Bryan Adams, artist: “When you think of a certain person, you can make a song full of emotions”

The famous Bryan Adams, one of the greatest artists of all time, revealed what is the key to the success of an emotional song: the thought and feelings towards a loved one.

Bryan Adams's songs have been nominated five times the Golden Globe. Photo: Getty Images

In the over 40 years of his career so far, the single albums and discs released by Bryan Adams (65) have sold in over 100 million copies, and his creations have been nominated three times at the Oscar awards and five times in the Golden Globes. An artist in an unmistakable voice, Adams has so far no less than 25 songs in the famous Billboard Top 100, and four of them arrived in the first place: “Heaven”, “(Everything I DO) I do it for you”, “All for Love” and “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman”. In addition to music, the great passion of the Canadian is the photograph, his works being published in prestigious magazines such as “Vogue”, “Vanity Fair”, “Harper's Bazaar” and “Esquire”.

Bryan Adams first concerted in Romania in 2000, and is now at the fourth meeting with the audience from us, but it will be a very special one. “The Bare Bones Live” will be a whole acoustic concert, with Bryan Adams on the guitar, accompanied only by his pianist Gary Breit. The event, which will provide a special and emotional artistic experience, will take place on April 30, at the Palace Hall. On this occasion, the artist gave an exclusive interview for the “Weekend Adevărul” in which he confessed that the engine that makes him continue is independence and that his entire career only looked to the future, without traces of regret.

“Weekend Adevărul”: You started making a career in rock'n'roll since you were a kid and you have never stopped. What made you continue on this extraordinary musical road?

Bryan Adams: An alternative was not clear, so I continued with what I knew best.

How do you manage to keep your creativity impressive in a world where music is controlled, in one way or another, through technology?

I have always used technology as a tool to help me advance, but the key is to always remain faithful to what you know. And for me, this fidelity has always been represented by guitar, bass and drums.

What is the engine that makes you follow your heart in making unforgettable music?

Lately it is independence, being an independent artist. I set up my own record house, Bad Records, and I can handle it myself.

How important were the tenacity and sense of humor throughout your career?

Well, you have to laugh, it is the only way to overcome most things in life. I think tenacity was inherited from my parents.

Music, surprised in a photo

How much do the love for photography inspire your music?

The two are extremely closely tied – both start from nothing, and sometimes you succeed.

You took many memorable photos that have a certain musicality, from Lana del Rey to Amy Winehouse. Which one do you think has a special musicality and is special to your soul?

It is impossible for me to answer this question. Music, art and photography touch people in different ways, this is precisely the beauty of the arts.

“Don't look back”

You are one of the greatest artists in rock and pop of the last decades. For which song did you have the most exciting creative process?

The songs are intangible things, there are no two, each song has its own process – for some, it can take you a few minutes to compose them, while for others, it takes you. Sometimes, when you write a song, you think of a certain person, which can make that song full of special emotions.

Bryan Adams will perform for the fourth time in Bucharest. Photo: Getty Images

“I don't believe in the end at all. I just prefer to go further,” you said in an interview. What was the most beautiful moment of your amazing journey in music so far?

The most important thing is to surround you an environment that helps you to move on – they can be people, the job, the place where you live, with whom you work … everything is to go before and not look back.

When did you last dance on one of your songs?

(laugh) I dance every night on stage!

“Each era has its magic,” you once said. Which era did the greatest magic for you, musically speaking?

When I was 20 and some years old, I didn't know what I was doing and I had no experience, as if there was a magic around me and my songwriter, Jim. Every time we sat down to write a song, we were writing one.

If you were to summarize your career in one song, what would that be?

Obviously, I would choose one of the big ones. But interesting is that some of my big songs took decades to become really big.

The acoustic, in Bucharest

You have had several unforgettable concerts in Romania. What are the most exciting memories of those days?

The first concerts were very interesting, as far as I remember, I sang in Romania before many people concert there. Many happened in that period, we have crossed many roads holding concerts in places where such concerts had not been made until then.

“The Bare Bones Live”, the concert you will have on April 30 in Bucharest, will be 100% acoustic. How different is it to prepare for a classic concert?

It's a little more stressful because I'm without my band. But there is something with a special emotional load and it is a special joy to sing in Bucharest only with the acoustic guitar. You have to remember that most of my songs have been composed on the guitar, so it will give you a different perspective to hear them in the acoustic, gross version.

If you were to associate Romania or Bucharest with one of your songs, a verse from a song or a photo, which would be that song, verse or photography?

“These is the moment that make up my life” (NE – song released in 2022).