Bob Seger was born at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He was raised in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn until age 6, when his family
moved to the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. When Seger was 10 years old, his father left the family and moved to California. Seger attended Tappan
Junior High School and Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, graduating from the latter in 1963.
Seger started his musical career in the 1960s in his native Ann Arbor, Michigan, soon after playing in and around Detroit as a
singer and as the leader of
Bob Seger and the Last Heard, and then later the
Bob Seger System.
He is best known for his work with the
Silver Bullet Band, a group he formed in 1974. Seger is known as a workhorse
midwestern roots-rocker who dealt with blue-collar themes and toured constantly in support of his frequent album releases.
As such, critics ignorant of when his career got started have dismissed him as a poor man's Bruce Springsteen, though Seger's career
as a professional musician predates Springsteen's by five years. Seger's successes paved the way for other heartland rockers including
John Mellencamp and the Michael Stanley Band.
Seger's early work is hard-rocking and shows the influence of fellow Michiganders Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels as well as pioneer
rock-and-rollers such as Chuck Berry. Notable songs during this time were Ramblin' Gamblin' Man, "Get Out of Denver", and his classic
take on life on the road, "Turn the Page". The Bob Seger System incarnation was essentially a Michigan proto-punk band not very unlike the SRC
or The Frost. The Bob Seger System's song "2+2=?" is considered by some to be one of the most fiery anti-war songs ever written.
Seger achieved a commercial breakthrough with his 1976 album
Night Moves which featured several hits including the highly evocative title
song. Subsequently Seger had success with rockers such as "Hollywood Nights" and mellower mid-tempo ballads such as "We've Got Tonight", "Fire Lake"
(recorded 1979, and featured Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, and Glen Frey on backing vocals) and "Against the Wind". His most recognizable songs are almost
certainly "Old Time Rock & Roll" (featured in the film
Risky Business) and "Like a Rock" (most familiar to many younger Americans through its
association with a long-running Chevrolet ad campaign). Seger also co-wrote the Eagles #1 hit song "Heartache Tonight" from their 1979 album
The Long
Run.
A more
detailed biography and history of Bob Seger.
- East Side Story (1966) Single
- Heavy Music (1967) Single - Started his National Debut
- Ramblin' Gamblin' Man (1969)
- Noah (1969)
- Mongrel (1970)
- Brand New Morning (1971)
- Smokin' O.P.'s (1972)
- Back in '72 (1973)
- Seven (1974)
- Beautiful Loser (1975)
- Live Bullet (1976)
- Night Moves (1976)
- Stranger in Town (1978)
- Against the Wind (1980)
- Nine Tonight (1981)
- The Distance (1982)
- Like a Rock (1986)
- The Fire Inside (1991)
- Greatest Hits (1994)
- It's a Mystery (1995)
- Greatest Hits 2 (2003)
- Face the Promise (2006)
