Bryan Adams

It would be too easy to focus on Adams’ astonishing commercial success to show his appeal. The millions of records sold, the longest running number one single in UK chart history, the Juno’s. Grammy’s. Golden Globes. Oscar nominations. Ivor Novello’s. However, I don’t think that a simple list of awards and sales statistics quite covers just how vital an artist Bryan Adams was and remains to be to this day.

I think to truly get it one has to look at the man’s global influence. One has to look at how his music can be played and truly loved in pretty much equal measure from his native Kingston, Ontario, to the farest reaches of Nepal.

His is music that transcends culture and language, and that makes him one of very few musicians in pop history to truly realize the universal qualities of rock and roll, and that’s saying something.

“Summer of ‘69”? “Heaven”? “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”? It would take someone with a heart of stone not to love those songs, from his primal, party starting rockers to his elegant, tear jerking ballads.

In all, what Adams has achieved is shown in how people all around the world have embraced his music. Quite simply, he’s still playing and writing some of the best rock and roll music that the great white north has ever had to offer to this day, and there’s never been a better time to join in than right now.

Born and raised in Berkeley Vale, New South Wales prior to moving to Sydney at 15, Imbruglia left school at 16 to focus on her acting career. Following a few high-profile television commercials, she landed a role in the infamous Australian soap opera “Neighbours”, however left the show after two seasons. Imbruglia subsequently moved to London, England and recorded a four-track demo which resulted in the singer signing a four-year deal with BMG publishing.

Ahead of releasing her debut album, Imbruglia issued the single “Torn”, the result of which could not have been anticipated. The Ednaswap cover topped the Billboard Airplay chart for 14 weeks, broke the record for most UK airplay in history, and sold over a million copies. Imbruglia was subsequently catapulted to international notoriety, which she rode the wave of by releasing her debut full-length “Left of the Middle” in December 1997. Selling over 350,000 units in three weeks, the record was another hit, and ended up selling more than similar acts Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, and Meredith Brooks combined. Subsequent singles included the No. 2 “Big Mistake”, No. 19 “Wish I Was There”, and No. 5 “Smoke”, after which the singer embarked on an extensive world wide tour.

Following a short hiatus battling with writer’s block, Imbruglia returned in 2001 to release her sophomore album “White Lilies Island”. Led by the single “That Day”, the record was a stylistic advance on her debut however was unable to repeat its success. Having recorded a third album by November 2003, Imbruglia’s label refused to release the rock-influenced record, and the singer departed the label in early 2004. The Australian-born singer subsequently signed with Brightside Recordings, who ultimately issued her third full-length “Counting Down the Days” in April 2005. The record’s first single “Shiver” charted at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart representing her longest-running hit since “Torn”. Following the release Imbruglia embarked on a modest European tour, which for the most part was sold out.

In 2009 the singer began collaborating with Coldplay’s Chris Martin, the fruit of which was the singles “My God” and “Apologise”. A later single, “Want”, co-written my Martin, turned out to be the lead single from her independently-released fourth album “Come to Life”. Released in October 2009 excluding the UK, the album charted at No. 67 on the Australian Albums Chart and No. 25 on the Russian.