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Born on on May 6, 1945, in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, Bob Seger is the
son of a musically-active father, who led a big band and sang in a barbershop
quartet before taking a job at a Ford plant. He grew up in Detroit with
a passion for Rhythm & Blues and formed his first group at age 16.
The next few years were spent in a series of local bands before he released
his first solo single, 1966's "East Side Story" which was followed
by "Heavy Music", this single became a regional radio hit selling
60,000 copies and drew the attention of Capitol Records a label he has
stayed with for over 30 years.
In 1969, The Bob Seger System recorded "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man",
which reached #62 on the National Pop Albums chart while the title-track
peaked at #17 on the Pop Singles chart; the album also included the minor
hit "Ivory" and the anti-war song "2+2=?", a memorably
powerful Vietnam protest.
Numerous excellent Hard-Rock releases followed, including "Noah",
the impressive "Mongrel" which scraped the lower reaches of
the Pop Albums chart and the non-album single "Lookin' Back",
but the artist was unable to repeat his early success and disbanded the
group in 1971.
Having spent a period studying for a college degree, Bob Seger returned
to music with his transitional album "Brand New Morning", issued
on his own label in late 1971.
One year later he released "Smokin' O.P.'s" and "Back In
'72" in 1973, both these albums were marginal chart entry in U.S.
and failed to produce any hit singles.
With his seventh album, appropriately titled "Seven", Bob Seger
delivered one of his strongest, hardest-hitting Rock records, the toughest
since the days of The Bob Seger System, it included "Get Out Of Denver"
which debuted at 80 on the Pop Singles chart.
Seger only achieved deserved commercial success upon returning to Capitol
when his next LP, "Beautiful Loser" reached the #131 position
on the Pop Albums chart upon its April 1975 release; however the roaring
single "Katmandu" hit #43 on the U.S. Pop chart.
The Detroit rocker then formed The Silver Bullet Band with guitarist Drew
Abbott, keyboardist Robyn Robbins, saxophonist Alto Reed, bass player
Chris Campbell and drummer Charlie Allen Martin; the well-honed results
of the band's non-stop touring were chronicled on "Live Bullet",
which has gone on to sell more than 5 million copies.
Then, in October of 1976, Seger released his first studio album with the
complete Silver Bullet Band, the landmark "Night Moves", anchored
by the unforgettable title-track, which established him as a leading figure
in '70s Rock; the record peaked at #8 in U.S. while the title-track rose
to #4 on the Pop Singles chart; the album eventually went platinum producing
two more top 40 hits with "Mainstreet" and "Rock And Roll
Never Forgets".
May 1978 saw the release of the majestic "Stranger In Town",
which soared to #4 on Top 200 LPs & Tapes chart, it spun off numerous
hit singles: "Still The Same" peaked at #4 on the U.S. Pop chart,
"Hollywood Nights" reached #12, "We've Got Tonight"
#13 and "Old Time Rock & Roll" also grabbed a #28 spot on
the same chart.
Two years later, "Against The Wind", became his first-ever #1
album; the record included introspective ballads such as the title-song
and "Fire Lake", both of those tracks climbed into the top 10
of the Pop Singles chart reaching #5 and #6 respectively; "You'll
Acomp'ny Me" was also a top 20 hit and the fourth single, "The
Horizontal Bop" reached the #42 slot. This album also won a Grammy
for Best Rock Performance By A Group; "Against The Wind", like
"Stranger In Town", was recently certified quintuple-platinum.
Another live album, "Nine Tonight", followed in 1981, it peaked
at #3 on the American Top 200 LPs & Tapes chart and featured the title-track
contribution to the "Urban Cowboy" movie soundtrack plus an
effective cover of "Trying To Live My Life Without You" which
hit #2 on The Mainstream Rock and #5 on the Pop Singles charts.
Seger released his next studio record, "The Distance", in December
1982; it reached #5 in U.S. highlighted by Rodney Crowell's song "Shame
On The Moon", one of many Bob Seger songs to cross over to Country
radio, and his biggest hit on the Country Singles chart, this single also
debuted at #1 on Adult Contemporary list and became one of the biggest
hit on the Pop Sales chart, falling just one position short of #1. "Even
Now" was another huge Mainstream Rock smash, #2 and reached the #12
position on the Pop Singles list; "The Distance" yielded two
more Mainstream Rock top 20 hits with "Boomtown Blues" and "Roll
Me Away".
In 1983 Seger returned to the road with an altered Silver Bullet Band
including ex-Grand Funk Railroad drummer Don Brewer and a year later the
band contributed a new song to the soundtrack of the film "Teachers";
relased as a single, "Understanding", shot to #5 on The Mainstream
Rock Tracks and peaked at #17 on The Billboard Hot 100.
Bob Seger with his Silver Bullet Band had a monster smash in April 1986
with "Like A Rock" an album that crashed into the top 3 of The
Billboard 200 immediately and produced an endless slew of hit singles:
its mammoth title-track topped The Mainstream Rock airplay chart and peaked
at #12 on The Billboard Hot 100, "American Storm" hit #2 on
The Mainstream Rock Tracks and debuted at #13 on Billboard's Hot 100;
"It's You", "The Aftermath" and their rendition of
Creedence Clearwater Revival's
"Fortunate Son" were all Mainstream Rock top 10 hits.
In 1987 Seger recorded "Shakedown" for the soundtrack to the
movie "Beverly Hills Cop II", with its infectious backbeat thanks
to rapid-fire keyboards and some soulful backing vocals in the chorus,
the single peaked at #1 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and Rock charts.
1989's "Blue Monday" was yet another soundtrack song for Bob
Seger, featured on "Road House", this single inched into the
top 40 of The Mainstream Rock chart.
The blue-collar rocker released his first studio record in five years
in August 1991, "The Fire Inside", continued Seger's streak
of nine consecutive platinum albums, it peaked at #7 on The Billboard
200 list generating three Mainstream Rock top 10 hits with the title-track,
"Take A Chance" and "Real Love", the latter of which
also grabbed a #24 slot on The Billboard Hot 100, clearly showing his
massive following had remained in place.
A highly successful greatest hits collection issued in 1994 also demonstrated
just what a huge following he still had and the 14-track set shot to #8
on Billboard Magazine's Top 200 Albums chart.
The release of "It's A Mystery" in October of the next year,
marked Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band's last studio album, it
reached #27 in U.S. and yielded two Active Rock top 30 hits: "Lock
And Load" and "Hands In The Air".
The radio single, "Chances Are", a 1998 duet with country star
Martina McBride from the soundtrack to "Hope Floats", reached
#23 on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.
September, 2006 brought a much anticipated new album, Bob Seger's first
in more than ten years, "Face The Promise" debuted at #4 on
The Billboard 200 chart highlighted by such Adult Contemporary radio singles
as "Wait For Me", "Wreck This Heart " and the title-track.
Bob Seger biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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