British guitarist and songwriter Adrian Gurvitz (born Adrian Israel Gurvitz on June 26, 1949 in Stoke Newington) was born into a family quite familiar with the music business; his father was a tour manager for The Kinks, Crispian St. Peters, and others. Gurvits first reached the pop charts in the late 1960s as the frontman for The Gun with “Race with the Devil”, a proto metal influencer that would be recorded by a diverse group of artists over the years. He skipped around, forming a band with his brother, and they eventually joined forces with Ginger Baker. His solo debut came with 1979’s Sweet Vendetta, which featured members of Toto as his backing band. Though big in Japan, it failed to make much of an impact in his home country. Neither did the follow-up, 1980’s Il Assassino.
However, the one-time metal guitarist went on to enjoy his greatest success with 1982’s Classic. The title track lived up to its name, becoming a soft rock standard and a top 10 hit in the UK. He became a songwriter for hire, penning the Eddie Money hit “The Love In Your Eyes”, and became part of one of the biggest selling albums of all time when Aaron Neville and Kenny G.’s version of “Even If My Heart Would Break” appeared on the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. He kept the family business alive through another generation, putting his daughter in the group No Secrets, and steering them to a chart hit with a cover of “Kids In America”. That led to him working with Disney writing for their stable of young stars and producing albums for the label.