Bryan Adams has opened up about why lockdown was a ‘lifesaver’ for him and his family, as well as the experience of getting half his songs rejected for the musical Pretty Woman – in a new podcast from the charity where he’s an ambassador, Help Musicians, released today.
Adams – who still holds the record for longest unbroken run at the top of the UK chart with ‘(Everything I do) I do it for you’, which held the spot for 16 weeks – also tells the incredible story of being reunited with his first ever guitar.
Adams’ semi-autobiographical song ‘Summer of 69’ famously opens with the line ‘I got my first real six string / bought it at the Five and Dime’. But the truth is a little closer to home for Brits. Rather than a mid-century American thrift store, he reveals his first real six string was actually purchased in a music shop in Reading, UK, when he was 12. And instead of the Summer of 69, it was bought in 1970.
Speaking to host Chris Difford – a founding member of the band Squeeze and Help Musicians ambassador – for the first episode in a new, fifth series of the podcast I Never Thought It Would Happen, Adams tells the remarkable story of being reunited with the ‘imitation Stratocaster’ many years later.
Adams reveals that his family moved a lot as a child due to his father working for the Canadian embassy and after Reading, they moved to Israel. Here he left the guitar with a neighbour and decades later got an email from someone saying they ‘had his first guitar’. He replied and never heard back but over ten years later someone walked up to him in a club in Berlin and said ‘I’ve got your first guitar’. The stranger explained that he was the friend of the person who emailed Adams, but he unfortunately died in a plane crash. The guitar was left to him, and aware of his late friend’s desire to reunite it with Bryan, had tracked him down. Bryan has owned the guitar ever since.
Adams also penned the music behind the West End musical Pretty Woman alongside his writing partner Jim Vallance. He says “That is songwriting by committee…there’s the director, the writer, the producer. Every time we’d come up with a song, we’d have a committee meeting. Sometimes we’d get it and sometimes we wouldn’t…there’s 20 songs on there, but probably 40 were written.”
Adams also discussed his experience during the pandemic saying “It was the best time for us as a family because I couldn’t go anywhere. It was great…a lifesaver’. However, he had more concerns for his career: “I had convinced myself I was not going to work again, that the pandemic has kiboshed things for all musicians…we’re done. But then we did a show in Portugal, everyone was wearing masks. It was the strangest thing, because the sound [from the crowd] isn’t the same. It is muted.’ He also reveals that should the pandemic happen again, he doesn’t feel people would lock down again and be as ‘compliant’ as they were this time.
The revealing podcast series from Help Musicians is presented by one of the charity’s ambassadors, Chris Difford, and has previously featured many big names, from legendary artists like Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sting, James Blunt and Robbie Williams through to contemporary superstars like Olivia Dean and Yungblud. Upcoming guests in the fifth series include Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp.
Chris Difford, Help Musicians ambassador and founding member and songwriter of Squeeze, said: “Recording this podcast has become an annual highlight for me. It’s so much fun to uncover these untold stories from across music, and we’ve started with a cracker, talking to the legendary Bryan Adams and uncovering the real story behind his first guitar. Both Bryan and I are ambassadors of Help Musicians, a charity doing such good work to support musicians throughout their lives and careers, so it was a special start to the fifth season. We’ve got another brilliant series lined up so I hope listeners will tune in to hear more new stories from their favourite artists.”
Sarah Woods, Chief Executive, Help Musicians said: “We’re so pleased to bring together two of our brilliant ambassadors to share their experiences of life in music for the fifth season of I Never Thought It Would Happen. Being a musician is a truly rewarding career, but it also comes with challenges and barriers that can be difficult to navigate. In 2024 alone, Help Musicians delivered over 17,000 interventions to support musicians across the UK. It’s only through the generosity of our ambassadors, funders and supporters that we can continue to be a vital safety net that helps keep the music playing.”
Help Musicians is a charity that loves music so it supports musicians across the UK in times of crisis and opportunity. In a precarious profession often filled with ups and downs, opportunities are hard-won whilst challenges come along all too easily, with unsteady income and physical and mental health concerns common issues. The charity offers a broad range of help to support music creators – ensuring musicians across the UK can achieve their creative potential and sustain a career in music.
Find out more about Help Musicians’ services, or to make a donation to support its work, on the website www.helpmusicians.org.uk
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