Bob Seger

• Born: May 6, 1945
• Place of Birth: Dearborn, Michigan

AMERICAN ROCK SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND GUITARIST

With his exquisite songwriting and powerful vocal style, Seger found an enthusiastic audience with his working-class rhythm-and-blues music.

MEMBER OF The Silver Bullet Band; the Bob Seger System

The Life

Robert Clark Seger was born at the Henry Ford Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, on May 6, 1945, to parents Stewart and Charlotte Seger. His older brother, George, was born in 1941. Seger grew up in the University of Michigan town of Ann Arbor, forty miles west of Detroit. In spite of that distance, Seger’s childhood was enriched by the Detroit rock and rhythm-and-blues scene. As a child, he listened to Otis Redding, Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, and James Brown, especially his 1963 album Live at the Apollo. When Seger was ten, his father, a part-time musician, left the family to move to California and pursue his musical career. The remaining family moved to the poor and black section of Ann Arbor, where Seger was exposed to black culture and music.

Seger toured relentlessly during the 1970’s and 1980’s, slowing down in the early 1990’s to start a family with his wife, Annette Sinclair. Seger has two children from this marriage, and he cited letting his children, Christopher Cole and Samantha Char, “see what daddy does” as a major reason for touring for the first time in a decade in 2006.

The Music

Seger’s musical career started early and never stopped, except for a brief period when his brother was serving in the military and Seger worked at a clothing store and a pizza parlor to support himself and his mother. He performed in several bands as a teenager, including the three-piece Decibels during high school. When the Decibels played at Seger’s junior prom, the applause from the audience convinced Seger to pursue a career in music.

Seger’s music grew from the black neighborhoods of Ann Arbor, a combination of rock, rhythm and blues, pop, and country, and until 1976 he met with only regional success, despite his electric stage show and expert songwriting. Seger has made more than fifteen studio albums, starting with several on the Detroit label Hideout Records.

Early Works. As a teenager, Seger played keyboards in a prominent Detroit band, the Underdogs. His first hit single under his own name was “East Side Story,” released in August 1966, on the Hideout label owned by Punch Andrews. The song, however, only succeeded in Detroit, climbing the local chart to number three. After this project, Andrews became Seger’s lifelong manager. The single “Heavy Music,” released in July 1967, on Hideout and nationally on Cameo-Parkway Records, featured Seger’s raspy and powerful voice and his solo guitar and highlighted the influence of African American rhythm and blues on his style. In September 1967, Cameo-Parkway folded, preventing national promotion for the single. Andrews tried to sign Seger with Motown Records, but the label thought Seger’s sound was too rough. At this time, Seger performed at numerous Detroit-area festivals, sharing the stage with such artists as the Stooges, Muddy Waters, MC5, and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man. Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man was Seger’s first album release on Capitol Records, and he would stay with the label for more than two decades (except for a break from 1972 to 1974 when he signed with Andrews’s Warner Bros. distributed label, Palladium). The first single promoted from Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man was a protest song against the Vietnam War called “2 + 2 = ?” However, the title track, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” climbed to number seventeen nationally and hit number one in Detroit. The driving lyrics highlighted Seger’s songwriting and performing strengths. “Ivory,” the follow-up single, failed to chart above number ninety-seven nationally, discouraging Seger. While he continued to tour nationally, surprisingly, he built strong fan bases only in Michigan and Florida.

“Turn the Page.” Seger’s universal appeal was displayed with the track “Turn the Page” on the album Back in ’72. It represents the emotions felt by touring musicians—loneliness, aggression, exhaustion, and exhilaration while on stage. “Turn the Page” has been covered by several artists, including Metallica and Marshall Chapman.

Live Bullet. Success came to Seger eight years after Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man with the release of Live Bullet in 1976 on Capitol Records. The two-disc live album was recorded at Detroit’s Cobo Hall over two nights in 1975, which were Seger’s first arena concerts. Reaching number thirty-four nationally, Live Bullet was Seger’s first gold record, and it stayed on the national charts for three years.

Night Moves. The album Night Moves was released in 1976 on Capitol Records, and it built on the success generated by Live Bullet. The album sold more than five million copies, and it sustained a national fan base, the title track reaching number four on the song charts. “Night Moves” is semi-autobiographical, describing growing up in the Midwest.

“Old Time Rock & Roll.” “Old Time Rock & Roll” was featured in the Tom Cruise movie Risky Business (1983). Seger was excited about the project from the start, appreciating the youthful and rebellious nature of the scene in which the song is played, with Cruise dancing around the house wearing little more than his underwear, a shirt, and sunglasses. Starting in the 1980s, Seger licensed his music for use in several major movies, including Teachers (1984) and Forrest Gump (1994).

Like a Rock. One day, while Seger was meeting with manager Andrews at a diner in Michigan, an automotive worker strode up to Seger and asked why he had never done anything to give back to the motor industry that supported his childhood city. Before that time, Seger had been approached by Chevrolet to license “Like a Rock,” but he declined the offer, worried that it would upset his fans, who would not approve of the commercialization of Seger’s music. With the support of the autoworkers, however, Seger had the motivation to proceed. The series of Chevrolet truck ads featuring “Like a Rock” ran from 1991 to 2004, building Chevrolet’s brand identity for its trucks and maintaining national awareness of Seger. The song was part of the album Like a Rock, released on Capitol Records.

Seger released a compilation titled Early Seger Vol. 1 in 2009; the album contained some never-before-released archival tracks from the 1970s and 1980s. In 2010, he contributed piano and vocals to Kid Rock's album Born Free. He toured in 2011 in support of the release of another compilation album, the two-disc Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets. He performed a duet with John Fogerty, "Who'll Stop the Rain," on Fogerty's 2013 album Wrote a Song for Everyone. In 2014, he released a new studio album, Ride Out, which he announced may be his last album. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart and reached number one on Billboard's Top Rock Albums chart.

Musical Legacy

Seger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 2004 and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 14, 2012. He toured in 2006, playing thirty-six shows and grossing almost thirty-one million dollars. His albums have sold tens of millions of copies, and his early recordings on Hideout and Cameo-Parkway are considered collectors’ items. His later work found a country audience, especially with Face the Promise. With the stage presence of James Brown, the songwriting skills of Van Morrison, and his working-class background, Seger found a way to communicate with his fans in songs about the beauty and pain of living in America.

In 2018, Seger announced that his planned Travelin' Man tour would be his final tour. The tour began on November 21, 2018, and ended on November 1, 2019. Following the conclusion of the Travelin' Man tour, Seger announced that he had retired from professional music. The famed artist returned from retirement in 2023 to perform at Patty Loveless's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Principal Recordings

ALBUMS (solo): Mongrel, 1970; Brand New Morning, 1971; Smokin’ O. P.’s, 1972; Back in ’72, 1973; Seven, 1974; Beautiful Loser, 1975; Face the Promise, 2006.

ALBUMS (with the Bob Seger System): Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man, 1968; Noah, 1969.

ALBUMS (with the Silver Bullet Band): Night Moves, 1976; Stranger in Town, 1978; Against the Wind, 1980; The Distance, 1982; Like a Rock, 1986; The Fire Inside, 1991; It’s a Mystery, 1995.

Bibliography

Carson, David A. Grit Noise and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock and Roll. U of Michigan P, 2005.

George-Warren, Holly, and Patricia Romanowski, eds. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll. Fireside Books, 1983.

Graff, Gary. "Bob Seger Breaks from Retirement to Honor Country Singer." The Oakland Press, 23 Oct. 2023, www.theoaklandpress.com/2023/10/23/bob-seger-breaks-from-retirement-to-honor-country-singer/#:~:text=Bob%20Seger%20performs%20Patty%20Loveless,Hall%20of%20Fame%20and%20Museum).&text=UPDATED%3A%20October%2023%2C%202023%20at%201%3A06%20p.m. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Seger, Bob. "Bob Seger on Climate Outrage, His Internet-Free Life and Hanging with Eminem." Interview by Andy Greene. Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2014, www.rollingstone.com/music/features/bob-seger-climate-spotify-eminem-ride-out-20141113. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Waddell, Ray. "Bob Seger on His Wildest Tour Memories, Pal Bruce Springsteen and Why He Likes Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush." Billboard, 17 Nov. 2015, www.billboard.com/articles/news/magazine-feature/6762161/bob-seger-interview-tour-memories-new-album-i-knew-you-when-politics. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Weschler, Tom, and Gary Graff. Travelin' Man: On the Road and Behind the Scenes with Bob Seger. Painted Turtle, 2010.

White, Timothy. “The Fire This Time: Bob Seger Finally Settles a Fifteen-Year Score with Rock and Roll Success.” Rolling Stone (May 1, 1980): 38-41.