George Thorogood is an American musician who writes and performs blues-rock compositions. George is known not only as a singer, but also as a guitarist, the author of such eternal hits.
I Drink Alone, Bad to the Bone and many other tracks have become favorites of millions. To date, more than 15 million copies of various albums and compositions recorded by John or with his participation have been sold in the world.
Youth and early musical career of George Thorogood
The musician was born on February 24, 1950 in Wilmington (Delaware, USA). The musician's family lived in the suburbs of Wilmington.
Here, his father worked for a long time with the DuPont company, specializing in the production of chemical products.
At school (also located near Wilmington), the boy showed himself as a talented baseball player. The coach believed that his place in the sport, he was partially right.
After leaving school in 1968, George became a player on the Delaware baseball team and was listed in its composition until the late 1970s.
Interesting fact!
In 1970, Thorogood attended a concert by John Hammond, one of the most famous American musicians and producers of the mid-XNUMXth century. The performance impressed the young man so much that George decided to start making music.
So, in 1994, the musician made his first demo recording Than the Rest. However, for a long time it was kept in the singer's personal archives, and its official release took place only in 1979.
The real debut took place in 1977 - then George still continued to play baseball. But at the same time he created the group The Destroyers.
George recorded and released the first album, George Thorogood and the Destroyers. The album's simple title is derived from the musician's real name and the band's name.
A year later, a new release Move It On Over was presented, it was from it that the group began to regularly record cover versions of hits by famous American bands.
So, the album contains a cover version of the Hank Williams song, thanks to this composition the album is called Move It On Over.
Back in the early 1970s, the group often had to work in Boston (as a touring accompaniment for one of the local groups). Later, The Destroyers had already settled in this city - they lived here, recorded new songs and gave concerts.
In the early 1970s, an interesting incident occurred with the Nighthawks. Both groups at that time performed in Georgetown (an area in northwestern Washington) in clubs that were across the street from each other.
Exactly at 12 o'clock in the morning, they, having previously agreed, synchronously began to play the song Madison Blues, the original of which was written by Elmore James.
At the same time, Jimi Thackery (lead singer of the Nighthawks) and Thorogood left the clubs on the road, passed their guitar cords to each other and continued to play.
Increasing popularity of The Destroyers
1981 can rightly be considered the beginning of the frequent appearances of The Destroyers on major venues. It was this year that the group performed "as a warm-up act" before the concert of the legendary The Rolling Stones.
And a year later they were invited to the shooting of the popular American show Saturday Night Live. There they performed several of their hits and gave a great interview to an audience of millions.
1981 also saw the first major tour by The Destroyers. It was called "50/50" - within 50 days the group visited 50 US states. The team as a whole is known for its extreme touring activities.
For example, during the 50/50 tour, The Destroyers gave a big concert in Hawaii, and a day later they performed in Alaska.
The next night they were already met by the public in Washington. Often there were cases when two concerts took place on the same day.
Hit Bad to the Bone
Until 1982, George Thorogood collaborated with Rounder Records. True, after the expiration of the contract, he signed an agreement with a larger market player - EMI America Records.
It was here that his biggest hit, Bad to the Bone, was released, which was included in the album of the same name. The song was very popular.
It began to be actively played on radio and TV. This hit has been repeatedly used as a soundtrack for popular films.
For example, the song can be heard in the science fiction action movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Also in the animated film "Alvin and the Chipmunks", the comedies "Problem Child" and "Problem Child 2", and "Major Payne", as well as in other films.
Heritage
In 2012, George Thorogood was included in the list of the most famous and influential personalities who were born and raised in Delaware (over the past 50 years).
His music continues to be actively used to this day in films, advertising audio and video clips, during sports games and at other mass events.
The Destroyers have released over 20 albums to date. They continue to actively tour the world and write new music.
Among the official releases, one can also single out collections of unreleased compositions, as well as audio recordings of the band's concert performances.
