34750 fans
Raised in Chicago, Rik Nielsen spent his childhood twiddling away on the guitars in his father's music shop, before teaming up with High School friend Tom Petersson and playing in bands locally, across Europe and in Philadelphia. They returned home to form Cheap Trick and embarked on an extensive touring schedule that included support slots for Kiss, AC/DC and Queen, and finally earned them a deal with Epic Records in 1976. The single Surrender became a surprise hit in Japan in 1978 and their stardom in the country grew to Beatlemania level when they went over to play in Tokyo later that year. The concert became the live album Cheap Trick At Budokan (1979) and after unprecedented sales in Asia, it shot to Number 4 in the US, selling over 3 million copies. Generally regarded as the band's finest moment, fourth studio album Dream Police (1979) built on that success by reaching Number 6 in the US, but their fame gradually dwindled away during the 1980s. They had a big resurgence in 1988 however, when the power ballad The Flame topped the singles charts in the US, Canada and Australia and their following cover of the Elvis hit Don't Be Cruel made it to Number 4. Still going strong, Cheap Trick has racked up album sales of over 20 million and is cited by Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer as an influence. Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
