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Johnny Edwards | |
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| Birth name | John Douglas Edwards |
| Origin | Louisville, Kentucky |
| Genres | Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, glam metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1980s - present |
John Douglas Edwards is an American rock singer who sang for the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, [1] King Kobra, Wild Horses, Northrup, Royal Jelly and is best known as the second lead singer of the rock band Foreigner. [2] [3]
Edwards' first band of note was Buster Brown from Louisville, Kentucky. Together with drummer James Kottak, who had joined the group for their 1985 sophomore album, Sign of Victory , Edwards was recruited by guitarist Ronnie Montrose to appear on his 1987 album, Mean . [3] Now based in California, Edwards teamed up with the band Northrup whose members were approached by drummer Carmine Appice to join forces in a new version of King Kobra. The resulting King Kobra III' album was released in 1988 but Appice's focus was already on Blue Murder by then and King Kobra split up. [4]
With Northrup not making any progress and a deal with Enigma Records falling apart, Edwards joined former Buster Brown and Montrose bandmate James Kottak, fresh out of Kingdom Come, and Kingdom Come guitarist Rick Steier in a new band called Wild Horses, championed by producer Keith Olsen. However, Edwards would end up leaving the band before their first album after receiving an offer to join Foreigner.
Mick Jones, the founding member, lead guitarist, and main songwriter of Foreigner had been at home recovering from having the flu. Jones was in the process of listening to audition tapes of various singers to replace the newly departed Lou Gramm when he came upon a cassette of Johnny Edwards. Upon hearing the demo tape, he jumped out of bed and shouted out, "This is it!", referring to Edwards as Jones' choice as Foreigner's new lead singer. [3]
Released on June 14, 1991, Foreigner's new album, Unusual Heat had eleven songs in total, and ten of these were the combination of mainstay Mick, Johnny and co-producer, Terry Thomas, who had previously worked with Bad Company's lead vocalist, Brian Howe, on their last three albums as producer and songwriter.
In addition to providing lead vocals, Edwards was also an accomplished guitarist who not only played rhythm guitar but also played the lead guitar in the song "Mountain of Love", the fifth track on the Unusual Heat album. The Billboard 200 documented Unusual Heat at #117 on August 3, 1991. The album's first single, "Lowdown and Dirty" was included on the band's Rhino double-CD retrospective, "Juke Box Heroes". Edwards was not accepted by Foreigner fans, as he did not sound much like Lou Gramm. Unusual Heat was a commercial failure, and Gramm returned the following year, immediately ending Edwards' tenure as Foreigner's lead vocalist. [3] In 1992, the reunited Gramm and Foreigner founder Mick Jones released The Very Best & Beyond, a greatest hits collection with three new songs. One of the tracks, "With Heaven On Our Side", was co-written by Johnny Edwards. At the time of his departure from Foreigner, Edwards had co-written ten songs with Jones, in anticipation of a follow-up album to Unusual Heat. [3]
After leaving Foreigner, Edwards teamed up with former Kingdom Come guitarist Danny Steigerwald, aka Danny Stag, bassist David Seaton, and drummer Jeff Klaven, formerly with Cobra and Krokus, under the name Royal Jelly. The group's eponymous 1994 debut album was produced by Matt Wallace and released on Island Records. Despite its contemporary alternative rock flavor, it sank without a trace.
"It was the best thing I ever did musically. That's the only thing I've ever done that I can listen to today without throwing up. I always said if I could record one album I was proud of, I would be satisfied."
Edwards mostly retired from playing and recording music in 1995, returning to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, to raise a family. He later became associated with the telecommunications industry. [3]
In 2001 an album of Northrup demos recorded in the late 1980s featuring Edwards on lead vocals, was released by Metal Mayhem Music under the name JK Northrup. [5]
In a 2004 interview Jeff "JK" Northrup, Edwards' old bandmate and friend, discussed receiving an offer to record a new rock album with Edwards as vocalist. Edwards declined, choosing to remain outside music. Paul Shortino assumed lead vocals on the project. Edwards still contributed songwriting and co-lead vocals for two tracks on the album Afterlife, issued in 2004 on MTM Music. [6]
Edwards made another guest vocal appearance on JK Northrup's 2007 album, Wired In My Skin providing lead vocals on the title track.
Edwards and Northrup also can be heard playing and singing together on two compilation rock albums released by the MelodicRock Records label and website. [6]
Edwards is currently fronting Louisville, KY based rock band Bleu Phonque who released their eponymous debut album in 2018. [7]
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Kingdom Come is a Germany-based hard rock band formed in 1987. The band was originally fronted by Lenny Wolf, until their hiatus in 2016. While there have been no constant Kingdom Come members throughout the band's history, their most recent lineup features four original members who left the band in 1989 and returned in 2018. Wolf was replaced by Keith St John in 2018. The group's 1988 debut album, Kingdom Come, is to date their most internationally popular and biggest selling recording and features their most notable hit "Get It On".
Foreigner is a British-American rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by guitarist Mick Jones, vocalist Lou Gramm, drummer Dennis Elliott, keyboardist Al Greenwood, bassist Ed Gagliardi and multi-instrumentalist, and original King Crimson member, Ian McDonald. Foreigner is one of the world's bestselling bands of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million in the US.
King Kobra is an American heavy metal band founded by drummer Carmine Appice after his tenure with Ozzy Osbourne from 1983 to 1984.
King Kobra III, released in 1988 on New Renaissance Records, was the first and last album by the Edwards, Michael-Phillips, Northrup, Hart and Appice line-up of King Kobra. After the demise of the original line-up, remaining members Carmine Appice and David Michael-Phillips teamed up with Johnny Edwards, Jeff Northrup and Larry Hart, all 3 members of the Sacramento, CA band Northrup at the time.
Head Games is the third studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on 11 September 1979 by Atlantic Records. Recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York, with additional recording and whole mixing taking place at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, it was the only Foreigner album co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, best known for working on Queen's classic albums. It marked the first appearance of new bass guitarist Rick Wills who replaced Ed Gagliardi, and was the last album with founding members Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood, who would leave the band after the recording. Head Games is also the last Foreigner album to feature a lead vocal by guitarist Mick Jones.
Unusual Heat is the seventh studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on June 14, 1991, by Atlantic Records. Recorded at several different studios across the state of New York and England, and produced by Terry Thomas and Mick Jones, it was the only album with lead singer Johnny Edwards. He replaced original lead singer Lou Gramm after the latter had parted company in 1990. Edwards, a veteran singer who'd done a tour of duty with Montrose and was then the frontman for another Atlantic act, Wild Horses. As Edwards told UCR in a separate interview, Wild Horses had only just signed its record deal — and although joining for Foreigner was obviously tempting for financial reasons if nothing else, he was reluctant to walk away from his own band after struggling for years to make it on his own terms.
Mr. Moonlight is the eighth studio album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released by Arista Records in Europe on 24 October and by BMG Entertainment in Japan on 23 November 1994. In the United States and Canada, it appeared in early 1995 on the Rhythm Safari label. Recorded at seven different studios across the States, the album was produced by Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, and Mike Stone, with an additional production by Phil and Joe Nicolo. It was Foreigner's last studio release until Can't Slow Down (2009).
Montrose was an American hard rock band formed in 1973 and named after guitarist and founder Ronnie Montrose. The band's original lineup featured lead vocalist and frontman Sammy Hagar, who later found greater success as a solo artist and as a member of Van Halen. Rounding out the original foursome were bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi. The band experienced moderate success before disbanding in early 1977. The 1973 debut album Montrose eventually proved to be an international sleeper hit, selling in excess of one million copies and attaining platinum status in 1986.
Thrill of a Lifetime is the second album by the American hard rock band King Kobra, released in 1986 by Capitol Records. The album features "Iron Eagle ", the theme song of the 1986 film Iron Eagle. The music video of the song features Louis Gossett Jr. as Charles "Chappy" Sinclair from the film as the band members going through vigorous boot camp training.
Kelly Hansen is an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Foreigner since 2005.
"Juke Box Hero" is a song by British-American rock band Foreigner written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones from their 1981 album 4. It first entered the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in July 1981 and eventually reached #3 on that chart. Released as the album's third single in early 1982, it subsequently went to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart
Bareback is the first album by the American rock band Wild Horses.
Wild Horses was an American hard rock band that originally featured former Buster Brown and Montrose members Johnny Edwards and James Kottak. The band also featured James Kottak's former Kingdom Come bandmate Rick Steier. The band went through at least two bassists: Chris Lester and Jeff Pilson.
Mean is the fifth and final album by American hard rock band Montrose, released in 1987. It has much more of a glam metal sound than previous Montrose albums. It was the lowest-charting release on Montrose's career, reaching No. 165 on the Billboard 200 in June 1987.
"Dirty White Boy" is a song recorded by British-American rock band Foreigner, written by Lou Gramm and Mick Jones, and produced by Roy Thomas Baker, Jones, and Ian McDonald. It was the first single taken from the band's third studio album, Head Games (1979). The B-side, "Rev on the Red Line" has also proven to be very popular among fans, but was never released as an A-side. Lou Gramm's trademark scream at the end of the song is missing from this abbreviated version of "Dirty White Boy". The song spent nine weeks in the Top 40.
Buster Brown was an American glam metal band from Louisville, Kentucky. Members included lead vocalist Johnny Edwards, guitarist Allan Phelps, and bassist Kevin Downs.
King Kobra is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band King Kobra. It was released on April 4, 2011 in Japan with 13 tracks and on April 15, 2011 in Europe and May 5, 2011 in North America with only 12 tracks. It is the first album to feature vocalist Paul Shortino and the first since 1986 to feature Johnny Rod, Mick Sweda, and Dave Henzerling on bass and guitar, respectively.
King Kobra II is a 2013 album by the hard rock band King Kobra. It was the second release by the band King Kobra since its reformation by founding member Carmine Appice.
40: Forty Hits From Forty Years 1977-2017 is a two-disc compilation album by British-American rock band Foreigner, released on May 19, 2017. The album includes two new recordings: a rerecording of "I Don't Want to Live Without You", and the new song "Give My Life for Love".
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