Bryan Adams is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who won two awards in 1992 at the 34th Grammy Awards for his work on the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack. He has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his contribution to popular music and his philanthropic work. Adams was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame at Canada’s Juno Awards in April 2006.
Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and grew up in North Vancouver, B.C. He quit high school to play nightclubs with bands. In 1978, he sent a few demo recordings to A&M Records in Toronto and was signed to them not long afterwards. The self-titled debut album was released in February of 1980 and marked the beginning of a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance.
Cut Like a Knife was released in 1983 and was Adams’ breakout album due mainly to the lead single “Straight from the Heart.” His best-selling album, Reckless, peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200. It was released in 1984 and featured the singles “Run to You”, “Summer of ’69”, “Heaven”, and “It’s Only Love.” The song “(Everything I Do) I Do For You,” featured on the Waking Up the Neighbours album, was used in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and spent a record-breaking 16 weeks at # on the UK Singles Chart. It sold four million copies in the United States.
