Currently gearing up for their 50th anniversary year, Cheap Trick remain an indisputable, indispensable rock ’n’ roll institution, beloved everywhere for their instantly identifiable, hugely influential union of mischievous wit and maximum melodies, powerhouse pop hooks and razor-sharp riffs. Established almost half a century ago by Robin Zander (vocals, rhythm guitar), Rick Nielsen (lead guitar), Tom Petersson (bass guitar), and Bun E. Carlos (drums), the Rockford, IL-based band has become part of the very fiber of American music, with more than 40 international Gold and Platinum certifications, myriad awards and industry honors, featured appearances on over 20 movie soundtracks, and total record sales now well in excess of 20M. Five decades on, Cheap Trick remains the same at its core as ever – four great guys, three great chords, and an unparalleled canon of tunes that will last an eternity, from “He’s A Whore,” “California Man” and “Dream Police” to “Surrender,” “I Want You To Want Me” and the worldwide #1 hit single, “The Flame.”
“The songs are why everybody knows Cheap Trick,” says Rick Nielsen. “We have some good songs. ‘I Want You To Want Me” has been around for forty years but people still love it. And even if you’re sick of it, it’s over in three minutes! The songs are still relevant, they still have the right words and the right emotions to move 99% of all living humans.”
Cheap Trick first came together in 1974 when Zander accepted Nielsen and Petersson’s invitation to join their new band. Energetic live sets around the Midwest and an incendiary demo soon saw the band signed to Epic Records, which released their self-titled debut album in February 1977. Though it failed to chart upon arrival, Cheap Trick proved an enduring hard rock landmark with such signature songs as “Elo Kiddies,” “Oh, Candy,” and the oft-covered, hugely influential “He’s A Whore.”
In Color followed in September 1977, remarkably little more than six months after their debut. Once again, the album demonstrated the pure pop majesty of Cheap Trick’s songcraft, with singles like “Clock Strikes Ten” and the chart-topping “I Want You to Want Me” proving massive hits in Japan, paving the way for a pair of concerts at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan on April 28 and 30, 1978.
Indeed, when Cheap Trick finally arrived in Japan, they were greeted with a fervor not seen since the heyday of Beatlemania, with 12,000 fans screaming so loud they nearly drowned out the band. Their creative drive seemingly inexorable, Cheap Trick returned home and released their third album in just over one year, 1978’s Heaven Tonight. The album proved Cheap Trick’s breakthrough, earning RIAA Platinum certification fueled in large part to the one and only “Surrender.” Named by Rolling Stone as “the ultimate Seventies teen anthem,” “Surrender” was the band’s first “Hot 100” chart success and remains one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest assertions of rebellious revelry.
With “Surrender” rock-and-rolling radios around the world, Cheap Trick treated Japanese fans to their first live album, Cheap Trick at Budokan. Though intended for Japanese release only, an estimated 30,000 import copies were sold in the US and the album was released domestically in February 1979. If “Surrender” had lit the fuse, Cheap Trick at Budokan saw the band finally blow up, peaking at #4 on the Billboard 200 while the high-speed first single, “I Want You to Want Me,” proved their first top 10 hit, reaching #7 on the “Hot 100.” Certified 3x Platinum in 1986 by the RIAA, Cheap Trick At Budokan has been acclaimed as one of the greatest live albums of all time and in 2019 was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
The wind at their back, Cheap Trick returned to the studio and unleashed Dream Police in September 1979. With Cheap Trick at Budokan still dominating rock radio, the album showcased a more expansive sonic approach from the band and proved an even greater chart success, ascending to #6 on the Billboard 200 and RIAA Platinum certification on the back of such milestone singles as the sweeping “Voices” and the classic title track.
In 1980, Cheap Trick pushed their sound even further on that same year’s All Shook Up, paying homage to their British Invasion heroes with the assistance of legendary producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick. The band kept up a steady string of hits like 1985’s top 10 rock favorite, “Tonight It’s You.” Co-written alongside some of the era’s top pop songwriters, 1988’s Lap of Luxury rocketed Cheap Trick back to the upper chart echelons, propelled by the global pop success of “The Flame.” Widely regarded as perhaps the definitive power ballad, the single rose to the peak position on Billboard’s “Hot 100” – Cheap Trick’s first-ever #1 hit. “The Flame” was followed by another huge hit single in the band’s top 5 cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel.”
Cheap Trick kicked off the 90s with Busted, featuring guest appearances from such friends as Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, and Sparks’ Russell Mael. The decade saw the band’s influence grow even larger, with countless artists from Nirvana and Green Day to Fountains of Wayne and Weezer proclaiming their devotion to Cheap Trick’s crunchy sound and clever vision. In 2010, drummer Daxx Nielsen joined Cheap Trick when the seemingly irreplaceable Carlos departed the band. Cheap Trick’s first album with the new lineup, 2016’s Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello affirmed them to be as idiosyncratically irresistible as ever before, a callback to their classic canon yet somehow as inventive and exciting as a bunch of crazy kids just coming out of the garage.
2016 also saw Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on their first nomination, a long overdue acknowledgement of their pioneering sound and influence, likewise recognizing the band’s millions upon millions of fans around the world. Cheap Trick closed the 2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony with an show-stealing performance of “Surrender,” “Dream Police,” and “I Want You To Want Me.” Members of the evening’s other top inductees – including longtime friend Steve Miller –
then joined the band for a memorable all-star jam on Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame,” a song famously featured on Cheap Trick At Budokan.
Having played more than 5,000 shows and counting over the course of their larger-than-life career, Cheap Trick remain indefatigable, lighting it up at arenas, concert halls, and amphitheaters worldwide more than 150 nights each year. Though the COVID pandemic forced them off the road for perhaps the longest time in their storied history, the band returned with renewed stamina, hitting the endless highway in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australia for sold-out headline runs, top-billed festival appearances, and tours alongside Steve Miller Band, Rod Stewart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, ZZ Top, Stone Temple Pilots, to name but a few.
Thing is, where other artists of their vintage might be content to rest on their hard-earned laurels, Cheap Trick have continued to expand their recorded catalog without losing a step. The band’s 20th studio album, 2021’s In Another World, found Cheap Trick once again doing what they do better than anyone – crafting indelible rock ‘n’ roll with high craft, cheeky humor, and amp-blasting power. Produced by Academy Award-nominated producer/songwriter Julian Raymond, the album was met by worldwide critical applause and made history as the week’s top-selling rock album while debuting at #7 on Billboard’s “Top Album Sales” – Cheap Trick’s first top 10 and highest-ranking LP in the chart’s 29-year history.
Now, with their 21st studio album and a typically epic tour celebrating their 50th anniversary on the horizon, Cheap Trick determinedly remain a going concern, not merely legends but a vital and vibrant fact of life. Perhaps Associated Press said it best: “All we can do is be thankful for the longevity and endless creativity of the quartet from Rockford, Illinois.”
“I don’t ever see us quitting,” Robin Zander says. “We’re not cut out for sitting around and watching TV.”
“This is what we do,” says Tom Petersson. “We’re very proud of our music, we have no problem going around the world playing these songs. That’s what we do.”
“We’re not a nostalgia band,” Rick Nielsen says. “We never stop making records, we never stop touring. We’ve had ups, we’ve had super lows, but we kept at it and I think people appreciate that. Sometimes I think we’re just too dumb to quit. We just keep going.”
