Bob Seger

Bob Seger, 2013

Robert Clark "Bob" Seger (born May 6, 1945 in Detroit , Michigan ) is an American rock musician who had his greatest success in the 1970s and 1980s.

childhood

As the son of a factory worker who made music himself and was a member of a band, Seger came into contact with his father's instruments ( clarinet , guitar and piano ) at an early age . When Bob was ten years old, his father separated from his mother, and the family's standard of living quickly changed from middle class to poor. The family lived together in a one-room apartment.

Musical career

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band (1977)

Seger was already a member of a band , The Decibels , at the age of 15 and wrote his first song at the age of 16: The Lonely One .

By 1968, he had five top ten - Singles in Detroit's music market and the title song of the album Ramblin 'Gamblin' Man reached national court 17 of the singles chart. In Detroit, he was already selling more records than the Beatles at that time and was performing with his band in bars and clubs three nights a week.

After taking a year off in 1969 with a plan to finish his college degree, Bob Seger achieved enormous national success in 1976 with his albums Live Bullet and Night Moves . From this time he released his albums up to It's A Mystery (1995) under the name Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band . After these two albums went platinum , Seger continued his success for the next twenty years with seven top ten platinum albums.

Seger's greatest hits ( e.g. Fire Lake , Against the Wind , You'll Accomp'ny Me ) were ballads. He himself said that ballads can convey much greater expression than rock : “Writing rock is too limiting. I have ten times as much freedom writing ballads. "

With the song Shakedown , which was part of the score for Beverly Hills Cop II , he managed another very successful chart hit.

Today Bob Seger can look back on numerous platinum albums, 19 top 40 singles, almost one million concert tickets sold during his tour in 1996 and almost 50 million music albums sold worldwide.

On March 5, 2004, Bob Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with rock greats like Prince and Jackson Browne .

On the 2005 album " Seventeen Days " by the band 3 Doors Down , Bob Seger had a guest appearance in the song "Landing in London".

In September 2006, the album Face the Promise was released.

Bob Seger performing in 2007

Due to the success of "Face the Promise" in the USA (chart entry at number 4 in the USA) and the urge of his children, Bob Seger decided to go on tour again. The tour ran from December 2006 to March 2007 and was a triumphant success. With around 50 concerts, Bob Seger reached around 800,000 fans live, all tour dates were considered sold out.

On November 24th, 2009 the album "Early Seger Vol.1" was released, which contains 4 unreleased songs and a compilation of older tracks that have been remastered and remixed.

The album "Ride Out" was released on October 14, 2014 and is available in two versions with ten and 13 tracks respectively. It contains, among other things, the tracks "Detroit made" (previously released as a single), "California Stars" and "All the Roads", which were already played on the 2013 US tour. In 2014/2015 and 2017, Bob Seger toured the USA and Canada again with commercial success, but had to cancel the last tour due to health problems.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1969	Ramblin 'Gamblin' Man	-	-	-	-	US62 (10 weeks) US	First published: January 1969
1970	Mongrel	-	-	-	-	US171 (4 weeks) US	First published: August 1970
1972	Smokin 'OP's	-	-	-	-	US180 (11 weeks) US	First published: August 1972
1973	Back in '72	-	-	-	-	US188 (6 weeks) US	First published: January 1973
1975	Beautiful loser	-	-	-	-	US131 × 2 Double platinum (18 weeks)US	First published: April 12, 1975
1976	Night moves	-	-	-	-	US8th × 6 Six-fold platinum (88 weeks)US	First published: October 22, 1976
1978	Stranger in Town	DE28 (17 weeks) DE	-	-	UK31 gold (5 weeks)UK	US4th × 6 Six-fold platinum (110 weeks)US	First published: May 5, 1978
1980	Against the wind	DE17 (27 weeks) DE	-	-	UK26 (6 weeks) UK	US1 × 5 Quintuple platinum (110 weeks)US	First published: February 25, 1980
1982	The Distance	DE16 (18 weeks) DE	AT19 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK45 (10 weeks) UK	US5 platinum (39 weeks)US	First published: December 7, 1982
1986	Like a rock	DE53 (6 weeks) DE	AT30 (2 weeks) AT	CH17 (6 weeks) CH	UK35 (6 weeks) UK	US3 platinum (62 weeks)US	First published: March 28, 1986
1991	The Fire Inside	DE23 (12 weeks) DE	AT33 (5 weeks) AT	CH14 (8 weeks) CH	UK54 (2 weeks) UK	US7th platinum (29 weeks)US	First published: August 27, 1991
1995	It's a mystery	-	-	-	UK76 (1 week) UK	US27 gold (24 weeks)US	First published: October 24, 1995
2006	Face the Promise	-	-	-	-	US4th platinum (27 weeks)US	First published: September 12, 2006
2014	Ride out	-	-	-	-	US3 (11 weeks) US	First published: October 14, 2014
2017	I know you when	DE74 (1 week) DE	-	CH87 (1 week) CH	-	US25 (4 weeks) US	First published: November 17, 2017

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Compilations & live albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1976	Live bullet	-	-	-	-	US34 × 5 Quintuple platinum (155 weeks)US	First published: April 12, 1976 live album
1981	Nine Tonight	DE34 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	UK24 (10 weeks) UK	US3 × 4 Quadruple platinum (73 weeks)US	First release: September 4th, 1981 live album
1994	Icon: Greatest Hits	DE49 (9 weeks) DE	-	CH46 (2 weeks) CH	UK6th gold (14 weeks)UK	US8th diamond (… Where.)US	First published: October 25, 1994 compilation
2003	Greatest Hits 2	-	-	-	-	US23 platinum (26 weeks)US	First published: November 4th, 2003 compilation
2011	Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets	DE53 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK28 silver (3 weeks)UK	US19th platinum (109 weeks)US	First published: November 21, 2011 compilation

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

• 1969: Noah
• 1971: Brand New Morning
• 1974: Seven
• 1979: The Bob Seger Collection
• 2009: Early Seger Vol. 1
• 2013: Live Boston 1977

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1968	Ramblin 'Gamblin' Man Ramblin 'Gamblin' Man	-	-	-	-	US17 (14 weeks) US	First published: October 1968
1969	Ivory Ramblin 'Gamblin' Man	-	-	-	-	US97 (1 week) US	First published: March 1969
1970	Lucifer Mongrel	-	-	-	-	US84 (6 weeks) US	First published: March 1970
1971	Lookin 'back	-	-	-	-	US96 (2 weeks) US	First published: October 1971
1972	If I Were a Carpenter Smokin 'OP's	-	-	-	-	US76 (8 weeks) US	First published: June 1972
1974	Get Out of Denver Seven	-	-	-	-	US80 (4 weeks) US	First published: July 1974
1975	Kathmandu Beautiful Loser	-	-	-	-	US43 (11 weeks) US	First published: July 1975
1976	Nutbush City Limits Live Bullet	-	-	-	-	US69 (4 weeks) US	First published: May 1976
	Night Moves Night Moves	-	-	-	UK45 (3 weeks) UK	US4 (21 weeks) US	First published: December 1976
1977	Main Street Night Moves	-	-	-	-	US24 (10 weeks) US	First published: April 1977
	Rock and Roll Never Forgets Night Moves	-	-	-	-	US41 (8 weeks) US	First published: June 1977
1978	Still the Same Stranger in Town	DE30 (13 weeks) DE	AT18 (8 weeks) AT	-	-	US4 (18 weeks) US	First published: April 1978
	Hollywood Nights Stranger in Town	-	-	-	UK42 (11 weeks) UK	US12 (13 weeks) US	First published: July 1978
	We've Got Tonite Stranger in Town	-	-	-	UK22 (15 weeks) UK	US13 (17 weeks) US	First published: October 1978
1979	Old Time Rock and Roll Stranger in Town	-	-	-	-	US28 (18 weeks) US	First published: March 1979
1980	Fire Lake Against the Wind	-	-	-	-	US6 (16 weeks) US	First published: January 1980
	Against the Wind Against the Wind	-	-	-	-	US5 (17 weeks) US	First published: April 1980
	You'll Accomp'ny Me Against the Wind	-	-	-	-	US14 (16 weeks) US	First published: July 1980
	The Horizontal Bop Against the Wind	-	-	-	-	US42 (12 weeks) US	First published: October 1980
1981	Tryin 'to Live My Life Without You Nine Tonight	-	-	-	-	US5 (19 weeks) US	First published: August 1981
	Feel Like a Number Nine Tonight	-	-	-	-	US48 (8 weeks) US	First published: December 1981
1982	Shame on the Moon The Distance	DE50 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	-	US2 (21 weeks) US	First published: December 1982
1983	Even Now The Distance	-	-	-	UK73 (4 weeks) UK	US12 (12 weeks) US	First published: March 1983
	Roll Me Away The Distance	-	-	-	-	US27 (10 weeks) US	First published: May 1983
	Old Time Rock and Roll Loose Shops (OST)	-	-	-	-	US58 (4 weeks) US	First published: October 1983
1984	Understanding The Insubordinate (OST)	-	-	-	-	US17 (15 weeks) US	First published: October 1984
1986	American Storm Like a Rock	-	-	-	UK77 (2 weeks) UK	US13 (14 weeks) US	First published: March 1986
	Like a rock, like a rock	-	-	-	-	US12 (13 weeks) US	First published: May 1986
	It's you like a rock	-	-	-	-	US52 (9 weeks) US	First published: August 1986
	Miami like a rock	-	-	-	-	US70 (9 weeks) US	First published: November 1986
1987	Shakedown Beverly Hills Cop II (OST)	DE60 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	UK88 (5 weeks) UK	US1 (18 weeks) US	First published: May 1987
1991	The Real Love The Fire Inside	DE51 (19 weeks) DE	-	CH27 (2 weeks) CH	-	US24 (11 weeks) US	First published: August 1991
	The Fire Inside The Fire Inside	DE54 (10 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: December 1991
1996	Lock and Load It's a mystery	-	-	-	UK57 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 1996
2005	Landing in London Seventeen Days	DE79 (3 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: June 20, 2005 3 Doors Down featuring Bob Seger

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

• The singles since 1976 as Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

Awards for music sales

Canada 1996: for the album It's a Mystery 2006: for the album Face the Promise Platinum record  Canada 1981: for the album Nine Tonight 1991: for the album The Fire Inside 2012: for the album Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets 2017: for the album Icon  New Zealand 1979: for the album Stranger in Town 1995: for the album Greatest Hits

2 × platinum record  Canada 1983: for the album Live Bullet 1983: for the album The Distance 1986: for the album Like a Rock 3 × platinum record  Canada 1979: for the album Night Moves 1995: for the album Greatest Hits 4 × platinum record  Canada 1983: for the album Stranger in Town 5 × platinum record  Canada 1982: for the album Against the Wind

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Canada (MC)	-	2 × gold2	25 × platinum25th	-	2,560,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	-	2 × platinum2	-	30,000	nztop40.co.nz
United States (RIAA)	-	gold1	34 × platinum34	diamond1	44,500,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	2 × gold2	-	-	260,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	5 × gold5	61 × platinum61	diamond1

literature

• Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd Revised Edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 605-608 - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

Web links

• Official website (English)
• The Bob Seger File (English)