Born in Greenfield, Ohio, Donald Eugene Lytle better known as Johnny Paycheck, was a country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member most famous for recording the David Allan Coe song "Take This Job and Shove It."
Donald Lytle entered talent contests by the age of 9. He achieved his greatest success in the 1970s as a major force in country music's "Outlaw Movement" popularized by artists such as David Allan Coe, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver, and Merle Haggard.
His first job in music was for music legend George Jones for whom he played bass and steel guitar. He later co-wrote Jones' hit song "Once You've Had the Best." In 1964, he changed his name legally to Johnny Paycheck, taking the name from Johnny Paychek, a top ranked boxer from Chicago who once fought Joe Louis for the heavyweight title. His name was a play on the name of country singer Johnny Cash.
He also performed as "Donny Young."
Paycheck was a tenor similar in style to other "hard country" performers in the late 1950s and early 1960s such as Ray Price. Paycheck, along with Willie Nelson, worked in Price's band the Cherokee Cowboys. He is featured as a tenor singer on recordings by Faron Young, Roger Miller, and Skeets McDonald. All of these recordings are recognizable by their honky tonk purism. Known as the "Countrypolitan" sound, the recordings feature steel guitars, twin fiddles, shuffle beats, high harmony and self-effacing lyrics instead of vocal choruses and strings.
As George Jones' tenor singer, Paycheck is said to have helped Jones develop his unique vocal phrasing
In 1960, he reached Top 35 status in Cashbox magazine's country charts as Donny Young with the tune "Miracle Of Love."
From the early to mid-1960s, he also enjoyed some success as a songwriter for others, with his biggest songwriting hit being "Apartment No. 9", which served as Tammy Wynette's first chart hit in December 1966.
In the 1980s, his music career suffered from his problems with drugs, alcohol, and legal difficulties. However, in 1981 he did appear on the television show, The Dukes of Hazzard, as himself.
He served a prison sentence in the early 1990s. The most successful of his later singles, released during his appeal, was "Old Violin" which reached # 21 on the country chart in 1986. His last album to chart was Modern Times in 1987.
He continued to release albums, the last of which, Remembering appeared in 2002.
Although Paycheck suffered from drug and alcohol addiction during his career, he later was said to have "put his life in order" after prison.
He continued to perform and tour until the late 1990s. Suffering from emphysema and asthma after a lengthy illness, Paycheck died at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2003.
Darryl "D.M.C." is one of the pioneers of hip hop culture and founding members of the hip hop group Run-D.M.C.
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McDaniels grew up in Hollis, Queens, New York and attended St. John's University. He first became interested in hip hop music after listening to recordings of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. In 1978, McDaniels taught himself to DJ in the basement of his adopted parents' home, using turntables and a mixer given to him by his older brother, Alford. During this period he adopted the stage name "Grandmaster Get High.”
McDaniels sold his DJ equipment, after his friend Joseph "Run" Simmons acquired his own turntables and mixer. After Jam-Master Jay - who already had a solid reputation as a young DJ joined the group—Run encouraged McDaniels to rap rather than DJ. McDaniels agreed, and adopted the nickname of "Easy D.” In 1981, he dropped the "Easy D" moniker in favor of "DMcD,” then to the shorter "D.M.C..” (D.M.C. stood for both "Devastating Mic Controller" and his childhood nickname "Darryl Mac.”)
In 1984, the trio released their self-titled, debut album. The group's success continued to grow and reached its peak with their third album Raising Hell. The album went to #6 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on its Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making Run-D.M.C. the most popular hip-hop group at the time. During this time, McDaniels began to build a reputation as a heavy drinker and was arrested twice for public intoxication and driving while intoxicated.
In 1997, McDaniels began to slide into a deep depression. He became extremely unhappy with the rigorous routine of touring and performing and being apart from his wife and newborn son. While on tour, McDaniels’ voice weakened. He was later diagnosed with spasmodic dysphonia, a vocal disorder which causes involuntary spasms of the larynx muscles.
McDaniels also began to have creative differences with his bandmates in Run-DMC, which by then, was a commercially successful hip-hop group. A longtime fan of artists such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Harry Chapin, McDaniels wanted to move towards a slower, softer sound, while Run wanted to continue with the aggressive, hard rock-edged, sound that the group was known for.
These disagreements caused McDaniels to sit out most of the recording of the album Crown Royal - appearing on only three songs.
McDaniels heard Sarah McLachlan's song "Angel" on the radio. The song touched McDaniels deeply that it inspired him to reassess his life and career. (He has credited McLachlan and her album Surfacing with saving his life.)
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With a new outlook, McDaniels decided to write his autobiography. While researching his early years, he found out he was three months old. He also learned that he was born in Harlem, Manhattan, not Hollis, Queens, as he had always believed. He began working with the VH1 network on a documentary chronicling his quest. His autobiography, King of Rock: Respect, Responsibility, and My Life with Run-DMC, was released in January 2001.
In February 2006, VH1 premiered the documentary titled DMC: My Adoption Journey. The program ends with McDaniels reuniting with his birth mother, and, despite previous information, was not of Dominican descent.
In March 2006, McDaniels released his long-awaited solo album, Checks Thugs and Rock N Roll. The first single, "Just Like Me,” features an interpolation of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" performed by Sarah McLachlan. During a recording session, McLachlan revealed to McDaniels that she, too, was adopted.
In September 2006, Darryl McDaniels was presented with the Congressional Angels in Adoption Award for his work with children in foster care and promotion of adoption. He founded a summer camp providing 170 foster children a childhood experience.
He is currently working on writing an updated autobiography In his earlier autobiography, the first draft of the book was written before McDaniels found out that he was adopted.
McDaniels was also said to be working on a second solo album. Three tracks off the new album have been released ("Next Level,” "Hip Hop,” and "Beef Eater.")
McDaniels is featured in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero: Aerosmith singing Run-D.M.C.'s singles "King of Rock" and "Walk This Way.” In June 2007, McDaniels joined Aerosmith on stage at the Hard Rock Calling festival in London, England to perform "Walk This Way."
In 2009, McDaniels performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.
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According to the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll:
"Run-D.M.C. took hardcore hip-hop from an underground street sensation to a pop-culture phenomenon. Although earlier artists, such as Grandmaster Flash and the Sugar Hill Gang, made rap's initial strides on the airwaves, it was Run-D.M.C. that introduced hats, gold chains, and untied sneakers to youth culture..."
The group achieved a number of notable firsts and other achievements in hip hop music and are credited with pushing hip hop into mainstream popular music:
* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once
* The second rap act to appear on American Bandstand (the Sugar Hill Gang appeared first on the program in 1981)
* The first rap act to chart in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 more than once
* The first rap artist with a Top 10 pop charting rap album
* The first rap artist with gold, platinum, and multi-platinum albums
* The first rap act to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
* One of The first rap acts to receive a Grammy Award nomination
* The second rap act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Idina Kim Menzel was born on May 30, 1971 in Queens, New York and raised in Syosset, New York. When Menzel was 15 years old, she began working as a wedding and bar mitzvah singer, a job which she continued throughout her time at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Drama at New York University prior to being cast in Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent.
Menzel received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical losing to Ann Duquesnay for Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Her final performance in the musical was on July 1, 1997.
Following the success of Rent, Menzel released her first solo album entitled Still I Can't Be Still on Hollywood Records, Menzel also originated the role of Dorothy in Summer of ’42 at Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, starred as Sheila in the New York City Center Encores! production of Hair and appeared on Broadway as Amneris in Aida. Menzel earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for her performance as Kate in the Manhattan Theatre Club's 2000 off-Broadway production of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party.
In 2003, Menzel starred with Kristin Chenoweth on Broadway in the musical Wicked. Menzel received the 2004 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. During her performance of Wicked on January 8, 2005, she fell through a trap door and cracked a lower rib. The injury prevented her from performing in her final show on January 9th. Menzel did, however, make a special out-of-costume appearance at that performance, performed her final song, and received a 5 minute long standing ovation.
Following Wicked, Menzel appeared off-Broadway in the Public Theater's production of See What I Wanna See, for which she received Drama Desk Award and Drama League Award nomination.
Her second album, Here, was released by Zel Records in 2004. Menzel has contributed to soundtracks, including those for the film The Other Sister and the ABC television dramedy Desperate Housewives. She also appears on Ray Charles's album Genius and Friends, which was released in 2005, on the track "I Will Be There."
In 2007, she appeared on the Beowulf soundtrack singing the end credits song, "A Hero Comes Home". Also in 2007, Menzel sang a duet with baritone British X-Factor runner-up Rhydian Roberts on his debut album.
Her third solo album, I Stand, was released in January 2008. It includes many new songs, including the lead single, "Brave", the title track "I Stand", and a song released on EP, "Gorgeous". The album debuted at #58 in the Billboard 200, making it the first solo album by Menzel to make the charts.
Menzel is the voice of The Snow Queen in the Disney animated film Frozen, scheduled for release in 2013. Menzel is also known for her portrayal of Shelby Corcoran on the Fox musical comedy-drama series, Glee.
Thomas Baptiste Morello was born May 30, 1964 in Harlem, New York and raised in Libertyville, Illinois, Morello became interested in music and politics while in high school. He attended Harvard University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Studies.
At age 13, Morello joined his first band; a Led Zeppelin cover band as the lead singer. At this same age, Morello bought his first guitar. Around 1984, Morello first started studying the guitar seriously, and formed a band called the Electric Sheep which featured future Tool guitarist Adam Jones on bass.
The band wrote original material that included politically charged lyrics. Tom has said that he was profoundly influenced by Run-D.M.C, and Jam Master Jay in particular. This influence can be heard in the song "Bulls on Parade." Additionally, the Bomb Squad and Public Enemy has had a large impact on his musical style.
At the time, Morello's musical tastes lay in the direction of hard rock and heavy metal, particularly Kiss and Iron Maiden. As he stated in Flight 666, he is a huge fan of Piece of Mind, Alice Cooper, Led Zeppelin, and Black Sabbath. Morello developed his own unique sound through the electric guitar. Later, his musical style and politics were greatly influenced by punk rock bands like The Clash, The Sex Pistols, and Devo.
After his band Lock Up disbanded, Morello met Zack de la Rocha and the two founded Rage Against the Machine together. The group went on to become one of the most popular and influential rock acts of the 1990s.
On September 13, 2000, Rage Against the Machine performed their last concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Although Rage Against the Machine disbanded in October 2000 after de la Rocha departed amid disputes over the direction of the band, they released their fourth studio album, Renegades, a collection of cover songs. In 2003 they released Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, an edited recording of the band's final two concerts on September 12 and 13, 2000 at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.
After disbanding, Morello, Wilk and Commerford went on to form Audioslave with then-former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, and released three albums as well as a DVD from the band's concert in Cuba.
On April 29, 2007, Rage Against the Machine reunited at the Coachella Music Festival. The band played in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival. The band played 7 more shows in the United States in 2007, and in January 2008, they played their first shows outside the US since re-forming as part of the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand. In August 2008 they headlined nights at the Reading and Leeds festivals.
The band has since continued to tour around the world, headlining many large festivals in Europe and the United States.
Morello is known for his unique and creative guitar playing style, which incorporates feedback noise, unconventional picking and tapping as well as heavy use of guitar effects. Morello is also noted for his leftist political views and activism; his creation of his side project The Nightwatchman offered an outlet for his views while playing apolitical music with Audioslave. He was ranked number 40 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."
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For more about Rage Against the Machine, visit their Website at –
Born Christina Claire Ciminella on May 30, 1964 in Ashland, Kentucky, Wynonna was given the last name Ciminella after Michael Ciminella, the man her mother Naomi married after being abandoned by her boyfriend and Judd's biological father, Charles Jordan. Jordan died in 2000. Her younger half-sister is actress Ashley Judd.
They moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and by 1976, Wynonna and Naomi were living in Kentucky, where Wynonna took inspiration from the country music that her mother listened to and learned to play guitar after receiving one for Christmas. The two of them moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1979 in pursuit of a musical career.
Wynonna first rose to fame in the 1980s alongside Naomi, in the country music duo The Judds. Wynonna and Naomi were signed to RCA Records in 1983 as the duo The Judds. Between 1983 and 1991, The Judds charted 23 hit singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles (now Hot Country Songs) charts, including 14 number ones. They also recorded eight studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations.
In their six-year career, The Judds sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had won over 60 industry awards, including five Grammy Awards, nine Country Music Association awards (seven of them consecutive), and eight Billboard Music Awards. At the time, they were the biggest-selling duo in country music and remained so until they were eclipsed by Brooks & Dunn in the 1990s.
Although Wynonna sang lead vocals on all of the duo's songs, Naomi ran the duo. A chronic bout of hepatitis C forced Naomi into retirement following a 1991 farewell tour.
Wynonna then signed to MCA Records in association with
Curb Records as a solo artist. Wynonna has released eight studio albums, a live album, and a compilation album in addition to charting more than 20 singles of her own. Her first three singles—"She Is His Only Need," "I Saw the Light" and "No One Else on Earth"—all reached number one on the U.S. country singles charts, as did 1996's "To Be Loved by You." Three of her albums are certified platinum or higher by the RIAA. Her most recent recording, Sing: Chapter 1, was released on February 3, 2009.
While Wynonna is most recognized for her musical work, she has also pursued acting and philanthropy.
He was born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway in Atlanta, Georgia, but is best known by his stage name, Cee Lo Green. Both his parents were ordained ministers and he started his music career in church. His father died when he was two years old, and when he was 18, his mother was involved in a car crash, leaving her paralyzed. She died two years later.
At the time, Cee Lo's career with the southern hip hop group Goodie Mob had just begun taking off. (The Goodie Mob were a part of the Atlanta rap collective the Dungeon Family, which also included OutKast.)
Cee Lo's depression after his mother's death led is evident in various songs throughout his career, including "Free" by Goodie Mob, songs on St. Elsewhere, and on The Odd Couple ("She Knows," "A Little Better"). Cee Lo also expresses his love for his mother in the song "Guess Who" from Goodie Mob's Soul Food album.
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Goodie Mob
Goodie Mob had released their debut album, Soul Food in 1995. The album received much critical praise as a pioneering record for the then emerging Southern rap scene. was produced by Organized Noize, who had also produced OutKast's debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Cee Lo got considerable praise for his rapping and singing, especially on "Cell Therapy" and "Soul Food."
The group's second album, Still Standing came out in 1998 and also received much critical praise. By now, Cee Lo focused primarily on rapping over singing. Cee Lo took more creative control on the group's next album, World Party.
During the making of the album World Party, Cee Lo left the group to pursue a solo career under Arista and the remaining members continued to perform together under the Goodie Mob name with Koch Records. They did however collaborate in combinations in the Dungeon Family album Even in Darkness.
In 1999, Cee Lo, credited as "Cee-Lo" was one of ten famous guest musicians who contributed to the highly successful Santana album Supernatural.
Internationally, Cee Lo is best known for his work within the hip hop duo Gnarls Barkley along with DJ Danger Mouse. (Gnarls Barkley is named after former basketball star Charles Barkley.)
Gnarls Barkley
Their 2006 worldwide hit "Crazy," reached number one on many singles charts worldwide, including the UK. In the U.S. "Crazy" reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. The album St. Elsewhere was also a hit, reaching number one on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200 album charts.
Cee Lo, taking a break from recording with Gnarls Barkley, released the single "Fuck You!" in August 2010 as a solo recording artist. The song was an instant hit. It has been certified Gold in the U.S, and Denmark. It reached platinum status in Canada, New Zealand, and the UK; and multi-platinum status in Australia.
On December 1, 2010, Cee Lo received five Grammy nominations for "Fuck You!" which His solo album, The Lady Killer was also successful, reaching the top five of the UK Album Charts and debuting within the top ten on the Billboard 200 album charts. His second single "It's OK" was a hit in Europe and the third single, "Bright Lights Bigger City" has also seen similar charting success.
Cee Lo tok the latest season off as a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Blake Shelton.
Melanie Janine Brown was born 29 May 1975 in Harehills, Leeds, England. She rose to fame as a member of the Brit-pop girl group the Spice Girls. In the group, she was known both Mel B. and Scary Spice.
Brown studied performing arts at Intake High School, in Leeds. Befroe the Spice Girls, she worked as a dancer in the holiday resort, Blackpool, Lancashire. Brown started her music career in a band known as Touch After seeing an advertisement for an audition in a newspaper. After changing management, she and the other girls became known as the Spice Girls.
The Spice Girls signed with Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe,” which hit number 1 in more than 30 countries and helped establish the group as a "global phenomenon.” It was followed by their debut album, Spice, which sold more than 28 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in music history.
The band's second album, Spiceworld, went on to sell over 20 million copies world wide. As of 2013, the Spice Girls have sold over 75 million records worldwide, making them the biggest selling female group in history and also one of the best-selling music artists in the world.
Brown is also known for supporting Girl Power and their global grosses estimated at $500–800 million between 1996 and 1998.
Return of the Spice Girls was the band's comeback turn and said to have grossed US$100 million and won the Billboard 2008 Touring Award.
Brown began her solo career when she released "I Want You Back" with Missy Elliott on Virgin Records. The single charted at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, followed by the release of debut album, Hot. The album also saw release of top 10 singles "Tell Me" and "Feels So Good.”
In mid-2012, Brown announced a return to her solo recording career with the release of her third studio album by signing with EMI Music Australia.
Brown returned to television in 2011 when she joined the judging panel of the Australian version of The X Factor. She later became the co-presenter of the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars. It was later announced that Brown would appear as a guest judge on the UK's version of The X Factor.
In February 2013, it was announced that Brown was hired as a judge on the variety talent show America's Got Talent.
Melissa Etheridge (has received fifteen Grammy Award nominations winning two, one Academy Award and has sold twenty-seven million albums worldwide and almost fourteen million in the United States alone.
Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals. She has also been a gay and lesbian activist since January 1993.
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Melissa Lou Etheridge was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. She was a member of the first "Power and Life" musical/dance group at Leavenworth High School. She began learning to play guitar when sew was eight years-old. She began to play in all-men country music groups during her teenage years, then moved to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music.
While in Berklee, Etheridge played the club circuit around Boston. After three semesters, she dropped out of college and moved to Los Angeles. Etheridge was discovered in a bar called Vermie's in Pasadena, CA. A husband of a friend of hers on a women's soccer team she played on, Bill Leopold, watched her perform live, and was impressed. He has remained a pivotal part of Etheridge's career ever since.
In addition, gigs in lesbian bars around Los Angeles, got her discovered by Island Records chief Chris Blackwell. As a result, Melissa received a publishing deal to write songs for movies including the 1986 movie Weeds.
After an unreleased first effort was rejected by Island Records as being too polished, she recorded her simpler self-titled debut album in four days. The album, Melissa Etheridge, was an underground hit, and the single, "Bring Me Some Water,” was nominated for a Grammy.
She followed up her first album's modest success by contributing background and contributing vocals to Don Henley's album The End of the Innocence.
She went into the studio and recorded her second album Brave and Crazy which was released in 1989. The album peaked at #22 on the Billboard charts. Etheridge then went on the road to build up her fan base.
In 1992, Etheridge released her third album Never Enough. Similar to her prior two albums, Never Enough peaked at #21 but gave Etheridge her first Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Ain't It Heavy.” Never Enough was considered more personal and mature, and seemed to inadvertently address rumors about her sexuality.
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On September 21, 1993, Etheridge released what would become her mainstream breakthrough recording Yes I Am. The album spent 138 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and peaked at #15 and scored mainstream hits "Come to My Window" and her only Billboard Top 10 single "I'm the Only One,” which also hit #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Yes I Am earned a RIAA certification of 6× Platinum.
Etheridge earned her second Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for her single "Come to My Window.” She also garnered two additional nominations in the Best Rock Song category for "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window" losing to Bruce Springsteen's "Streets of Philadelphia.”
In a visit to Leavenworth in November 1994, she performed a benefit concert for a new park to be built near the high school. A ball field at the park is named after her father, John Etheridge. (In 1992, Etheridge established a performing arts scholarship at Leavenworth High School in honor of her father.)
The success of Yes I Am helped increase sales of Etheridge's earlier albums. In 1995 Melissa Etheridge earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum while Never Enough earned a RIAA certification of Platinum.
Etheridge's follow-up to Yes I Am was the moderately successful Your Little Secret which wasn't as well received by critics as her prior recordings. Still, Your Little Secret has become the highest charting album of Etheridge's career reaching #6 on the Billboard album charts. The album produced two Top 40 singles "I Want to Come Over" and "Nowhere to Go" and earned a RIAA certification of 2× Platinum.
In 1996, Etheridge won ASCAP Songwriter of the Year award. She also took a lengthy break from the music business to concentrate on her private life. She also recorded "Sin Tener A Donde Ir (Nowhere to Go)" for the AIDS benefit album Silencio=Muerte: Red Hot + Latin produced by the Red Hot Organization.
In 1997, she appeared as herself on the sitcom Ellen in "The Puppy Episode Part 2.”
Etheridge returned to the music charts with the release of Breakdown in October 1999 which peaked at #12 on the Billboard charts. Breakdown became her first album of Etheridge's career to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. In addition, her single "Angels Would Fall" was nominated in two categories: Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female and Best Rock Song. A year later, another single from the album "Enough of Me" was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. The album earned a RIAA Gold certification.
2001 saw the release of Skin. Recorded after her breakup with first partner. Despite positive reviews, Skin sold less than 500,000 copies. The single "I Want to Be in Love" was nominated for the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. The next year, Etheridge released her autobiography titled, The Truth Is: My Life in Love and Music.
Etheridge began 2004 with the release of her eighth album Lucky on February 10. The album was a more joyful Etheridge who was now in the midst of celebrating a new relationship with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels. Lucky also sold less than 500,000 copies.
In April 2006, Etheridge and Michaels announced that Michaels was pregnant with twins via an anonymous sperm donor. Michaels gave birth to a daughter and son the following October.
In November 2008, in response to the passing of California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, Etheridge announced that she would not pay her state taxes as an act of civil disobedience.
Then in 2010, Tammy and Melissa separated. At the time, Melissa’s rep said: "Melissa and Tammy Etheridge are saddened to announce that they are now separated. We ask for consideration and respect for our family as we go through this difficult period."
John Cameron Fogerty was born on May 28, 1945 in Berkeley, California. He is best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) and as a solo recording artist.
Fogerty achieved the rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists at No. 40 and the list of 100 Greatest Singers at No. 72. The songs "Proud Mary" and "Born on the Bayou" also rank amongst the Greatest Pop songs ("Proud Mary," #41) and Guitar songs ("Born on the Bayou," #53).
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John He attended El Cerrito High School along with the other members of CCR and took guitar lessons from Berkeley Folk Festival creator/producer Barry Olivier. John and his older brother, the late Tom Fogerty, joined Doug Clifford and Stu Cook in the late 1950s to form the band Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets. After signing with the jazz label Fantasy in 1965, they became The Golliwogs and released a few singles that did not sell well. After John was discharged from the Army Reserves in 1967, they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
By 1968, things started to pick up for the band. The band released its first album, the self-titled Creedence Clearwater Revival, and also had their first hit single, "Susie Q.” Many other hit singles and albums followed beginning with "Proud Mary" and the parent album Bayou Country.
John, as primary song writer, lead singer and lead guitarist, thought his musical opinions should count for more than the other band members, leading to resentments within the band. As a result, in January 1971, Tom left the group.
Bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford, wanted a greater role in the band's future and John, in an attempt to keep the group together, had Cook and Clifford share equal songwriting and vocal time on the band's final album, Mardi Gras, released in April 1972. This album included the band's last two singles, the 1971 hit "Sweet Hitch-Hiker,” and "Someday Never Comes,” which barely made it into the Billboard Top 20. It was a commercial success, peaking at #12 and achieved gold record status but generated weaker sales than their previous albums. The group disbanded shortly afterwards.
CCR's only reunion with all four original members was at Tom Fogerty's wedding in 1980. John, Doug and Stu played a 45 minute set at their 20th class reunion in 1983, and John and Doug would reunite again for a brief set at their 25th class reunion in 1988. By the time Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, John Fogerty refused to perform with his surviving bandmates Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. The pair were barred from the stage, while Fogerty played with an all-star band that included Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Robertson.
John Fogerty began a solo career, originally under the name The Blue Ridge Rangers for his 1973 LP debut. Fogerty played all of the instruments on covers of others' country music hits, such as "Jambalaya" (which was a Top 20 hit). After performing country & western tunes he released a rock & roll single in late 1973, also as The Blue Ridge Rangers. The two John Fogerty penned songs were "You Don't Owe Me" and "Back in the Hills" (Fantasy F-710).
In early 1974 John Fogerty released two rock & roll tunes on a 7"-single. The two songs were the vocal "Comin' down the Road" b/w the instrumental "Ricochet.”
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In October 2007, Fogerty completed his first new rock album in three years, titled Revival, which , debuted at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with sales about 65,000 copies in its first week. Revival was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album of 2008 but lost to the Foo Fighters.
On November 12, 2012 Fogerty announced that he was currently writing his memoirs, and that the book was expected to be released in 2014. Also planned is an audiobook version, narrated by Fogerty.
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