Short Biography

Robert Clark "Bob" Seger (born May 6, 1945) is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter and musician.

After years of local Detroit-area success, recording and performing in the mid-1960s, Seger achieved superstar status by the mid-1970s and continuing through the 1980s with the Silver Bullet Band. A roots rocker with a classic raspy, shouting voice, Seger was first inspired by Little Richard and Elvis Presley.[1] He wrote and recorded songs that dealt with blue-collar themes. Seger has recorded many rock and roll hits, including "Night Moves", "We`ve Got Tonight", "Like a Rock" and also co-wrote the Eagles number one hit "Heartache Tonight." His iconic signature song "Old Time Rock and Roll" was named one of the Songs of the Century in 2001. With a career spanning five decades, Seger continues to perform and record today. Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Bob Seger was born at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and lived in the area until age 6 when his family moved to nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. When Seger was 10 years old, his father left the family and moved to California. Seger attended Tappan Middle School and Ann Arbor High School (now Pioneer High School) in Ann Arbor and graduated in 1963. He ran track and field in high school, and was considered one of the best runners in Michigan. Seger went to Lincoln Park High School for a year.

Bob Seger has stated that "Little Richard was the first one that really got to me. Little Richard and, of course, Elvis Presley."[2] Growing up, Seger also listened to James Brown and has said that for him and his friends, Live at the Apollo was their favorite record. "Come Go With Me" by The Del Vikings was the first record he bought. Seger also named Van Morrison as being one of his influences and covered one of his lesser known songs "I`ve Been Working" on his live album Live Bullet. Mentioning Frankie Miller, Graham Parker, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen, Seger remarked: "There`s a whole little clique of male vocalists. We`re just sort of all connected. I think every last one of us has a connection with Van Morrison."[

Seger began his musical career in 1961 in Detroit as a member of The Decibels, where he first met his future manager and record producer, Punch Andrews. Seger returned to Ann Arbor where he played with The Town Cryers and then Doug Brown and the Omens. With them, he released his first single in 1965 for the local Hideout Records label. In 1966 Seger sang on Doug Brown and the Omens` parody of Barry Sadler`s song "Ballad of the Green Berets" which was re-titled "Ballad of the Yellow Beret" and mocked draft dodgers. Soon after its release Sadler and his record label threatened Brown and his band with a lawsuit and the recording was withdrawn from the market.

In 1966 Seger left Brown`s group but retained him as a producer. As Bob Seger and the Last Heard, Seger had his first big Detroit hit with "East Side Story", which sold 50,000 copies, mostly in the Detroit area and led to a contract with Cameo-Parkway Records. Another of Seger`s biggest early hit singles locally was "Heavy Music" in 1967, which sold even more copies and had potential to break out nationally when Cameo-Parkway went out of business . Nevertheless, "Heavy Music" would stay in his live act for many years to come.

During these early Detroit years, Seger also acted as producer for the local band The Mushrooms. He became (and remained) frien

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