Magnum

The rock band Magnum was formed by Tony Clarkin (guitar, songwriter) and Bob Catley (vocals) and based around the Rum Runners nightclub in Birmingham, England—the famed establishment frequented by Black Sabbath, Wizard, and Duran Duran. Magnum were originally the club's house band, playing a variety of covers. Several line-up changes ensued, with the aforementioned pair remaining as founding members, and in 1975 they broke away from the constraints of the club and began playing their own material, soon securing a deal with Jet Records. Their debut 1978 album Kingdom of Madness was well received by music critics and the band's fanbase, which they had built up following a strenuous touring schedule supporting Judas Priest and Whitesnake. The release of Kingdom of Madness coincided with the advent of punk and bands like Magnum found themselves struggling to compete in the charts with the plethora of new wave bands flooding the radio waves. Consequently, it wasn't until the release of their 1982 album Chase the Dragon that the band started to enjoy the kind of commercial success critics had been predicting. Magnum went on to become a popular act within the UK rock scene, regularly appearing at festivals until their split in 1995; Bob Catley and Tony Clarkin forming a new band called Hard Rain. Magnum reformed in 2001 and went on to record a cache of new studio albums including Brand New Morning (2004), Into the Valley of the Moonking (2009) and Escape from the Shadow Garden (2014). Their 21st studio album, The Serpent Rings, was released in 2020 with The Monster Roars following in 2022. Tony Clarkin made one final appearance on the band's 23rd studio album Here Comes the Rain (2024) before his death on 7 January 2024, just five days prior to the release. Here Comes the Rain became one of Magnum's biggest commercial victories to date, striking number two in Germany, three in Austria, and four in Switzerland and giving the band their highest-charting position in Germany.