Encyclopedia Of Detroit
Seger, Bob
Singer and songwriter Bob Seger is the voice of the Midwestern everyman, with songs imbued with the spirit of the assembly line and the tribulations of life. Born on May 6, 1945 in Detroit and raised in Ann Arbor, Seger's interest in music was inspired by his father, who started his son’s musical trajectory by teaching him to play the ukulele. Soaking up the sounds of Memphis soul, Chicago blues and, later, Merseybeat pop on the radio, he was the front man with bands The Decibels and The Town Criers in high school, then Doug Brown & The Omens, with whom he first recorded around 1965.
After meeting Edward “Punch” Andrews, who would become his lifetime manager, Seger began writing songs for other groups before going solo in 1966 with the local hit "East Side Story." Forming his own band, Bob Seger and The Last Heard, he signed with Capitol Records, who changed the band name to The Bob Seger System. Their second single, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" became Seger’s first national hit, charting number 17 on the Billboard Top 20 in 1968. Seger made three albums with The Bob Seger System, which disbanded in 1970.
Seger’s Silver Bullet Band was formed in 1974, following several years of soloing, touring with Teegarden and Van Winkle, and recording with other musicians. The album Beautiful Loser in 1975 produced a near-winner, “Katmandu,” but it was the one-two punch in 1976 of Live Bullet, a testament to the in-concert potency of his Silver Bullet Band, and Night Moves, that vaulted Seger to superstar status.
Since then, he's sold more than 53 million albums and launched enduring hits such as "Turn the Page," "Hollywood Nights," "Still the Same," and "Like a Rock," which was further popularized as an ad theme for Chevy trucks. Against the Wind, his only number one album, won a Grammy Award in 1981 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, while his 1978 single "Old Time Rock & Roll" ranks in the top ten jukebox selections of all time. Ironically, Seger did not compose his only number one hit single, "Shakedown" from the 1987 film "Beverly Hills Cop."
Seger's accomplishments were duly acknowledged with his 2004 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His 18th studio album, I Knew You When, was released in 2017. Seger, who is married with two children, lives north of Detroit in Orchard Lake Village. “Roll Me Away,” his final North American tour in 2019, sold out six shows at the DTE Energy Music Theater in Clarkston.
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