Graham Bonnet... Is one of classic rocks most recognizable
voices. After first finding fame in the late 60’s with his band
“The Marbles†and their smash hit “Only One Womanâ€. Graham
reached the pinnacle of hard rock superstardom in the late 1970’s
headlining the first “Monsters of Rock†festival at Castle Donnington
in the U.K. as lead vocalist for the hard rock band “Rainbowâ€.
Initially fans of the band did not know what to think of the sharply
dressed rocker with short hair who had supplanted Ronnie James
Dio in the band. However, all reservations were put aside as soon as
the the album “Down To Earth†was released. The collaboration
between Graham, & Ritchie Blackmore, (formerly of Deep Purple.)
produced a body of work that spawned several hard rock radio
classics including a Billboard Top 10 hit with the song “Since You Been Gone†which is still a staple on the playlists of classic rock and AOR radio throughout the world.
The early 1980’s saw Graham utilize his amazing vocal range and unique stage presence to front some of the era’s biggest and most popular arena rock bands.
Graham’s work with Michael Schenker (formerly of UFO, Scorpions.) resulted in the album “Assault Attackâ€, considered by many fans of the genre as possibly one of the best hard rock offerings of that era.
Soon after exiting MSG, Graham founded Alcatrazz and recruited a sensational young guitarist by the name of Yngwie Malmsteen as it’s axeman. Their first album “No Parole for Rock and Roll†is a landmark effort that quickly propelled the band into arena rock headliner status and set the bar high for hard rock and metal bands of the era. When Yngwie left the band after 2 albums to pursue his solo career, Graham followed in his tradition of working with the best guitarists in the world and brought in Steve Vai to fill Mr. Malmsteens gigantic shoes.
Several more successful albums followed including “Disturbing the Peace†and “Dangerous Gamesâ€. As the decade of the 1980’s came to a close Alcatrazz would dis-band after numerous successful albums and world tours.
Since then Graham has released several albums and lent his voice to
select projects as well as a brief studio reunion in 2006
on Michael Schenker’s newest CD.
Over the past 3 decades Graham has worked with the best and
biggest names in hard rock. Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Impellitteri, Ian Ashley Hersey, Tony Carey, Uli Jon Roth, The Moonstone Project and a 2006 reunion with Michael Schenker for a track on his most recent album "Tales of Rock and Roll".
His name is carved into rock and roll
history and his voice provides the soundtrack for generations of hard
rock and R&B fans.
2007 has and will continue to showcase Graham Bonnet in an ambitious series of concert tours and special performances.
In March Graham was a featured performer along with Glenn Hughes and John Waite at the "Classics in Rock" concert in the Netherlands.
A reformed Alcatrazz featuring Graham Bonnet will be touring Japan along with fellow Rainbow Alumni Joe Lynn Turner in June of 2007. This new version features an impressive lineup with Howie Simon on Guitars, Glen Sobel on Drums and Tim Luce on Bass. A bold move for sure to call this project Alcatrazz, however based on the serious credentials of these LA rockers we all should be pleasantly surprised. US fans will get a sneak peek at the new Lineup at L.A. Nightclub Paladinos on May 25th.
Four additional shows in Finland with Joe Lynn Turner are also scheduled with Graham being backed by an all star line-up of Finnish musicians.
Graham’s latest recording endeavor puts him front and center for
The Taz Taylor Band. TTB is a Southern California hard rock outfit that features guitarist Taz Taylor. Keeping with his tradition of teaming with amazing guitarists, fellow Britons Graham and Taz, bassist Dirk Krause and Keyboardist Bob Miller have produced "Welcome To America". This new album sounds fresh and relevant while paying homage to the gods of hard rock that came before.
In June and July of 2007 Graham will play 19 dates in the U.K. with The Taz Taylor Band in support of their new album. This is Graham's first new album tour in many years. With all the internet press on this album, expectations are high.
August 2007 will see the world touring Mr. Bonnet head down under for a tour of Australia with "The Countdown Spectacular 2". This series of 7 concerts has Graham as part of an All Star Rock Tribute to some of the biggest names in Australian popular music.
Only One Woman by the Marbles 1968
All Night Long - Rainbow At Donnington 1980
Catch The Rainbow - Rainbow At Donnington 1980
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow - Rainbow At Donnington 1980
Rainbow - Since You've Been Gone
Alcatrazz in Tokyo - Too Young To Die Too Drunk To Live
Alcatrazz Live - Jet To JetThis is an Un-Official fansite dedicated to the music and career of Graham Bonnet and is not directly affiliated with Graham Bonnet or any of the bands that feature him.
For the final word on anything concerning Graham Bonnet please visit his personal website
WWW.BONNETROCKS.COM
As a fan of Mr. Bonnet I saw that there existed no myspace site for one of Rocks Greatest Vocalists. However his footprint is all over myspace as well as YouTube.com So I created this site to tie it all together if possible.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to have met Graham on a few occasions, however messages sent to this site do not go to Graham so you cannot contact him here.
This MySpace site will feature and accept news, touring information and authentic reviews.
Bonnet Rocks!
Graham Rules!