Cheap Trick

Merging an affection for British guitar-driven pop craftsmanship with thunderous power chords and a taste for the outlandish, Cheap Trick forged essential connections among 1960s pop, heavy metal, and punk. Their approach supplied a template for both power pop and arena rock while exerting lasting influence on alternative and heavy metal acts of the 1980s and 1990s (and afterward), acts that frequently drew on the identical blend of forceful riffs and memorable melodies. Early recordings brimmed with tuneful, carefully composed numbers that pulled equally from the Beatles’ polished pop, the Who’s sonic ferocity, and the Move’s witty musical variety and wit. Following the cultivation of a devoted audience through three exceptional albums—1977’s Cheap Trick and In Color plus 1978’s Heaven Tonight—along with nonstop roadwork, the band achieved a surprise success via 1978’s At Budokan, a concert recording that served as their worldwide breakthrough. Polished studio gloss and occasional uncertainty in artistic focus hindered progress for much of the 1980s, although commercial gains arrived with 1988’s Lap of Luxury and its hit single “The Flame.” Once they departed major labels after 1997’s Cheap Trick, however, a creative resurgence followed, as the durability of their method was reconfirmed both live and on record with 2006’s Rockford and 2016’s Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello. Shortly after election to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they launched a prolific run that produced three albums inside 18 months; although touring dominated thereafter, they still entered the studio for 2021’s In Another World, further proof that their enduring sound remained undiminished regardless of how long they applied it.

Cheap Trick originated in Fuse, a late-1960s outfit assembled by Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson in Rockford, Illinois. The ensemble issued an album on Epic in 1969; after it attracted no notice, the musicians moved to Philadelphia and renamed themselves Sick Man of Europe. They toured Europe without success in 1972 before returning to Illinois in 1973. Soon after settling back in Rockford, Nielsen and Petersson again altered the band’s name—this time to Cheap Trick—and recruited drummer Bun E. Carlos together with vocalist Randy “Xeno” Hogan. Hogan was dismissed the next year, clearing the way for ex-folksinger Robin Zander to enter the lineup. From 1975 until their debut album in 1977, Cheap Trick maintained an unrelenting schedule, performing more than 200 shows annually and sometimes supporting the Kinks, Kiss, Santana, AC/DC, and Queen. Throughout this period the group assembled a strong collection of original material that would form their first three albums and refined their high-energy stage presentation.

Epic signed Cheap Trick in 1976, and the self-titled debut appeared early the following year. The album moved steadily in the United States yet never registered on the charts. In Japan, however, the band achieved enormous popularity, and the record earned gold status immediately. Later that year came their second release, In Color. It retreated from the harder-edged aspect of their debut, favoring smoother production and softer settings that highlighted melodic strengths. Thanks to constant touring, the album entered the U.S. charts and reached number 73. It again sold gold in Japan, where the musicians had attained near-superstar status; their Japanese shows sold out within two hours and filled the large Budokan Arena.

Performances at Budokan were taped for possible release, yet the live album did not surface until after the band’s third studio effort, 1978’s Heaven Tonight. That third album combined the loud, unruly drive of the debut with the hook-rich songwriting of In Color, yielding their first Top 100 single, “Surrender,” which climbed to number 62. The live performances captured on At Budokan (1979), however, showcased the group’s spirited, contagious concert presence and delivered their commercial breakthrough in America. The album remained on the charts for more than a year, peaking at number four and ultimately moving over three million copies. A live rendition of “I Want You to Want Me” simultaneously became their first Top Ten hit. Later that year they issued their fourth studio album, Dream Police, which followed the same stylistic path as Heaven Tonight. It likewise entered the Top Ten, sold more than a million copies, and spawned the Top 40 singles “Voices” and “Dream Police.” In summer 1980 the band released an EP of 1976–1979 recordings titled Found All the Parts.

After completing the George Martin-produced All Shook Up, Petersson exited in summer 1980 to form a group with his wife, Dagmar. Jon Brant took his place. Issued late in 1980, All Shook Up charted respectably at number 24 and earned gold certification, though the single “Stop This Game” missed the Top 40. One on One, the seventh album and first with Brant, arrived in 1982. Although it reached only number 39, the record outperformed All Shook Up and eventually attained platinum status. The band nevertheless entered a period of commercial decline even as its music grew more refined. Next Position Please, released in 1983, produced no hit single and lingered on the charts for just 11 weeks. Standing on the Edge (1985) and The Doctor (1986) met comparable results as creative vitality waned.

Petersson rejoined in 1988, and the group began work on a new album aided by several professional songwriters. The outcome, Lap of Luxury, became a platinum Top 20 success featuring the number-one power ballad “The Flame” and a Top Ten cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel.” Busted, issued in 1990, proved less successful, reaching number 48 and effectively concluding the commercial resurgence.

Cheap Trick entered the new decade by signing with Warner Bros. in 1994 and releasing Woke Up with a Monster, which peaked at number 123 and charted for two weeks. That same year Epic issued a follow-up to At Budokan titled Budokan II. Drawn from the same concerts, the set effectively recalled the reasons for the band’s late-1970s popularity.

In 1995 Cheap Trick requested release from Warner after executives Lenny Waronker and Mo Ostin departed. The musicians then returned to fundamentals, and several alt-rock figures influenced by the band offered chances to rebuild their standing. The Smashing Pumpkins invited them to open shows in 1995, and the group appeared on multiple dates of the 1996 Lollapalooza Tour. Also that year the box set Sex, America, Cheap Trick received favorable notices, after which the band signed with the new indie label Red Ant and began recording. Early in 1997 they released a Steve Albini-produced single on Sub Pop, followed in spring by the self-titled Cheap Trick, their well-received Red Ant debut. Unfortunately Red Ant declared bankruptcy seven weeks later, abruptly stalling the gathering momentum.

On April 30, 1998 the band began a four-night Chicago residency, each evening devoted to performing one of their first four albums complete. Those concerts later produced the 1999 live album Music for Hangovers, issued on their own Cheap Trick Unlimited imprint. An authorized hits collection followed in 2000. At the start of the new millennium Cheap Trick still lacked a label yet preserved a dedicated audience through worldwide touring. Another live set appeared in 2001. Titled Silver, the double-disc package (with companion DVD) documented the star-studded 25th-anniversary concert of August 28, 1999. The band also recorded a new studio album, issued in 2003 as Special One. It was succeeded in 2006 by Rockford, named after their hometown, and then The Latest in 2009. Cheap Trick sustained heavy touring, crisscrossing America that summer with Def Leppard and releasing their Beatles tribute Sgt. Pepper Live. In late 2015 they signed with Big Machine Records, and their first album for the label, Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello, appeared in April 2016—the same month they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It marked the first Cheap Trick release following drummer Bun E. Carlos’s departure; Daxx Nielsen, Rick’s son, had become the new percussionist in 2010. They followed quickly with their second Big Machine album, the energetic We’re All Alright!, in June 2017. Scarcely pausing, they delivered their first holiday album, Christmas Christmas, in October 2017. After extensive touring they returned to the studio for 2021’s In Another World, which evoked early recordings as both Nielsen and Zander performed with youthful vigor. An earlier incarnation of the band was presented in full swagger on the 2022 archival release Live at the Whisky 1977. Captured during work on In Color, the four complete live shows reveal a raucous, guitar-dominated side absent from the studio albums. When the set appeared near the end of 2022, the band had just concluded a U.S. tour.