 Brian Guy Adams, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, photographer, philanthropist, and activist. Adams rose to fame in North America with his 1983 album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless which produced some of his best known songs including Run to You and Summer of 69. In 1991, he released, Everything I Do, I Do It for You from the album Waking Up the Neighbors and the song became a worldwide hit which went to number one in many countries, including 16 consecutive weeks in the United Kingdom, a new record. Adams also had the US Billboard Hot 100 number one singles Heaven, All for Love and Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman. For his contributions to music, Adams has garnered many awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations, 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song written specifically for a motion picture or television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, American Music Awards, three Iver Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated five times for Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriter for films. Adams was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for contributions to popular music and philanthropic work via his own foundation, which helps improve education for people around the world. Adams was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2011 and Canada's Walk of Fame, Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1998, and in April 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards. Adams has sold over 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2008, Adams was ranked 38th on the list of all-time top artists in the Billboard Hot 150th Anniversary Charts. On January 13, 2010, he received the Alan Waters Humanitarian Award for his part in numerous charitable concerts and campaigns during his career, and on May 1, 2010 was given the Governor-General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts. Life and Career Early Life Brian Guy Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, to British parents, Elizabeth Jane, Nay Watson, and Captain Conrad J. Adams, who immigrated to Canada from Plymouth, England, in the 1950s. Adams's father, a Sandhurst officer in the British Army, joined the Canadian Army and later spent time as a United Nations peacekeeping observer for Canada, which led to him becoming a Canadian Foreign Service diplomat.Adams traveled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Portugal, where he attended the American International School of Lisbon, and Vienna, Austria, during the 1960s, and to Israel during the early 1970s. Adams has a brother, Bruce. Early Career By 17, Adams had started working in the Vancouver studio scene, working as a background vocalist for the CBC and backing local artists and with Motown keyboardist Robbie King, who Adams attributes as having given him his first salaried session. Before that at age 15-16 he fronted various pub bands like Sweeney Todd that released if wishes were horses and was often seen sitting in with other cover bands. He and his guitarist Keith Scott met during those club years and still work together today. In 1978, at 18, Adams met Jim Valance through a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Valance was the former drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician and songwriter. They agreed to meet at Valance's home studio a few days later, which proved to be the beginning of a partnership which still exists in 2016. Later in 1978, Adams signed to Ondem Records for $1. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably I'm Ready, recorded for both the album Cuts Like a Knife and later his release for MTV Unplugged, and Remember, which was recorded on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released. Also recorded during this time was the disco song Let Me Take You Dancing featuring Adams's vocal sped up to meet the 1-2-2 BPM dance tempo. The song made the Canadian RPM chart in March 1979 along with its B-side Don't Turn Me Away. Straight from the heart was also written during this period. The song was later recorded for Adams's third album Cuts Like a Knife in 1983 and released as a single, becoming Adams's first top ten record in the US in 1983. 1980s. Adams's self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriter partnership between Adams and CEO writer Jim Valance. With the exception of Remember and Waston Time, most of the album was recorded from October 29 up until November 29, 1979 at Manta Studios and CEO produced by Adams and Valance. The album was certified gold in Canada in 1986. Adams's second album, You Want It You Got It, was recorded in two weeks and it marked Adams's first album CEO produced by Bob Clear Mountain. It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit Lonely Nights, as well as Seattle area favorite Fitzya Good, but it was not until his third album that he achieved international recognition, popularity. Adams also CEO wrote songs for other artists during this time including Billboard charted songs like No Way to Treat a Lady for Bonnie Raitt and Don't Let Him Know for Prism. Cuts Like a Knife, which was released in January 1983, was Adams's breakout album due mainly to the lead singles. Straight from the heart was the most successful song, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.Another single, Cuts Like a Knife charted at No. 15. This time also placed on the Hot 100. Music videos were released for four of the singles from the album. Cuts Like a Knife arguably became Adams's most recognizable and popular song from the album. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television channels. The album peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and achieved three times platinum status in Canada, platinum in the United States and gold in Australia. Adams's album, Reckless, produced by Adams and Bob Clear Mountain, peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The album was released in November 1984 and featured the singles, Run to You, Summer of 69, Heaven, One Night Love Affair, Somebody, and It's Only Love, a duet with Tina Turner. All the singles had accompanying music videos and all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 but only Run to You, Summer of 69, and Heaven peaked in the Top 10. Heaven became the most successful single from Reckless at the time of its release on the pop charts, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the mainstream rock chart. It's Only Love was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1986, the song won an MTV Award for Best Stage Performance. After the release of the album, Adams was nominated for Best Male Rock Performance.The album is Adams's best-selling album in the United States and was certified five times platinum. In December 1984, Adams embarked on a two-year world tour to launch the album starting in Canada and United States, then into Japan, Australia, back to the UK and again to Canada. After winning four Juno Awards, he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with two dates at the Palladium in Los Angeles. After the tour in the United States, Adams took part of a grand ensemble of Canadian artists named Northern Lights, who recorded Tears Are Not Enough for the African Famine Relief effort. Adams later headed back to Europe for a 50-city concert tour with rock singer Tina Turner, culminating in April with his return to London to headline three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon.Adams began the first leg of his tour entitled Worldwide in 85 which started in Oklahoma and ended in October 1985.Adams later visited Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and afterward returned to the American East Coast to play two sold-out concerts in. In 1985, Adams worked on Roger Daltrey's sixth solo album Under a Raging Moon, which was a tribute album to the whos former drummer Keith Moon who died in 1978. Adam Cio wrote two tracks for the album Those Being, Let Me Down Easy and Rebel. The track Let Me Down Easy was a top 15 hit on Billboard's mainstream rock tracks and featured Adams playing guitar and singing backing vocals aside Roger Daltrey with Robbie McIntosh playing guitar in the music video. Nearly 30 years later, Adams would release his own version of Let Me Down Easy on a 30-year anniversary version of Reckless. The follow-up album to Reckless was Into the Fire which was released in 1987. The album was recorded at Cliffhanger Studios in Vancouver and mixed at Air Studios in London and Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. This album contained the hit songs Heat of the Night and Hearts on Fire and hit the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic. 1990s. On September 24, 1991, Adams released the album Waking Up the Neighbors. Cio produced by Adams and Mutt Lang, it topped the charts around the world including number one in both the UK and Germany and number six on the Billboard 200. The album featured four singles including, Everything I Do, I Do It For You, that also featured in the motion picture Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves and spent 16 consecutive weeks at number one on the UK singles chart. That was followed by Can't Stop This Thing We Started which peaked at number two in the USA, Do I Have to Say the Words, reached number 11, and in the UK, thought I'd died and gone to heaven was the second most successful single reaching the top ten. The album won many awards including a Grammy Award in 1991 for Best Song written specifically for a motion picture or for television. July 6, 1991 was the start off of the Waking Up the World Tour which went on until 1993. The first concert was at Milton Keynes Festival with ZZ Top. Adams played a whirlwind tour which brought him to places many western artists had never played, India, Egypt, Portugal, Vietnam, Reykjavik, Iceland to name a few. On January 13, 1992, the Canadian leg of the tour kicked off in Sydney, Nova Scotia and wrapped up with a standing room only concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on January 31. In February 1992, Adams toured New Zealand and Australia for seven dates kicking off with a press conference in Sydney. On the February 21, the tour headed to Japan for approximately a dozen shows in six cities. The tour continued through several European countries in June 1992, including Italy, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, and in July 1992, Adams performed for the first time in Hungary and Turkey, where he filmed his video for Do I Have to Say the Words. The USA tour continued from September through December 1992. February 1993 was the Asian leg of the tour including Thailand, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong and then straight back to the US to tour from March to May 1993. In 1993 he collaborated with Rod Stewart and Sting for the single all for love CEO written by Adams for the motion picture soundtrack of the movie Three Musketeers. The single topped the charts worldwide. In November 1993, Adams released a compilation album entitled So Far So Good, that again topped the charts in numerous countries such as the UK, Germany and Australia. It included a brand new song called Please Forgive Me, that became another number one single in Australia as well as reaching the top three in the US, the UK and Germany. It was followed in 1995 by, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? Song released from the motion picture soundtrack of the movie Don Juan de Marco. It was number one in the US and Australia as well as a top five hit in the UK and Germany. In June 1996 the album 18 Till I Die was released. It contained the three singles including two UK top ten singles The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me and Let's Make a Night to Remember and Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman. The album peaked at number 31 on the Billboard 200 in the United States and held that position for three weeks.It was far more successful in Europe and Australia reaching the top spot on the UK charts for Adams's third number one in a row. The album has been certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA 18 Till I Die was certified three times platinum in Canada and Australia and two times platinum in the UK. On July 27, 1996, Adams performed his second sold-out Wembley Stadium in London in front of a crowd of approximately 70,000. In 1996, Adams joined Don Henley on stage with a duet at Live at Honours, Everybody Knows. In December 1997, Adams released MTV Unplugged with three new tracks, Back to You, A Little Love and When You Love Someone. Back to You was the first single, followed by I'm Ready, an acoustic version of the cuts like A Knife track. The album was a top ten success in Germany while both singles reached the top 20 in the UK. On A Day Like Today was released in 1998 and the release coincided with his contract being sold to Interscope Records. Despite Interscope's involvement or lack of, On A Day Like Today enjoyed tremendous success internationally, entering the top five in Germany and was certified platinum in the UK. It generated two British top ten singles, Cloud Number Nine and When You're Gone, which featured Melanie C. of The Spice Girls. In 1990, Adams voiced the evil Rat Henschman Hoodwink in the Canadian Children's Animated Television special The Real Story of the Three Little Kittens which was created and produced for The Real Story of Aka Favourite Songs, Anthology Series. It was first broadcast on CTV television network in Canada and later on HBO in USA. To commemorate the millennium, Adams released The Best of Me, his most comprehensive collection of songs at that time, which also included two new songs, the title track The Best of Me and the UK number one track Don't Give Up. The album reached the top ten in Germany and was certified three times platinum in Canada and platinum in the UK. The single from the album, The Best of Me was a successful hit with the exception of the US, where neither the single or the album were released by Interscope Records. 20-Hundreds. In 2000, Adam C. O. wrote and sang on the number one song for Chacane's album Behind the Sun called Don't Give Up. In 2002, Adam C. O. wrote and performed the songs for the DreamWorks animated film, Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron. The songs were included on the film's soundtrack. The most successful single from the soundtrack was Here I Am, a British Top 5 and German Top 20 hit. The song also gave him his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Song from a Motion Picture. In 2004, ARK Weekly released its chart of top pop artists since the last 25 years and Adams came up at number 13 in the chart with four number one singles, 10 Top 5 hits and 17 Top 10 hits. Six years after the release of On a Day Like Today, Room Service was released in September 2004. It topped the charts in Germany and Switzerland and peaked at number four in the UK, selling 440,000 copies in its first week in Europe and thus debuted at number one on Billboard's European album chart. The single, Open Road, was the most successful single from the album and peaked at number one in Canada and number 21 in the UK. In May 2008, the album was also released in the US but charted only at number 134 on the Billboard 200. In 2005, Anthology, the first two-disc compilation was released, containing two new tracks. The US release features a new version of When You're Gone, a duet with Pamela Anderson. Also in 2005, Adams re-recorded the theme song for the second season of Pamela's Fox sitcom Stacked. In 2006, Adams co-wrote and performed the theme song Never Let Go which was featured in the closing credits of the film The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Adams also co-wrote the song Never Gonna Break My Faith for the film Bobby. The song was performed by the Rand B singers Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Bleach and earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 2007. In 2007, he co-wrote two songs A Place for Us and Another Layer for the Disney film Bridge to Terabithia. Adams released his 11th album internationally on March 17, 2008. It was appropriately called 11. The album was released in the US exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club retail stores on May 13, 2008. The first single released from the album was I Thought I'd Seen Everything. Adams did an 11-day, 11-country European acoustic promotional tour to kick off the release of the album. The album debuted at No. 1 in Canada, making it his first album to reach that position since waking up the neighbors in 1991, as well as reaching No. 2 in Germany. In the United States, the album charted at No. 80. Adams was one of the four musicians who were pictured on the second series of the Canadian recording artist series to be issued by Canada Post Stamps on July 2, 2009. The total estimated number of Adams stamps that were printed is one and one-half million. In December 2009, he co-wrote, produced and performed the song You've Been a Friend to Me for the Disney film Old Dogs. 2010s. In February 2010, Adams released One World, One Flame. On February 12, 2010, Adams performed a duet with Nelly Furtado. The song was called Bang the Drum and was co-written with Jim Valance for the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. The ceremony was held indoors at B.C. Play Stadium. Adams performed at Wayne Gretzky's final game in 1999 at Madison Square Garden when Gretzky then played for the New York Rangers. Adams then sang the Canadian national anthem and ad libido line to acknowledge Gretzky's departure, singing, We're Gonna Miss You Wayne Gretzky. Adams was one of several well-known Canadian musicians to visit Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at his official residence. Originally the visit was meant to be Adams's plea to the Prime Minister to change the archaic copyright laws, instead Harper turned it into a photo opportunity for himself in an informal jam session. In November 2010, Adams released the acoustic album Bear Bones. It was recorded live at various locations on his Bear Bones tour earlier in the year. It was certified gold in India a year later. On February 19, 2011, Adams and his band played in Kathmandu, which was organised by ODC Network and made him the first ever international artist to perform in Nepal. He performed at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup on February 17, 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and also performed in a solo concert in the next day. On November 19, 2011, Adams co-wrote and recorded the dance music single Video for the Love Rush UK. Single Tonight in Babylon in Southwark, London. This song was also recorded released on his Bear Bones Sydney Opera House video. On November 20, 2011, Adams performed When You're Gone on the TV show The X Factor in the UK with the remaining acts in the competition. In July 2012, Adams was featured as the voice of the lead character of a dog called Jock, in the animated South African film Jock of the Bushveld. He also co-wrote and sang two of the main songs, Way Oh and By Your Side. The American released of the film was retitled Jock the Hero Dog. In 2013, he wrote and sang on After All with Michael Buble from his album To Be Loved. In an interview on March 18, 2014, Adams revealed that he has signed a contract with Verve Records in the US. With one album celebrating the 30th anniversary of Reckless, a new album of covers. On September 30, 2014, Adams released a new album titled Tracks of My Years. The album reached number one on the Canadian album chart. The album contains cover songs and one original song See You Written with Jim Valance. On July 13, 2014, Adams presented a live concert on the plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Canada. Adams was moved by the crowd and mentioned, Quebec City is the capital of music and artists. In July 2014, Adams filmed Brian Adams in concert for the American program Great Performances on PBS. It was recorded at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto and first shown on American public television on March 2, 2015. Adams released his first album of all new material in seven years on October 16, 2015. The album, titled Get Up, was See You Written with longtime collaborator Jim Valance and produced by Jeff Lynn. On September 7, 2015, it was announced that Adams would be performing at the 2015 AFL Grand Final, along with English singer Ellie Golding and American musician Chris Isaac. Activism and Humanitarian Work Humanitarian Work Most of Adams's philanthropic activity is focused on the Brian Adams Foundation, which aims to advance education and learning opportunities for children and young people worldwide, believing that an education is the best gift that a child can be given. The Foundation is mostly funded by Adams himself. Since the 1980s, Adams has participated in concerts and other activities to help raise money and awareness for a variety of causes. His first high-profile charity appearance came in 1985 when he opened the U.S. transmission of Live Aid from Philadelphia. In June of the next year, Adams participated in the two-week Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope tour alongside Sting, U2 and Peter Gabriel.In 1986, Adams performed at the Prince's Trust All-Star Rock Concert in Wembley Arena to celebrate first 10 years of the trust and again in June 1987 at the fifth annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala along with Elton John, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others. The following year Adams performed at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert at Wembley Stadium. Adams helped commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall when, in 1990, he joined many other guests, including his songwriter partner Michael Cayman, for Roger Waters' massive performance of the Wall in Berlin, Germany. He performed the Pink Floyd songs What Shall We Do Now, and Young Lust during the performance of the Wall, and then joined Waters, Joni Mitchell, Cindy Lauper, Van Morrison, Paul Carruck and others to perform Waters The Tide is Turning to close the concert. On January 29, 2005, Adams joined the CBC benefit concert in Toronto for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Twenty years after performing at Live 8 in the USA, Adams played at Canada's Live 8 show in Berry, Ontario.Later that year, he performed in Qatar and raised UK pound 1.5 m, $2,617,000, from the concert. He also auctioned a White Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by many of the world's prominent guitarists. The guitar raised a total of US$3.7 million for charity and thus set a record as the world's costliest guitar.The money went to Qatar's Reach Out to Asia campaign to help the underprivileged across the continent. Money raised also went to some of his own projects like rebuilding a school in Thailand and building a new sports centre in Sri Lanka, both of which had been devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami. On May 25, 2005, Adams raised £1.3 million with cousin Johnny Armitage, from a concert and auction entitled Rock by the River for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. On May 15, 2006, Adams returned to London to attend the Hope Foundations event, hosted by designer Bella Freud, helping to raise a portion of the £250,000 to support the Palestinian refugee children. The following June, he offered individuals from the public the chance to bid to sing with him live in concert at three different charity auctions in London. Over £50,000 was raised with money going to the NSPCC, Children in Need, and the University College Hospital.On February 28, 2008 he appeared in one night live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada with Josh Groban, Sarah McLaughlin, Jan Arden and Ryan Dan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies programme. On January 29, 2006, Adams became the first Western artist to perform in Karachi, Pakistan, after the September 11 attacks, in conjunction with a benefit concert by Shazad Roy to raise money for underprivileged children to go to school. Some of the proceeds of that concert also went to victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake. On October 18, 2007, Adams was billed to perform in Tel Aviv and Jericho as part of the One Voice movement concerts, hoping to aid in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.The peace concert for supporters of a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel was called off because of security concerns. Animal Rights Activism Adams became a vejan at the age of 29, originally for health reasons, but advocated for animal rights. During his tours of 1992-1994, Adams successfully campaigned for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with Greenpeace Chairman David McTaggart. The two of them distributed over 500,000 postcards at concerts around the world encouraging people to write to politicians of countries blocking the vote, encouraging them to vote yes for the creation of the sanctuary at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission. IWC officially created the sanctuary on May 26, 1994. Adams supports the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, PETA, by shooting photos for them and writing letters. He wrote to the CEO of KFC restaurants in Canada in November 2007, asking them to become leaders in using more modern and more humane methods of killing chickens. Adams has been a vejan since 1989. On September 14, 2014, Adams was the first artist to sing at the Invitas Games organised by Prince Harry in East London. Prince Harry reciprocated by attending Adams's exhibition on wounded soldiers in London. Photography Adams also works as a photographer. On September 16, 2015, he was given an honorary fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in London for his work in photography. Adams has been published in British Vogue, Luomo Vogue, American Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, British GQ, Esquire, Interview Magazine and ID, and shot advertising and PR campaigns for Hugo Boss, Guest Jeans, Sand, Converse, Mont Blanc, John Richmond, Fred Perry, Esgada, Gastra, Zeiss, Jupp and Opelcars in Germany. He has also worked as a photographer with many of his musical peers. He has won three lead awards in Germany for his fashion photography, most recently in October 2015 for his story in Helmut Berger, and previously in June 2012 and again in 2006. He founded the art fashion zoo magazine, based in Berlin, for which he shoots regularly. His first book of photos was released by Stetl in October 2012 titled Exposed. Previous published collaborations include American Women, 2005, for Calvin Klein in the United States, Proceeds from this book went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for their breast cancer research programs and made in Canada, 1999, for Flair Magazine in Canada, Proceeds went to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Both books were dedicated to his friend Donna, who died of the disease. In 2002, Adams was invited, along with other photographers from the Commonwealth, to photograph Queen Elizabeth II. During her Golden Jubilee, one of the photographs from this session was used as a Canadian postage stamp in 2004 and again in 2005, see Queen Elizabeth II Definitive Stamp, Canada, another portrait of both Queen Elizabeth II. And Prince Philip is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London. Adams supports the Hear the World initiative as a photographer in its aim to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss. He photographed Michael J. Fox and Tajina Patties in the 2011 Carl Zeiss AG Company calendar in New York City in the summer of 2010. The focus was about the size difference of the subjects in a comedic presentation. In 2011, Adams provided the cover art for Lioness, Hidden Treasures, a posthumous release by Amy Winehouse. Adams released a photography book entitled Wounded the Legacy of War, 2013, to highlight the human consequences of war. Adams has also recorded songs critical of warfare on past albums. Personal Life Adams and Alicia Grimaldi, who is also a trustee and co-founder of his Namesake Foundation, had their first daughter, Bunny Mirabella Grimaldi Adams on April 22, 2011. They announced the birth of their second daughter Lula Rosalia Grimaldi Adams on February 14, 2013. Aside from his British parents, his grandmother was born in Malta. Adams has homes in Chelsea, London and Paris. Awards and Honours In addition to his success at the Junos and Grammys and other music awards, Adams was also nominated for his fifth Golden Globe in 2007 for songwriter on the film Bobby which was sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Bleach, and has been nominated three times for Academy Awards for writing music in film. In 1990, Adams was awarded the Order of British Columbia. On April 20, 1990, Adams was made a member of the Order of Canada, and on May 6, 1998, was promoted within the Order to the rank of Officer of the Order of Canada. Adams is also a recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012.