Bob Seger

Bob Seger biography

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

As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s. By the early 1970s, he had dropped the "System" from his recordings, and he continued to strive for broader success with other various bands. In 1973, he put together The Silver Bullet Band, an evolving group of Detroit-area musicians, with whom he became most successful. In 1976, he achieved a national breakout with the album Night Moves. On his studio albums, he also worked extensively with the Alabama-based Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, appearing on several of Seger's best selling singles and albums.

A roots rocker with a classic raspy, shouting voice, Seger wrote and recorded songs that dealt with blue-collar themes and was an exemplar of heartland rock. Seger has recorded many hits, including "Night Moves", "Turn the Page", "We've Got Tonight", "Against the Wind", and "Like a Rock", and also co-wrote the Eagles' number-one hit "Heartache Tonight". His iconic recording of "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.

Early years

Bob Seger was born in Dearborn, Michigan, to Stewart and Charlotte Seger, and lived in the area until age 6 when his family moved to nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has an older brother George.

Seger's father, a medical technician for the Ford Motor Company, played several instruments and Seger was exposed to music from an early age. Seger was also exposed to frequent arguments between his parents that disturbed the neighborhood at night. In 1956, when Seger was 10 years old, his father abandoned the family and moved to California. The remaining family soon lost their comfortable middle-class status and struggled financially.

Seger attended Tappan Junior High School (now Tappan Middle School) and graduated from Pioneer High School in 1963. He ran track and field in high school. Seger also went to Lincoln Park High School for a year.

Seger has stated that the first musicians "that really got to me" were Little Richard and Elvis Presley. "Come Go With Me" by The Del Vikings, a hit in 1957, was the first record he bought.

Regional favorite: 1961-1976

The Decibels & The Town Criers

Bob Seger arrived on the Detroit music scene in 1961 fronting a three-piece band called the Decibels. The band included Seger on guitar, piano, keyboards, and vocals, Pete Stanger on guitar, and H.B. Hunter on drums. All of the members attended Ann Arbor High. The Decibels recorded an acetate demo of a song called "The Lonely One", at Del Shannon's studio in 1961. As well as being Seger's first original song, "The Lonely One" was Seger's first song to be played on the radio, airing only once on an Ann Arbor radio station.

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