Tickets to the July 15 concert go on sale Friday

AUGUSTA – The Augusta Civic Center will be rockin’ Tuesday, July 15, when Bryan Adams and Foreigner take the stage. Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert go on sale at 8 a.m. Friday, March 28, at the Augusta Civic Center box office, 626-2400; and at Ticketmaster, 775-3331. Tickets are $43.50, $49.50 and $200 per ticket for seating in the first five rows on the floor (includes a free CD and admittance to a pre-concert reception).

With his demure and laid-back demeanor, Adams doesn’t come across as someone who has sold 65 million records or has been nominated for an Oscar three times.

As an adolescent, he pursued his musical goals with a singlemindedness. “In high school, I was too far into my music to even pay attention to girls,” Adams told Carlo D’Agostino from Rolling Stone magazine.

At age 16, he quit school and played in nightclubs in bands like Shock and Sweeney Todd, which released an album called “If Wishes Were Horses” with the very young Adams as lead singer.

A serendipitous meeting with drummer Jim Vallance in a Vancouver music store led to a song-writing partnership that continues to this day.

In 1978, at age 18, Adams sent a few demo recordings to A&M Records in Toronto and was signed not long afterward for the sum of $1. He has released 14 albums since then.

One of Adams’ most successful albums is “Waking up the Neighbours,” co-produced by Adams and Robert Lange and released in September 1991. It contains the single “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” which was also used in the film “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman. This album and the single went to No. 1 in many countries in 1991 and 1992, with the single spending a record-breaking 16 weeks at No. 1 on UK Singles Chart and 17 weeks on top of US Hot 100 Singles Sales. It also made record-breaking sales of 3 million copies in the United States. Adams won a 1991 Grammy Award in the Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television category for co-writing “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.”

Adams continued his work in film soundtracks with in “The Guardian,” starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. He wrote and performed the song “Never Let Go,” featured in the closing credits. The song has become known as the theme to the movie.

Adams also co-wrote the song “Never Gonna Break My Faith” for the film “Bobby,” sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige. This work earned him a Golden Globe Nomination in 2007. It also won a Grammy in 2008.

Adams released his new album “11” this month. The first song released from the album, “I Thought I’d Seen Everything,” went to No. 6 in the UK.

Unlike many solo artists, Adams does not use a rotation of session musicians in his backup band; he has a group of musicians with whom he tours regularly, the lineup of which seldom changes. The current lineup includes Keith Scott, lead/rhythm guitar; Mickey Curry, drums; Gary Breit, keyboards; and Norm Fisher, bass guitar.

A 32-year career

Foreigner has sold 50 million records worldwide during the band’s 32-year career. The band is led by British journeyman rocker Mick Jones who in early 1976 met with ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald and formed Foreigner with Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi as a sextet. Jones came up with the name because McDonald and Elliott were British, while Gramm, Greenwood and Gagliardi were Americans.

The band’s debut album, “Foreigner,” sold more than 4 million copies in the United States and stayed in the Top 20 for a year with such hits as “Feels Like the First Time,” “Cold as Ice” and “Long Long Way From Home.”

Foreigner’s second album, “Double Vision,” with “Hot Blooded,” sold 5 million records. Its third album, “Head Games,” was also successful due to the thunderous “Dirty White Boy” and another title track hit “Head Games.”

In 1990, Mick Jones reformed Foreigner with a new lead vocalist, Johnny Edwards. This edition of Foreigner released the album “Unusual Heat” in 1991. This was at the time the band’s worst-selling album.

By 1992, Lou Gramm rejoined Foreigner (bringing along his Shadow King bandmate bassist Bruce Turgon) and produced the band’s second greatest hits album, “The Very Best of…and Beyond,” which included three new songs. Three years later, Foreigner released “Mr. Moonlight,” which fared even worse than “Unusual Heat.”

In 2003, Gramm again left Foreigner and formed the Lou Gramm Band. Jones, the founder and only remaining original member of Foreigner, decided to reform the band once again, and hired Kelly Hansen to replace Gramm as lead vocalist in 2005. Hard rock legends drummer Jason Bonham and bassist Jeff Pilson also joined the band.

Foreigner joined Def Leppard along with Styx on tour in 2007. It also toured extensively in its own right in 2007 – the 30th anniversary of the founding of the band.


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