''Backbone'' is the 33rd studio album by British rock band

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

. It was released on 6 September 2019 and debuted at number six on the UK albums chart, making it the band's 25th UK top ten album and their highest-charting album of original material since '' 1+9+8+2'' (1982). ''Backbone'' also entered the Swiss album charts at number two, and the German album charts at number six, giving the band their highest album chart position in the latter country, despite a long history of enduring popularity.

Background

''Backbone'' is the first album released by the band since the death of rhythm guitarist

Rick Parfitt Richard John Parfitt, (12 October 1948 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo. Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday cam ...

, who had featured on every prior Status Quo album. Speaking about the album in a press release, frontman

Francis Rossi Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo. Early life Rossi was born o ...

expressed both pride in the content and sadness regarding Parfitt's lack of involvement, saying "This new material had to be seriously good. Quo have achieved so much and meant so much to too many people for the quality to slip now ..Losing Rick was hard to bear but, through

Richie Malone Richie Malone (born 18 March 1986) is an Irish musician who plays rhythm guitar for English rock band Status Quo (band), Status Quo. Malone first played with the band in July 2016, when previous guitarist Rick Parfitt was no longer able to tour ...

, who was inspired to pick up a guitar by him, we can not only keep going but actually pick up the pace." He concluded: "I wasn't sure I had another album in me but I couldn't be more proud of ''Backbone''." The title track was released on 12 July 2019 as the first single, with a promo video. The second single, "Liberty Lane", was released on 9 August 2019 and a video for the single was later released in September. The band had started playing "Liberty Lane" and "Cut Me Some Slack" live a month before the album was announced, generating excitement for the new release, which is notable for being one of the few times the band have toured new music before release.

Track listing

Personnel

Status Quo *

– lead guitar, vocals *

– rhythm guitar, vocals * John "Rhino" Edwards – basses, guitars, vocals *

Andy Bown Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo. Career Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The H ...

– keyboards, guitar, vocals * Leon Cave – drums and percussion Production * Francis Rossi – producer, mixing * Andy Brook – engineer, recording, mixing and mastering

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2019 albums Status Quo (band) albums