beatles and the young group began cutting its rock teeth in the small clubs and bars around Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. Within two years, the group had a new drummer, Ringo Starr, and a manager, Brian Epstein, a young record store owner who eventually landed the group a record contract with EMI's Parlophone label.
Before the end of 1962, Harrison and The Beatles recorded a song, "Love Me Do", that landed in the UK Top 20 charts. Early that following year, another hit, "Please Please Me," was released, followed by an album by the same name. "Beatlemania" was in full swing across England, and by early 1964, with the release of their album in the US and an American tour, it had swept across the States as well.
Largely referred to as the "Quiet Beatle" Harrison took a back seat to McCartney, Lennon and, to a certain extent, Starr. Still, he could be quick-witted, even edgy. During the middle of one American tour, the group members were asked how they slept at night with long hair.
From the get-go, Lennon-McCartney were primary lead vocalists. While the two spent most of the time writing their own songs, Harrison had shown an early interest in creating his own work. In the summer of 1963 he spearheaded his first song, "Don't Bother Me," which made its way on to the group's second album. From there on out, Harrison's songs were a staple of all Beatle records. In fact, some of the group's more memorable songs--e.g., "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Something," which was the only Beatle song ever recorded by Frank Sinatra--were penned by Harrison.
However, his influence on the group and pop music in general extended beyond just singles. In 1965, while on the set of The Beatles' second film, Help! (1965), Harrison took an interest in some of the Eastern instruments and their musical arrangements that were being used in the film. He soon developed a deep interest in Indian music. He taught himself the sitar, introducing the instrument to many western ears on Lennon's song, "Norwegian Wood"" He soon cultivated a close relationship with renowned sitar player Ravi Shankar. Other groups, including The Rolling Stones, began incorporating the sitar into some of their work. It could be argued that Harrison's experimentation with different kinds of instrumentation helped pave the way for such ground-breaking Beatle albums as "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
Harrison's interest in Indian music soon extended into a yearning to learn more about eastern spiritual practices. In 1968 he led The Beatles on a journey to northern India to study transcendental meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Having grown spiritually and musically since the group first started, Harrison, who wanted to include more of his material on Beatle records, was clearly uneasy with the McCartney-Lennon dominance of the group. During the "Let It Be" recording sessions in 1969, Harrison walked out, staying away for several weeks before he was coaxed to come back with the promise that the band would use more of his songs on its records.
However, tensions in the group were clearly high. Lennon and McCartney had ceased writing together years before, and they, too, were feeling the need to go in a different direction. In January of 1970 the group recorded Harrison's "I Me Mine." It was the last song the four would ever record together. Three months later, McCartney announced he was leaving the band and The Beatles were officially over.
After the breakup of The Beatles, Harrison pursued a solo career. He immediately assembled a studio band consisting of ex-Beatle Starr, guitar legend Eric Clapton, keyboardist Billy Preston and others to record all the songs that had never made it on to The Beatles catalog. The result was a three-disc album, "All Things Must Pass". While one of its signature songs, "My Sweet Lord," was later deemed too similar in style to The Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine," forcing the guitarist to cough up nearly $600,000, the album as a whole remains Harrison's most acclaimed record.
Not long after the album's release, Harrison combined his charitable work and his continued passion for the east when he put together a series of ground-breaking benefit concerts at New York City's Madison Square Garden to raise money for refugees in Bangladesh. Known as the "Concert for Bangladesh", the shows, which featured Bob Dylan, Leon Russell, and Ravi Shankar, would go on to raise some $15 million for UNICEF, produced a Grammy-winning album, a successful documentary film (The Concert for Bangladesh (1972)) and laid the groundwork for future benefit shows like "Live Aid" and "Farm Aid".
Not everything about post-Beatle life went smoothly for Harrison, though. In 1974, his marriage to Pattie Boyd, whom he'd married eight years before, ended when she left him for Eric Clapton. His studio work struggled, too, from 1973-77, starting with, "Living in the Material World", "Extra Texture," and "33 1/3," all of which failed to meet sales expectations.
Following the release of that last album, Harrison took a short break from music, winding down his own label, Dark Horse Records--which he had started in 1974, and which had released albums by a number of other bands--and started his own film production company, Handmade Films. The company produced the successful Monty Python film Life of Brian (1979) and would go on to make 26 other films before Harrison sold his interest in the company in 1994.
In 1979, he returned to the studio to release his self-titled album. It was followed two years later by, "Somewhere in England," which was still being worked on at the time of John Lennon's assassination in December of 1980. The record eventually included the Lennon tribute track, "All Those Years Ago," a song that reunited ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with ex-Wings members Denny Laine and Linda McCartney. While the song was a hit, the album, its predecessor and its successor, "Gone Troppo," weren't. For Harrison the lack of commercial appeal and the constant battles with music executives proved draining and prompted another studio hiatus.
A comeback of sorts came in November 1987, however, with the release of the album "Cloud Nine," produced by Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra). The album turned out several top-charting hits, including "Got My Mind Set On You"-- remake of the 1962 song by Rudy Clark--and "When We Was Fab," a song that reflected on the life of Beatlemania, with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, who was dressed up as a walrus, but was a camera shy, in February 1988. Later that year Harrison formed The Traveling Wilburys. The group consisted of Harrison, Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, and spawned two successful albums. Buoyed by the group's commercial success, Harrison took to the road with his new bandmates in 1992, embarking on his first international tour in 18 years.
Not long afterwards he was reunited with McCartney and Starr for the creation of an exhaustive three-part release of a Beatles anthology--which featured alternative takes, rare tracks and a John Lennon demo called "Free as a Bird," that the three surviving Beatles completed in the studio. The song went on to become the group's 34th Top 10 single. After that, however, Harrison largely became a homebody, keeping himself busy with gardening and his cars at his expansive and restored home in Henley-on-Thames in south Oxfordshire, England.
Still, the ensuing years were not completely stress-free. In 1997, Harrison, a longtime smoker, was successfully treated for throat cancer. Eighteen months later, his life was again put on the line when a deranged 33-year-old Beatles fan somehow managed to circumvent Harrison's intricate security system and broke into his home, attacking the musician and his wife Olivia with a knife. Harrison was treated for a collapsed lung and minor stab wounds. Olivia suffered several cuts and bruises.
In May 2001, Harrison's cancer returned. There was lung surgery, but doctors soon discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. That autumn, he traveled to the US for treatment and was eventually hospitalized at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. He died November 29, 2001, at ex-bandmate McCartney's house in Los Angeles, at aged 58, with his wife and son at his side.
Just one year after his death, Harrison's final studio album, "Brainwashed," was released. It was produced by Lynne, Harrison's son Dhani Harrison and Harrison himself, and featured a collection of songs he'd been working at the time of his death. Dhani finished putting the album together and it was released in November of 2002.- Music Artist
- Actor
- Producer
Ringo Starr is a British musician, actor, director, writer, and artist best known as the drummer of The Beatles who also coined the title 'A Hard day's Night' for The Beatles' first movie.
He was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940, in a small two-storey house in the working class area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. His father, Richard Starkey, was a former dockworker turned baker; his mother, Elsie (Gleave) Starkey, was a bakery worker. His parents divorced when he was three and he and his mother, Elsie, moved to another home in Liverpool. While attending Silas Infants' Schools he suffered from many afflictions that basically ruined his education: he had constant abdominal pains, was once diagnosed with a ruptured appendix that led to an inflamed peritoneum, which also led to one of his first surgeries. Ringo was in a coma, and his recovery took a couple of months, during which more operations were performed, and he was known to be accident-prone. Shortly after he came out of the coma, he was trying to offer a toy bus to another boy in an adjoining bed, but fell and suffered from a concussion. When he finally was able to go back to school, he learned that he was far behind in his studies. At age 13 he caught a cold that turned into chronic pleurisy, causing him another stay at a hospital in Liverpool. A few lung complications followed, which resulted in a treatment in yet another children's hospital, this time until 1955. Meanwhile, Richard's mother Elsie had married Harry Graves, the man who her son referred to as a "step-ladder".
At the age of 15 he could barely read or write, although he had aptitude for practical subjects such as woodwork and mechanics. At that time he dropped out of school and got his first job was as a delivery boy for British Rail. His second job was a barman on a ferry to New Brighton, and his next was as a trainee joiner at Henry Hunt & Sons. Ringo injured his finger on the first day of his new job, and then he decided to become a drummer. His dream came true, when his stepfather bought him a new drum kit, and Richard promised to be the best drummer ever.
In 1957, together with Eddie Miles, he started his own band called 'Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group'. At that time he became known as Ritchie, and eventually became caught in the Liverpool's Skiffle craze. Although he was self-taught, he was a good time-keeper, and developed an original beat with his signature accentuations, due to his left-handed manner of playing on the right-handed drum set. He traveled from band to band, but he eventually landed a spot with "Raving Texans", which was a backing band for Rory Storm, later known as "Rory Storm & The Hurricanes", a popular band at that time Liverpool. Rory Storm encouraged Richard to enhance his career by legally changing his name to Ringo Starr. The Hurricanes topped the bill at one of Liverpool's clubs, where The Beatles also had a gig. Ringo's group was at times sharing popularity with The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. He wanted to leave The Hurricanes to join another group called "The Seniors."
Before Ringo, The Beatles tried several other drummers. At one point they were so desperate, that they even invited strangers from the audience to fill the position. Then came Pete Best who was not considered by the other band members to be the greatest drummer, and they were keen to recruit Ringo as his replacement. On June 6, 1962, at the Abbey Road studios, The Beatles passed Martin's audition with the exception of Pete Best. George Martin liked them, but recommended the change of a drummer. Being asked by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison; Epstein fired Pete Best. After a mutual decision the band was completed with Ringo Starr. Ringo contributed to their first hit in September of 1962, when The Beatles recorded Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart.
Ringo's steady and reliable drumming became essential in their studio sessions, as well as in their numerous and exhausting live performances across the world. Ringo's positive disposition as well as his drumming style played the pivotal role in shaping the famous image and music style of The Beatles as they are now known to the world, under the management of Brian Epstein and music producer George Martin. Ringo filled the position of a drummer for The Beatles in the most critical time of the band's formation. He quickly connected with the other three members of The Beatles, and contributed to their music and creativity with his easy-going personality, light humour, reliable drumming and inventive musicianship. All four members were charismatic and individually talented artists, they sparked each other from the beginning. Eventually they made a much better group effort under the thorough management by Brian Epstein whose coaching helped consolidate their talents and mutual stimulation into beautiful teamwork.
Starr had dreamed of becoming a professional actor since his younger years. He wanted to be in movies probably more so than the other members of The Beatles. In 1964, during the first months of Beatlemania, Ringo coined the phrase 'A Hard Day's Night' which soon became the official title of the Beatles' first movie, in replacement for the working title 'Beatlemania'. Ringo received great reviews for his performance in A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). At first, Ringo did not have a songwriting career, although he had no problem with his name recognition, however, he had a problem with getting his songs noticed. At that time he got help from his friends; John and Paul wrote a song or two for him to sing on their albums, such as "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Yellow Submarine". He also sang on "Boys" (by Luther Dixon and Wes Farrell) and "Honey Don't (by Carl Perkins), During his eight-year career with The Beatles, Ringo wrote two original songs: "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus' Garden" for which he also sang the lead vocals. He is listed as co-writing "What Goes On" from Rubber Soul with Lennon and McCartney. Besides his drumming, Ringo's voice was recorded on many of the most popular Beatle's songs, contributing to their unique sound and tight harmonies.
He had a hectic solo career during the 1970s, after the breakup of The Beatles. However, Ringo eventually emerged as a steady performer, and sustained a very popular solo career, turning out a dozen chart-topping hit songs and eight best-selling albums. He made a famous appearance together with George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, and other popular musicians in the landmark 'Concert for Bangladesh' in 1971. His 1973 solo release "Ringo" was the last album to feature all four living Beatles, although not on the same song. He also appeared in various TV shows, including his own special, Ringo (1978), and a TV mini-series, Princess Daisy (1983), with his wife Barbara. In 1984 he did narration for the children's series Thomas & Friends (1984). During the 1980s, after having a long period of troubles with alcohol, Ringo and his wife attended a rehabilitation clinic, and came back to the scene sober. He made the All-Starr Band tour of America and Japan. The tour was so popular that he formed another All-Starr Band lineup in 1992, and began an American and European tour in June of that year. Since then Ringo Starr has been enjoying a continuous career as the leader of the All-Starr Band. In 1994, along with George Harrison and Paul McCartney, the three surviving members of The Beatles, reunited and produced Lennon's previously unknown song 'Free as a Bird'. It was preserved by 'Yoko Ono' on a tape recording made by John Lennon in 1977. The song was re-arranged and re-mixed with the voices of three surviving members, and became an international hit. 'Free as a Bird' was also included in The Beatles Anthology TV documentary which was watched by 420 million people in 1995. Ringo, Paul and George sang their new songs, in addition to mixing their voices and music arrangements to John Lennon demos.
Ringo's old friend and band-mate George Harrison passed away on November 29, 2001, after a long battle against lung cancer. The following year, on the anniversary of Harrison's death, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton appeared in a Concert For George, to raise money for the support of Harrison's legacy in exploration of alternative lifestyles, views and philosophies. Starr also supported charitable organizations with consideration to those who have special needs.
Ringo Starr updated the role of a drummer in popular music, he made drummer an equal partner to the lead musicians, thus changing the whole paradigm in how the public saw drummers. His original performing style evolved from adjusting his natural left-handed manner of playing to the right-handed drum set, and allowing his left hand lead in weaving a pattern tightly intertwined with the music of other players, and adding such enhancements as unusual accents and stops. Ringo's musical originality as well as his inventive drumming patterns, time signatures and accentuations became essential to the sound of The Beatles. His on-stage presence and acting talent as well as his humor and musicianship was the essential part in formation and remarkable career of The Beatles.
He was married to his long-time girlfriend, Maureen Cox, from 1965 - 1975, and they had three children: Zak Starkey, Jason, and Lee. The couple broke up in July of 1975, and he married actress Barbara Bach. Ringo Starr divides his time between his residences in England, in Switzerland and his home in Los Angeles, California.- Actor
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Doug Aldrich was born on 19 February 1964 in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for The Transformers: The Movie (1986), Megan Leavey (2017) and Whitesnake: Love Will Set You Free (2011).- Tommy Aldridge was born on 15 August 1950 in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. He is an actor, known for Ozzy Osbourne: Iron Man, Live (1983), Whitesnake: Still of the Night (1987) and Whitesnake: The Deeper the Love (1990).
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David Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951 in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Thunder Force (2021), The Fighter (2010) and Almost Famous (2000). He has been married to Cindy Barker since 22 April 1997. They have one child. He was previously married to Tawny Kitaen and Julia ?.- Actor
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Reb Beach was born on 31 August 1963 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for The Karate Kid Part III (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) and Hearts of Fire (1987). He is married to Debbie Beach. They have two children.- Composer
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Pat Metheny was born on 12 August 1954 in Lee's Summit, Missouri, USA. He is a composer and producer, known for Training Day (2001), Toys (1992) and Wild (2014). He is married to Latifa. They have three children.- Producer
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Steve Rodby is known for The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), Pat Metheny: The Unity Sessions (2015) and A Map of the World (1999).- Additional Crew
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Cuong Vu is known for Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003), Once Upon a Knight (2003) and Axis & Allies (2004).- Actor
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Paul Wertico is known for The Babe (1992), Masters of Resonance (2018) and Pat Metheny Group - We Live Here (1998).- Composer
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Former vocalist for the Javelins and Episode Six, Ian Gillan joined Deep Purple in 1969. They recorded the legendary albums "Deep Purple In Rock", "Fireball", "Machine Head" and "Who Do We Think We Are", as well as a number of live albums.
He left Deep Purple in 1973 due to differences with guitarist 'Ritchie Blackmore', as well as exhaustion due to excessive touring with the band. He then formed The Ian Gillan Band around late 1975/early '76. They released two studio albums: "Child in Time" (1976), which included a "jazzy" version of the Purple classic "Clear Air Turbulence" (1977), and a live album, recorded at the Budokan.
He then disbanded The Ian Gillan Band, and formed "Gillan". They released five albums: "Mr. Universe" (1979), "Future Shock" (1980), "Glory Road" (1980), "Double Trouble" (1981) and "Magic" (1982) before disbanding due to Ian's throat problems. Ian then met Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler and joined Black Sabbath in 1983. They did one album, "Born Again", that same year and toured in 1984. At that time Ian got a call from Ritchie Blackmore, asking him to reform Purple MKII, along with band mates Jon Lord, Roger Glover and Ian Paice. Ian left Sabbath and rejoined Purple. They recorded "Perfect Strangers" (1984) and "The House of Blue Light" (1987), before his problems with Blackmore made him quit Purple yet again. In 1988 he and fellow Purple band mate Glover made a record under the "Gillan/Glover" moniker, called "Accidentally on Purpose". Ian participated on various projects until 1992, when he formed a band and recorded "Cherkazoo and Other Stories".
In 1993 he was asked to rejoin Deep Purple yet again. He accepted, and recorded "The Battle Rages On". After a world tour Blackmore quit Deep Purple for good. They then made a couple of dates with Joe Satriani before finding a permanent replacement in Kansas/Dixie Dregs guitarist Steve Morse. The new Purple then recorded "Purpendicular" in 1996 and "Abandon" in 1998. In 1998, Ian released his solo album "Dreamcatcher".
Organist Jon Lord was replaced for the 2003 record "Bananas" with former Rainbow keyboardist Don Airey. Deep Purple MK VIII did a world tour for "Bananas", and went to work on their 18th studio album, "Rapture of the Deep", released in November 2005.
Ian released "Gillan's Inn" in 2006, and is touring with Deep Purple.- Actor
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Ian Paice was born on 29 June 1948 in Nottingham, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Point Break (1991), Twister (1996) and Almost Famous (2000). He is married to Jacky. They have three children.- Composer
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Ritchie Blackmore was born on 14 April 1945 in Weston Super Mare, England, UK. He is a composer and actor, known for Point Break (1991), Twister (1996) and Almost Famous (2000). He has been married to Candice Night since October 2008. They have one child. He was previously married to Amy Rothman, Margrit Volkmar and Barbie Hardie.- Composer
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Instrumental rock guitarist Steve Morse (b. 28 July 1954, Hamilton, Ohio, USA) took his primary influence, like so many others, from the Beatles. Expanding his listening to include prevalent rock bands such as the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, as well as a nascent interest in country music, Morse moved with his family to Georgia at the age of 13. There he was captivated by a live concert by classical guitarist Juan Mercadal, and he persuaded the artist to give him lessons. He went on to study with Mercadal at the University of Miami, while also assembling his first band, Dixie Dregs (aka the Dregs). Inspired by a campus performance from John McLaughlin's original Mahavishnu Quartet, he dedicated himself to exploring the conventions and frontiers of instrumental rock music. The Dregs, essentially a vehicle for these experiments, went on to record eight albums of bright, impressive fusion. Morse qualified as a pilot during this time, and flying remains his greatest passion outside of music. He formed the Steve Morse Band with the Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein and bass player Jerry Peek. Their 1984 debut, The Introduction, continued to mine a particularly adept blend of instrumental rock fusion, with a guest role for guitarist Albert Lee. There was more of a vocal presence for Stand Up, which featured appearances from two other renowned guitarists, Eric Johnson and Peter Frampton. After a brief spell with Kansas Morse recorded his first "solo" collection, High Tension Wires, which also included a reunion of the original Dixie Dregs on the track "Leprechaun Promenade". By the advent of Southern Steel, the Steve Morse Band was a core team of Morse, his Dixie Dregs colleague Dave LaRue (bass), and Van Romaine (drums). In addition to his work with his own band, Morse recorded and toured with the re-formed Dixie Dregs throughout the 90s. The acclaim surrounding Morse has rarely died down throughout his career - Guitar Player magazine made him ineligible for their Best Overall Guitarist poll after he won it five times in succession. He has also collaborated with artists including Eddie Van Halen, Steve Howe and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and accepted an invitation to join Deep Purple for a spell in 1994. The Steve Morse Band's sixth album, Structural Damage, revealed an undiminished talent, and included the Celtic-influenced "Sacred Ground" and the cinematic "Dreamland". He now continues his career recording with Deep Purple as well as working on various solo projects. His latest album "Split Decision" was released in Feb 2002. The long awaited new studio album from Deep Purple is due to be released later that year.- Actor
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John Deacon was born on 19 August 1951 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK. He is an actor and composer, known for Flash Gordon (1980), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Grosse Pointe Blank (1997). He has been married to Veronica Tetzlaff since 18 January 1975. They have six children.- Music Artist
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Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He loved art, and because of that, he often went along with his friend Tim Staffell, who played in a band called Smile. Also in this band where Brian May and Roger Taylor.
When Staffell left the band in 1970, Mercury became their new singer. He changed the band's name into Queen, and they took on a new bass-player in February 1971, called John Deacon. Their first album, "Queen", came out in 1973. But their real breakthrough was "Killer Queen", on the album "Sheer Heart Attack", which was released in 1974. They became immortal with the single "Bohemian Rhapsody", on the 1975 album "A Night At The Opera".
After their biggest hit in the USA in 1980 with "Another One Bites The Dust", they had a bad period. Their album "Flash Gordon" went down the drain, because the movie Flash Gordon (1980) flunked. Their next, the disco-oriented "Hot Space", was hated not only by rock critics but also by many hardcore fans. Only the song "Under Pressure", which they sang together with David Bowie, made a difference. In 1983, they took a year off. But, in 1984 they came back with their new album called "The Works". The singles "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free" did very well in the UK but a controversy over the video of the latter in the USA meant it got little exposure and flopped. Plans to tour the USA were cancelled and the band would not recover their popularity there during Mercury's lifetime.
In April 1985, Mercury released his first solo album, the less rock-oriented and more dance-oriented "Mr. Bad Guy". The album is often considered now to have been a flop, but it actually wasn't. It peaked at number six in the UK and stayed on the chart for 23 weeks, making it the most successful Queen solo project. The band got back together again after their barnstorming performance at Live Aid (1985) in July 1985. At the end of the year, they started working on their new album, "A Kind Of Magic". They also held their biggest ever world tour, the "Magic Tour". They played Wembley Stadium twice and held their very last concert in Knebworth, in front of 125.000 people.
After 1986, it went silent around Queen. In 1987, he was diagnosed with AIDS but he kept working at a pace. He released a cover of the 1950s song "The Great Pretender", which went into the UK top ten. After that, he flew to Spain, where he made the magnificent album "Barcelona", together with Montserrat Caballé, whom he saw performing in 1983. Because Mercury loved opera, he became a huge fan of her. For him, this album was like a dream becoming reality. The single "Barcelona" went huge, and was also used as a theme song for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
After "Barcelona", he started working with the band again. They made "The Miracle", which was released in early 1989. It was another success, with hits such as "Breakthru", "I Want It All", "The Invisible Man" and the title track. At this point, Mercury told the band he had AIDS, meaning that a tour of the album was out of the question. After Mercury told the band, he refused to talk about it anymore. He was afraid that people would buy their records out of pity. He said he wanted to keep making music as long as possible. And he did. After "The Miracle", Mercury's health got worse. They wanted to do one more album, called "Innuendo." They worked on it in 1990 and early 1991. Every time when Mercury would feel well, he came over to the studio and sang. After "Innuendo" was released in January 1991, they made two video clips. The first one was the video clip of "I'm Going Slightly Mad", shot in March 1991. Because Mercury was very thin, and had little wounds all over his body, they used a lot of make-up. He wore a wig, and the clip was shot in black and white.
Mercury's final video clip was released in June 1991. The clip, "These Are The Days Of Our Lives", later turned out to be his goodbye song, the last time he appeared on film. You could clearly see he was ill, but he still hadn't told the world about his disease. Rumours went around that he some kind of terrible disease. This rumor was confirmed by Mercury himself, one day before he passed on. His death was seen as a great loss for the world of popular music.- Music Department
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Brian May is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential, innovative, technically gifted and recognisable guitarists in the history of rock. He is also a prolific songwriter, responsible for writing or co-writing many international hits with Queen. He was educated at Hampton Grammar School in London. He then graduated with a degree in Maths and Physics from one of Britain's top universities, Imperial College London.
As a child, May built his own guitar with his father, partly out of an old fireplace. Unusually, the guitar was designed to feedback. He formed the band Smile while at university with drummer Roger Taylor. They were later joined by flamboyant singer and pianist Freddie Mercury, who renamed the band Queen. The addition of bass player John Deacon completed the line-up of a band which would go on to become one of the most successful in the history of popular music. May's guitar playing would become an integral part of Queen's sound.
May was influenced as a guitarist by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, who had dazzled audiences with their technical skills and volume, but he was also an admirer of the melodic skills of George Harrison of The Beatles and the original British rock and roll guitar hero, Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows.
What made May stand out as a guitarist was his combination of virtuoso technique but also melodic awareness. Unlike some virtuosos, who only play to showcase their ability, May always played to serve the songs. If a song only required minimal soloing, that's all he would do. His multi-tracking of guitar solos has also made him one of the most unique sounding guitarists in the world. Nowhere was this better exemplified than on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", the song which came to define the band more than any other and has become one of the most celebrated recordings in the history of rock music. May's solos are a big part of what gives the track its enduring appeal and emotional power.
May's legacy in music history is assured. He will be remembered along with the likes of George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page as one of the most important and influential guitarists to come out of England. His songs for Queen were often their harder rock tracks, such as "We Will Rock You", "Tie Your Mother Down" and "Hammer to Fall", but he also wrote emotional songs such as "Save Me" and the symphonic "Who Wants to Live Forever", which proved his versatility as a songwriter.- Actor
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Roger Meddows Taylor (born 26 July 1949) is an English musician who performs as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band Queen, but has also served as songwriter and occasional lead vocalist.
As a songwriter, Taylor contributed songs to Queen's albums from the very beginning, composing at least one track on every album, and often singing lead vocals on his own compositions. He wrote or co-wrote three UK number 1s ("These Are the Days of Our Lives", "Innuendo" and "Under Pressure") and contributed a further major hits ("Radio Ga Ga", "A Kind of Magic","One Vision", "Heaven for Everyone", "Breakthru", and "The Invisible Man"). In addition to his drum work, Taylor routinely played keyboards, guitars and bass on his own songs. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band known as The Cross, in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Taylor is also well-known for his falsetto vocal range.
By the time Queen's album 'News of the World' was released in 1977, Taylor had met his future girlfriend, Dominique Beyrand, who was working for Richard Branson at the time, who was at the helm of Queen's free concert at Hyde Park. They lived together from 1980 to 1987, raising their two children: actor Felix Taylor and doctor Rory Eleanor Taylor. They decided to get married for reasons relating to his estate, to protect his children's interests in the future. At the time, Taylor was seeing another girl, model/actress Deborah Leng, the Cadbury's Flake girl also seen in Queen's "Breakthru" video; he moved in with her a month after his marriage of convenience to Beyrand. Before Freddie Mercury's death, Taylor and Leng had their first child, drummer Rufus Taylor, who was born in March 1991. He ended up having two more children with Leng: models Tigerlily Taylor (1994) and Lola Leng-Taylor (2000). In late 2002, they decided to break up.
Taylor remarried on 26 August 2010, to Sarina Taylor. He resides in Guildford, Surrey, but also has a home in Helford, Cornwall. Her younger half-sister is fashion model Genevieve Potgieter.- Music Artist
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Jeff Beck was born in Surrey in 1944. He grew up in a suburban street in Carshalton. When he was about 10, he wanted to play the guitar. His mum, however, wanted him to play the piano because she didn't approve of the guitar. When he was in his late teens, he joined "The Tridents" on lead guitar. In 1965, he replaced Eric Clapton in The Yardbirds. He played with them until 1967 when he decided he'd had enough and wanted to go solo. In the same year, he released his first solo effort "Hi-Ho-Silver Lining", which was the only one of his tracks he ever sang on. In his backing group, he had Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, who later went on to form The Faces. Thoughout the rest of the 60s and 70s, he continued to record instrumental albums. In 1983, three former The Yardbirds, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, got together to do one-off charity concerts. In 1984, he contributed lead guitar on Mick Jagger's first solo album "She's the Boss". The same year, he released his next album "Flash", which was voted best instrumental album. In 1989, he released the album "Jeff Beck's Guitar Shop", which was also a big success. Throughout the 90s, Jeff Beck still toured around and, in 1998, played a sellout date in Mexico. In early 2001, he released yet another album "You had it Coming", which he toured to promote.- Music Artist
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Eric Clapton was born in Ripley, Surrey, England, on March 30, 1945. His real father was a Canadian pilot but he didn't find that out until he was 53. When he was 2 his mother felt she was unable to look after him, so Eric then went to live with his grandparents. When he was 14 he took up the guitar, having been influenced by blues artists such as B.B King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.
In 1963, after he was chucked out of art college, he joined Paul Samwell-Smith, as he was in art school with Keith Relf. He stayed for about 18 months before beginning a stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Eric became known as "god", as he impressed the whole English music scene with his amazing guitar playing.
After about a year Eric had had enough of impersonating his blues idols and decided to form a group of his own, so in 1966 he formed a band with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker (who had the idea) that became known as Cream. This band was not a purist blues group but a hard-driving rock and blues trio. They first performed together at a jazz and blues festival in Surrey before signing a record contract. In November 1966 their debut single, "Wrapping Paper", hit UK #34, but their next single, "I Feel Free", made more of an impression, hitting UK #11 the following January. At the same time they released their debut album "Fresh Cream", which was a top-ten hit, going to UK #6 and went on to make US #39 later in the year.
Cream spent most of 1967 either touring or writing, recording and producing "Disreali Gears", which was to be one of their finest efforts. The first single that confirmed the group as a mainstream success was "Strange Brew", which went to #17 in the UK. After a hectic worldwide tour, their second album "Disreali Gears" was released and became an enormous worldwide hit, rising to UK #5 and US #4. The album's success r4esulted in one of its tracks, "Sunshine Of Your Love", a hit in the US, going to #36. In February 1968 Cream set out on a six-month US tour, the longest time that a British band ad ever been in America. The tour took in hundreds of theaters, arenas and stadiums, but in April 1968 the band was exhausted and decided to take a short break from touring. However, during their break disaster struck. While Cream was in America Eric had given an interview to the magazine "Rolling Stone" which had Eric the editor make critical points about his guitar playing. This led to an eruption within the band, which was the beginning of the end. Despite this setback, the band's US tour carried on until June, during which they had been recording their most popular project, "Wheels Of Fire", a double album that was released in August 1968; the live album shot to UK #3 and the studio effort to UK #7, but both went directly to US #1 for four weeks. Despite the fact that the band had sold so many records, had sold out nearly every concert, had made millions and even managed to boost "Sunshine Of Your Love" to hit US #5 and UK #25, they decided that after a farewell tour of America Cream would split. The band toured North America in October, played two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in London in November and then Cream was no more - as Clapton explained, "The Cream has lost direction."
In the winter of 1969 Eric began jamming with former Traffic front man Steve Winwood, with Ginger Baker also joining in Eric's mansion in Surrey. With bassist Ric Grech added to the lineup, the band became Blind Faith and started rehearsing and recording material. In June 1969, after the band finished a recording session for their first and only album, they made their live debut in Hyde Park to a crowd of over 200,000 fans. Despite the fact that Baker and Grech felt that the concert was a triumph, Clapton and Winwood, however, were more or less convinced that Blind Faith had blown it first time round. However, despite their feelings, Blind Faith set out on a summer sellout tour of the US, playing in arenas and stadiums all over the country. The tour itself earned the band a fortune, but the band members were convinced that the music itself was unsatisfying.
After the tour was over their only album, "Blind Faith", was released, and it topped the charts worldwide. Despite the success of the album and tour Blind Faith still decided to disband, though, and Clapton went on tour with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, who were Blind Faith's support act on the tour, and also performed at times with The Plastic Ono Band. In March 1970 Eric launched his highly successful solo career, by releasing a first solo album, which featured Delaney & Bonnie.- Actor
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Ginger Baker was born on 19 August 1939 in Lewisham, London, England, UK. He was an actor and composer, known for The Harder They Fall (2021), Casino (1995) and Gonks Go Beat (1964). He was married to Kudzai Machokoto, Karen Loucks Rinedollar, Sarah Dixon and Elizabeth Ann Finch. He died on 6 October 2019 in Canterbury, Kent, UK.- Composer
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Jack Bruce was born on 14 May 1943 in Bishopbriggs, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK. He was a composer and actor, known for True Lies (1994), Backdraft (1991) and Road House (1989). He was married to Margrit Seyffer and Janet Godfrey. He died on 25 October 2014 in Bures, Suffolk, England, UK.- Actor
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Keith John Moon was born to working class parents in Wembley, London, England, on the 23rd August, 1946. At the age of 12, he had joined the Sea Cadet Corp and was given his first musical instrument, the bugle. He left school by 15 and was in his first band, The Beachcombers; this was around the summer of 1963. There was rumour that Keith was self-taught, but history says otherwise, he was shown how to play by the late Carlo Little (1938-2005), Carlo was the original drummer in The Rolling Stones and Screaming Lord Sutch's band, The Savages.
By the age of 18, he had joined a local London band, The High Numbers; this was to consist of what is now known as The Who.
With his own unique style of drumming, rolling the sticks along the skins as to banging the typical beat, he was to become extrovertly charismatic in his life as well as his playing. With a desire, a need if you like, to be the centre of attention, this hyperactive, and largely, self destructive, personality became his own worst enemy.
With a flair for theatrical and ridiculous behaviour, he was the centre point and self-publicist for, if they liked it or not, The Who.
In the meantime, he had fathered a daughter, Mandy, to Kim. He may have been the perfect showman, but behind the scenes, he was often a very aggressive man to live around and with. Kim soon left him, taking their young daughter with her.
He started to live the high life in California, with the likes of John Lennon, Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr, Ringo's son, Zak, was his godson, ironically, it was Zak who played with The Who in their later career, during the nineties and beyond.
While in California, he made his only solo album, Two Sides of The Moon, for MCA Records, a 1975 release, with many guest artists. Keith rarely played the drums while away from The Who, he sang on the album, and played the drums on only three of the tracks.
His on-stage aggression, destroying his drum kits while still playing them and wrecking hotel rooms, apart from being an obvious publicity stunt, was fuelled with an over use of drugs and alcohol. This addictive side to his nature flowed into the 70s, playing against the band, his family and friends. His drumming became irregular and unpredictable. He put on weight, so much so as to have him sit in a chair with the backrest toward the camera, to hide his paunch, on the cover of the last The Who album with Keith, the 1978 Who are You.
He died in September 7th, 1978; his death was an accident, by the overuse of the prescribed medicine that was designed to ease him off his drink addiction. He died in the same London apartment as Cass Elliot, from The Mamas and the Papas, who had died there some four years earlier.