Happy Birthday, Bryan!

As the singer-turned-photographer Bryan Adams turns 60, we celebrate his amazingly successful and extraordinarily varied career

- Hayley Minn

Bryan Adams turns 60 on 5 November, and he’s spent well over half his life in the spotlight.

The singer has sold more than 65 million albums and earned numerous awards, including a Grammy, an Ivor Novello, 20 Junos and an MTV Video Music Award, in addition to multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.

He was even inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011, and both Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1998.

It was Bryan’s fourth studio album Reckless, released in 1984, that really got things going for him. The record produced his hit singles Summer of ’69, Run To You and his first number one, Heaven.

But it was in 1991, when he released the song (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, that Bryan made history. The Robin Hood soundtrack became a worldwide hit, and was number one in countries across the world, even breaking records when he spent a whopping 16 consecutive weeks at the top in the UK.

He has collaborated with everyone from Mel C of the Spice Girls, to Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Sting and Barbra Streisand. He recently said, ‘Singing with other people is one of my great joys, and singing with your musical heroes is icing on the cake. When I look back at who I’ve worked with, I can’t really believe it.’

And his latest album, Shine A Light, released last March, shows that the biggest stars still want to work with him, as he co-wrote the title track with Ed Sheeran, and Jennifer Lopez features on That’s How Strong Our Love Is.

He even co-wrote his first Broadway musical, Pretty Woman: The Musical in 2018, adapted from the hit 1990 film, and it will open in London next year.