Multi-million selling recording artist BRYAN ADAMS was set to tour this year but the pandemic stopped that, the good news is the date has been rescheduled. Bryan is bringing his spectacular open-air show to the iconic setting of Cardiff Castle next July (2022).
It’s actually unfair to simply call Bryan a performer. This Canadian export is a guitarist, singer, composer, record producer, photographer, and philanthropist. It’s almost unfair to call him wholly Canadian too (although he was born there so we’re pushing the British thing here).
His Father, Captain Conrad J. Adams, emigrated to Canada from Plymouth, in the 1950s. He was a Sandhurst officer in the British Army, then joined the Canadian Army and later worked as a United Nations peacekeeping observer and as a Canadian foreign service diplomat.
Okay, so it’s tenuous, but Bryan has had so much success over here, and played thousands of gigs over the years, that he feels like he is partly ours. Back home in Canada however, Bryan was the most played artist on Canadian radio stations between 2010 and 2019. On top of that he sold something like 100 million records worldwide. So you can imagine a night with Bryan in Cardiff is going to packed with hits.
And those hits are not just the singles. From his first self-titled album some 40 plus years ago, Bryan has released a string of absolute belters. You may not know much about the first release, but ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ and ‘Reckless’, turned out a string of hit singles such as, Heaven, Run To You, and the one we can’t wait to hear filling Cardiff Castle next summer.
If you’ve never seen him play Summer Of 69 live, this video from 1993, directed by Andrew Catlin, should give you a pretty good idea what it’s like from the fans perspective.
If we were to list Bryan’s awards and musical achievements we’d literally be here all day. With number one albums, his Greatest Hits for example went 11 times, 7 times and 6 times platinum in Australia, Canada and the US, respectively. He sold 17 million copies of that album alone.
We’ve actually tracked down a deal on his latest ‘hits album ULTIMATE which is packed with every track he’s likely to play in Cardiff. Click on the picture below and you’ll see it comes up at an incredible £2.92, just what you need in your collection before the gig.
In 2008 he was ranked 38th on the list of all-time top artists on the Billboard Hot 100. Adams won 20 Juno Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television amongst 15 Grammy nominations, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and three Academy Awards for his songwriting for films. Bryan has been inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Canada’s Walk of Fame, the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. An in 2010, he received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.
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JUNO Award -
We’ve said all of that and haven’t even mentioned the single which was a massive worldwide hit, and held the top spot in our charts for 16 weeks. “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.
It was featured in the Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood – Prince Of Thieves, and I remember at the time, having played the single a thousand times on the radio, that I really must see the movie, I did, and we reckon it still holds up today.
Bryan has had massive success with other movies too.
A few years back Bryan approached Disney to see if they would be interested in making the 1990 film into Pretty Woman: The Musical for Broadway. But it wasn’t until seven years later that he re-approached them and was introduced to producer Paula Wagner along with director Jerry Mitchell. Bryan recruited Jim Vallance, and the two of them spent the next two years writing the music and lyrics, and completed the songs in March 2018. The musical made its debut on Broadway in August that year. It did have a short run in London before the pandemic struck. The good news is, it’s back in January. and booking through till the summer. HERE
He also likes a bit of a collaboration, and he’s had a lot of those over the years.
- Rod Stewart & Sting
- Elton John
- Tina Turner
- Barbra Streisand
- Melanie C (our favourite)
- Nelly Furtado
- Taylor Swift
And so many others.
We do want to mention Bryan’s photography, which is clearly his other real passion. In 2015, he was given an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in London for his work in photography. He’s also been published in British Vogue, L’uomo Vogue, American Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, British GQ, Esquire, Interview magazine and i-D. He’s also shot advertising and PR campaigns for Hugo Boss, Guess Jeans, Sand, Converse, Montblanc, John Richmond, Fred Perry, Escada, Gaastra, Zeiss, Joop, Zeiss AG, Schwarzkopf, Ermenegildo Zegna, AGL shoes, Windsor, Jaguar and OPEL cars
One project he is really passionate is Homeless, a book that captures portraits of 84 Big Issue vendors and focuses on their stories in a whole new way.
The book stems back from Bryan’s contribution to the magazine in 2011 when actress and producer Trudie Styler guest edited an edition. Trudie asked Bryan to offer a more in-depth photographic look at vendors and since then, he has captured shots of sellers whenever he can, building up to the publication of Homeless, which is out now.
Bryan told us…….
“Thank goodness for organisations such as The Big Issue in the UK, who give the support the homeless need to get back on their feet. They help the vendors earn their own independent living by selling magazines on the streets – and many people, some featured in this book, have survived because of this.”
“The photographs I took of people who live rough on the streets of London highlight an unavoidable fact, and almost every city around the world has a similar problem: too many people fall between the cracks and have no means to sustain a roof over their head.”
The book exposes the stories of vendors like Sam Woodlock, who started selling the magazine 21 years ago in Covent Garden and has gone on to conquer addiction to now become a franchisee helping other vendors.
Bryan’s photographs encapsulate the plight and challenges faced by the Homeless, we would recommend a copy to go on your shopping list. Click on the link below to order yours.
All proceeds will go towards The Big Issue Foundation, The Big Issue’s charitable arm, to help provide vital support to vendors.
As for BRYAN ADMS live shows, he plays Cardiff Castle on Monday 11th July 2022. You can get all the details on his rescheduled dates, and tickets, right here – CARDIFF
Take a look at our other features to see who else has Cardiff Castle in their sights next year.