Bryan Adams has established himself as both a successful rock musician and a singer-songwriter of romantic movie theme ballads. Born in Canada to British parents, he dropped out of school at age 16 to pursue his music career. After appearing with a few bands, he was signed to a recording contract by A&M Records (Canada). His eponymous debut album followed in 1980. Three years later, Adams had his first Top Ten hit single, "Straight From the Heart", a track on his third album "Cuts Like a Knife".

Adams had his first brush with films in 1983 when one of his songs was added to the soundtrack to the uneven "A Night in Heaven". The song, "Heaven", eventually became Adams first Number One single in the USA two years later. By that time he had begun his secondary career as a movie songwriter, co-writing two tunes for the soundtrack of "Teachers" (1984). In 1988, he made his feature acting debut in Clint Eastwood's "Pink Cadillac", to which he also contributed a song, but Adams has (as of 1997) yet to make a follow-up appearance in a movie.

In the 90s, Adams refashioned his image from hard-rocker to soft balladeer, beginning with "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", the love theme to "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991). The film, starring Kevin Costner, was a hit or miss reinterpretation of the classic story, but the theme was appropriately romantic and appealed to the film's female viewers. Adams performed the song, which he co-wrote with Michael Kamen and Robert John 'Mutt' Lange. Their combined efforts earned the trio an Oscar nod for Best Original Song, but the juggernaut of Disney and "Beauty and the Beast" proved insurmountable. (They fared better at the 1992 Grammy Awards.) With Sting and Rod Stewart, Adams recorded "All for Love", a gentle song that served as the theme for the 1993 remake of "The Three Musketeers". Adams shared a second Oscar nomination (again with Kamen and Lange) for the hauntingly lovely "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from "Don Juan DeMarco" in 1995. The following year, his duet with Barbra Streisand, "I Finally Found Someone" (from Streisand's "The Mirror Has Two Faces") brought him a third Oscar nod.

Despite his promising career as a film songwriter, Adams has not abandoned his rock'n'roll roots. In 1996, he released his tenth album, "18 'Til I Die" and headed a European tour.

• Also Credited As:
  Bryan Guy Adams
• Born:
  November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Job Titles:
  Singer, Songwriter

Family

• Brother: Bruce Adams. younger

Significant Others

• Companion: Cecilie Thomsen. no longer together
• Companion: Plum Sykes. Gwyenth Paltrow introduced the two together; have been dating since August 2002

Milestones

• 1976 Dropped out of school at age 16 to form first band, Shock
• 1977 Joined band Sweeney Todd; began writing songs with Jim Vallance
• 1978 Signed to a recording contract by A&M Records, Canada; had minor hit with "Let Me Take You Dancing" (1979)
• 1980 Released first solo album, the self-titled "Bryan Adams"
• 1981 Made first tour of USA
• 1983 First song to be featured in a film, "Heaven" used in "A Night in Heaven"; song not originally written for the film
• 1983 Had first US Top Ten hit song, "Straight From the Heart"
• 1983 Made appearance on "American Bandstand"
• 1983 Third album, "Cuts Like a Knife", went platinum
• 1984 Contributed first original songs for a feature soundtrack to the film "Teachers"
• 1985 First Number One album, "Reckless"
• 1985 Had first Number One single, "Heaven"
• 1988 Feature film debut, small role in "Pink Cadillac"; also contributed song to the soundtrack
• 1991 Earned first Oscar nomination for "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"
• 1993 With Rod Stewart and Sting, recorded "All for Love", the theme for the remake of "The Three Musketeers"
• 1995 Got second Oscar nomination for "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" from the film "Don Juan DeMarco"
• 1996 Collaborated with Barbra Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch and Robert 'Mutt' Lange on "I Finally Found Someone", the love theme for Streisand's "The Mirror Has Two Faces"
• 1999 Released collection of greatest hits "The Best of Me"
• 2002 Wrote and recorded songs for the soundtrack of the animated film "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"
• 2005 Published his first book of photos in the US with Calvin Klein titled American Women; proceeds from the book went to breast cancer research
• 2005 Released "Anthology," a two disc retrospective collection of hits
• 2006 Earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for Never Gonna Break My Faith, which was featured in the film "Bobby"
• After parents' divorce, moved with mother and brother to Vancouver
• Raised in Canada, Portugal, Israel and Austria

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