PRS for Music Special International Award - Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams has been such a huge part of the UK music scene for so many years that it’s easy to forget he’s actually Canadian. His parents were British and he spends enough time at his London home for him to be identified as one of Chelsea FC’s most prominent supporters.

But the connection with the local music industry and the British music-loving public goes much deeper than that. Because, ever since his breakthrough international album, 1984’s Reckless, his songs have soundtracked UK rock fans’ lives. That album contained many songs that have endured across the decades – Summer of ’69, It’s Only Love, Run To You and Heaven – the latter two such versatile anthems that, years later, they were massive hits all over again for dance acts Rage and DJ Sammy respectively.

Since then, Adams’ career has gone from strength to strength, built on songwriting that’s both respectful of the craft’s traditions and always in tune with modern audiences. Many of those songs have been written with his songwriting partner Jim Vallance, who he met by chance in a Vancouver music store.

Reckless’ follow-up, 1987’s Into The Fire, was another gigantic worldwide hit, but it was 1991’s Waking Up The Neighbours that really set the bar. It contained his song (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, co-written with Michael Kamen and Mutt Lange, which featured on the soundtrack to Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. It went to No.1 in the UK and stayed there for an incredible 16 weeks – a UK record, and so long that magazines ran articles indicating how much life had changed during its marathon run at the summit.

Adams’ life changed too. He became one of the few stars who could play in stadiums anywhere in the world and was in huge demand for collaborations and movie soundtracks. But his dedication to his songwriting never wavered, whether coming up with huge hits for himself (The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You, When You’re Gone with the Spice Girls’ Mel C) or others (he wrote Chicane’s Don’t Give Up). Last year, he released his first album of original songs in several years, Get Up, which showed his partnership with Vallance was as fruitful as ever.

Along the way, he’s somehow found time to become a world-renowned photographer and a great philanthropist, with his Bryan Adams Foundation helping thousands of children and young people with education and learning opportunities over the years.

Today, however, we celebrate his songs and the special part they’ve played in British life.