HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY, BOB SEGER!!! - (05/06/2020)
Happy Birthday to Bob Seger who turns 75 today (May 6th)!!! Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band performed their final show on November 1st, 2019 with little nostalgia or fanfare at Philly's Wells Fargo Center. As it stands now, there are no further Seger tour dates on the books in the future.The trek, which had started in support of Seger's latest album, 2017's I Knew You When, was cut short by complications from a ruptured disc.
During a November 2017 chat with Rolling Stone, Bob Seger was asked if he ever thought he'd still be making music at this point in his life. Seger answered: "God, no. I thought I'd be done by 30. My original plan was to do it for five years between the age of 25 and 30 and then buy a motorcycle and drive across Europe, and then get a real job. It didn't work out that way. The more you do it, I guess, the more you love it."
That same month, Seger released his 19th studio set, I Knew You When. The album followed 2014's Top Three hit, Ride Out. I Knew You Whencame in a standard edition and deluxe version featuring three bonus tracks, which include Seger's tribute to his dear friend, late-Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey on "Glenn's Song," along with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Democracy." Although most of the new songs are Seger originals, he chose a cover of Lou Reed's "Busload Of Faith" to serve as the album's lead single.
In 2015, Seger wrapped an exhaustive North American tour in support of his long-awaited studio set, Ride Out. The album, which was released on October 14th, 2014, earned him his first Top Three album in 28 years. Ride Out entered the Billboard 200 album charts at Number Three, marking his best chart showing since his 1986 album, Like A Rock, which also hit Number Three. Seger’s previous studio album, 2006’s Face The Promise topped out at Number Four upon its release.
In addition to Bob Seger's own compositions, Ride Out featured several covers -- including the album’s lead single “Detroit Made” written by John Hiatt, “California Stars” featuring lyrics by Woody Guthrie and music by Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett, Steve Earle’s “The Devil’s Right Hand,” and “Adam And Eve,” which was written by acclaimed Australian singer/songwriters Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson.
Bob Seger released his first single, "The Lonely One," in 1961, with the help of Max Crook, who was a member of Del Shannon's backing band. Seger spent much of the '60s writing songs for other people, and playing with a number of different bands, including the Bob Seger & The Last Heard and the Bob Seger System. But he will always be best remembered for his '70s and '80s Silver Bullet Band classics "Against The Wind," "Night Moves," "Mainstreet," "Turn The Page," "Katmandu," "Old Time Rock & Roll," "Rock And Roll Never Forgets," "We've Got Tonight," "Still The Same," and "Shakedown," among others.