Night Ranger is an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest ha ...

band from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist

Brad Gillis Bradley Frank Gillis (born 15 June 1957) is a guitarist most famous for playing with the band Night Ranger. He was in the band Rubicon during the 1970s before Night Ranger. Since forming in 1979, Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy are the only me ...

and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, though bassist

Jack Blades Jack Martin Blades (born April 24, 1954) is an American rock musician. He has worked in the bands Rubicon, Night Ranger (as bassist and one of the lead vocalists), and Damn Yankees (as one of the founding members). He has also recorded with ...

performed on all but one of their albums. Other current members of the band include guitarist

Keri Kelli Keri Kelli (born Kenneth Fear Jr.) is an American hard rock guitarist who has played with artists and groups including Alice Cooper, Slash, Jani Lane, Vince Neil and John Waite. In March 2013 he formed Project Rock together with James Kott ...

and keyboardist Eric Levy. The band's first five albums sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and the group has sold 17 million albums total. The quintet is best known for the

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. ...

Sister Christian "Sister Christian" is a power ballad by the American hard rock band Night Ranger. It was released in March 1984 as the second single from their album '' Midnight Madness''. It was ranked No. 32 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. It was w ...

", which peaked at number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in June 1984, along with several other top 40 hit singles in the 1980s, including "

Don't Tell Me You Love Me "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" is a song by Night Ranger written by Jack Blades from their 1982 album, '' Dawn Patrol''. It was released as a single in December 1982. The song was re-recorded for the music video game ''Rock Band A rock band or ...

", "

When You Close Your Eyes "When You Close Your Eyes" is a song by American rock band Night Ranger from their 1983 album '' Midnight Madness''. In the U.S., the single reached number 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Mainstream Rock Tr ...

", "Sentimental Street", "Four in the Morning (I Can't Take Any More)", and " Goodbye." After their success waned in the late 1980s, the band split up in 1989, and its members pursued other musical endeavors, including

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

and

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

efforts. Brad Gillis and Kelly Keagy teamed up with bassist Gary Moon, and released an album without the other original band members in 1995, but the band soon reunited to release two new albums in the latter half of the decade. Though there have since been personnel changes, the band continues to record and tour.

History

Beginnings

The group's origin can be traced to

Rubicon The Rubicon ( la, Rubico; it, Rubicone ; rgn, Rubicôn ) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, just north of Rimini. It was known as Fiumicino until 1933, when it was identified with the ancient river Rubicon, famously crossed by Julius Ca ...

, a pop/funk group led by Jerry Martini, who gained fame as a member of

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi ...

. After Rubicon's demise in 1979, bassist

formed a trio with two other Rubicon members, drummer Kelly Keagy and guitarist

. Performing under the name Stereo, the threesome added keyboardist

Alan Fitzgerald Francis Alan Fitzgerald (born July 16, 1949) is an American musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known as the second bassist of Montrose and as keyboardist for Night Ranger. He has also performed with Gamma, and former Montrose bandmat ...

, a former member of Montrose, in 1980. Fitzgerald soon recommended enlisting a second virtuoso guitarist, so Jeff Watson, who led his own band in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

, was added to the group. As Stereo, the band played small clubs in San Francisco in 1980, such as the Palms in the Tenderloin. By late that year, the band name was changed to "Ranger" and were opening for acts such as

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo car ...

1980s

In 1982 the band changed its name to Night Ranger after a country band, the Rangers, claimed a trademark infringement. By this point, they had recorded '' Dawn Patrol'' for Boardwalk Records and done opening stints for

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill's death in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sou ...

and

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

; the latter had employed Brad Gillis as a replacement guitarist for the recently deceased

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo al ...

, in the spring and summer of 1982. After Boardwalk folded, producer Bruce Bird secured Night Ranger a deal with

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

on their Camel subsidiary in 1983. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

's ''review of ''7 Wishes'' took a swipe at Night Ranger's "formula" of "sub-Broadway" ballads. Other critics were even less flattering, with terms such as "poseurs" and "pomp-rockers" put forth in various music guides, but favorable critics, such as ''

Hit Parader ''Hit Parader'' was an American music magazine that operated between 1942 and 2008. A monthly publication, it focused on rock and pop music in general until the 1970s, when its focus began turning to hard rock and heavy metal. By the early 1980s ...

'', underscored Jack Blades' puppy-dog appeal, which won over female fans, while Gillis and Watson's dueling guitars pleased the same male audience that guitar-driven bands such as

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

had already begun to cultivate. Both guitarists also featured prominently in magazines such as '' Guitar for the Practicing Musician''. ''Dawn Patrols first single, "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", received a boost through its

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

video airplay, and peaked modestly at number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. "Sing Me Away", a concert favorite sung by Keagy, fell short of the top 40 at a peak position of number 54, though it also was featured on MTV. Night Ranger's popularity solidified with their second album, ''Midnight Madness'', which pushed the band from opening act to headliner status by the summer of 1984. Apart from "Rock in America", ''Midnight Madness'' spun off two hit ballads: "When You Close Your Eyes" (number 14) and "Sister Christian" (number five), written and sung by Kelly Keagy for his younger sister, Christine. "Sister Christian" proved to be the band's milestone—as well as a millstone. According to a later interview with Gillis, "Sister Christian" was actually completed in 1982, but Gillis said the band chose not to release it on ''Dawn Patrol'' because they were afraid of losing their hard rock credibility. In 1985 Night Ranger continued headlining their own tours in support of ''7 Wishes'', which followed a very loose concept of the band flying across the ocean in a WWII

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

bomber. Blades later reported Gillis and he were fascinated by World War II planes. Night Ranger's "Sentimental Street" video even placed them in an

Amelia Earhart Amelia Mary Earhart ( , born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937; declared dead January 5, 1939) was an American aviation pioneer and writer. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many oth ...

scenario, with the entire band lost at sea. Like ''Midnight Madness'', ''7 Wishes'' garnered three hit singles: "Sentimental Street" (number eight; sung by Kelly Keagy); Blades' mid-tempo rocker "Four in the Morning (I Can't Take Anymore)" (number 19), the title describing the time of night Blades wrote the song; and the pleasant, acoustic-flavored "Goodbye" (number 17), which had the band veering in an overtly folk-rock, even country, direction. According to a 2001 TNN interview, Blades wrote "Goodbye" in memory of his older brother, James, who had died from a heroin overdose several years before. Between 1984 and 1987, Night Ranger branched out into soundtracks, recording or contributing songs to several teen-oriented films. In 1984, the band released "Interstate Love Affair" (later appearing on ''7 Wishes'') for ''

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

'', starring

Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1991 film ''The Prince of Tides''. He received ...

. In 1985, they also contributed another ''7 Wishes'' track, "This Boy Needs to Rock", to the soundtrack of '' Explorers''. The band also received exposure on two

Anthony Michael Hall Michael Anthony Hall (born April 14, 1968), known professionally as Anthony Michael Hall, is an American actor best known for his leading role as Johnny Smith in '' The Dead Zone'' from 2002 to 2007. He also rose to fame starring in films with ...

vehicles, ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

'' (1984) and '' Out of Bounds'' (1986). "Rumours in the Air" from ''Midnight Madness'' appeared on the former, while the latter featured "Wild and Innocent Youth", a rollicking Blades-Keagy composition that has still never been released on a Night Ranger album or compilation. In 1987 Blades co-wrote the title theme to the Michael J. Fox film '' The Secret of My Success'', which served as the lead-off single on the band's next album, ''Big Life''. Unlike the previous three Night Ranger albums produced by Pat Glasser, this one was produced by

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

, and featured more up-tempo songs than power ballads. ''Big Life'' featured some fairly mature Blades-Keagy songwriting, including the nuanced fan favorite "Rain Comes Crashing Down", inspired by a stormy California afternoon. Sung by Keagy, "Carry On" was most reminiscent of classic Night Ranger, and featured as the flip side of "Secret of My Success". None of the chosen ''Big Life'' singles hit the top 40. "Secret of My Success" stalled just short of hit-single status at number 64 on ''Billboard's ''Hot 100 despite heavy

rotation in the spring of 1987. Night Ranger also openly quarreled with MCA over choosing "Hearts Away" in lieu of one of their heavier songs. Their label expected another top-10 ballad, like "Sister Christian" or "Sentimental Street", but despite Keagy's passionate vocals, "Hearts Away" failed to catch on during Night Ranger's 1987 tour (peaking at number 90 on ''Billboard's ''Hot 100)—a vigorous series of dates across North America and the Caribbean, featuring The Outfield as the opening act. A third single/video was released for "Color Of Your Smile", but it failed to reach the charts due to limited airplay. In early 1988, Fitzgerald left during the recording of Night Ranger's fifth album, citing his own diminished role in the guitar-driven band, though Fitzgerald had originally suggested the addition of Jeff Watson to augment the band's sound in the first place. With "Fitz" gone, Night Ranger acquired a touring keyboardist, Jesse Bradman, to complete the next album, '' Man in Motion'', which promised a return to earlier form with more hard rock to anchor the group's sagging fortunes. None of the singles from it were distinguished enough to gain radio airplay, though, as MCA once again chose ballads over rockers. "I Did It for Love" (written by

Russ Ballard Russell Glyn Ballard (born 31 October 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Originally coming to prominence as the lead singer and guitarist for the band Argent, Ballard became a songwriter and producer by the late 1970s. His co ...

) fared poorly, even with a cameo appearance by popular actress

Morgan Fairchild Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since. Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera ''Search for T ...

in the video. The band still views "Restless Kind" as a favorite, but it failed to chart. "Don't Start Thinking (I'm Alone Tonight)" and "Reason to Be" were similarly unsuccessful in early 1989. ''Man in Motion'' thus became the first Night Ranger album not to achieve gold or platinum status.

Early 1990s: "Moon Ranger" era

After a tour in 1988–89 supporting ''Man in Motion'' (including an opening slot for

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

), Blades left Night Ranger to form the popular super-group

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

with

Tommy Shaw Tommy Roland Shaw (born September 11, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known for his tenure in the rock band Styx (band), Styx as co-lead vocalist. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with other groups includi ...

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

. In 1991, Keagy and Gillis enlisted Gary Moon (ex-

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...

) to replace Blades as vocalist/bassist and decided to reform as a trio after Jeff Watson decided to pursue a solo career. In 1993, David Zajicek was added as a full member on guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals to the new unit of the group and to back the coming album and bolster the group's stage sound. The reformed nucleus of the group (Gillis, Keagy, Moon, and Zajicek) then recorded ''

Feeding off the Mojo Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

'' in 1995, with producer David Prater, who previously introduced Zajicek to Night Ranger.

1996–1999: "Reunion"

In 1996 Blades returned to Night Ranger, which ultimately led to a reunion of all five original members for two studio albums on CMC Records, which engineered a similar comeback for Styx. While ''Neverland'' and ''Seven'' did not become as successful as the band's early material in the United States, these albums became quite popular in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, and the ballad "Forever All Over Again" (from ''Neverland'') did become a minor

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

hit in the States. The band continued to tour between solo albums and projects, mostly on the summer festival circuit. Blades also began a stint as chief counselor for the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp. In 1999, they joined other 1980s bands in the second installment of the

Rock Never Stops Tour ''Rock Never Stops'' was a U.S. rock tour that featured various rock groups of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. The tour started in 1997 by Mark Hyman of Ashley Talent International. Tour lineup The tour's lineup has shifted from year to year. 1997 * ...

, which also happened to feature Blades' former Damn Yankees bandmate Ted Nugent.

2000–2010

In 2003, Fitzgerald was replaced by

Great White Great White is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The band peaked with several albums during the mid-to-late 1980s, including the platinum-selling records ''Once Bitten'' (1987) and '' ...Twice Shy'' (1989), and those albums ...

rhythm guitarist/keyboardist

Michael Lardie Michael Lardie (born September 8, 1958) is an American musician and record producer known for his memberships in the rock bands Great White and Night Ranger. Early life Lardie was born on September 8, 1958, in Anchorage, Alaska and raised in ...

. Fitzgerald began handling offstage keyboards once again for

in 2004. In 2007, while working on their next release, '' Hole in the Sun'', Watson was fired from the band. His replacement for the remainder of their 2007 tour was Winger/

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

guitarist

Reb Beach Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. (born August 31, 1963) is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake. Career After graduating from Fox Chapel Area High School and attending Berklee College of Music in the ear ...

. Lardie and Beach soon left the band to focus on Great White and Winger/Whitesnake, respectively. Christian Matthew Cullen replaced Lardie in 2007, while Joel Hoekstra took over for Beach by early 2008. ''Hole in the Sun'' was released overseas in April 2007, but did not appear in the US until July 2008. In January 2008, in a podcast interview with ''Stuck in the 80s'', Blades said the band's latest album, ''Hole in the Sun'', would be released in 2008 and supported by a national tour. In addition, he said the band was flying to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in late January to play a special show for Navy and Marines troops on the island. To date, Night Ranger has sold 16 million albums worldwide.

2011–present

When not with Night Ranger, Hoekstra played guitar for the hit Broadway show ''Rock of Ages'' and the

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel ...

. Hoekstra also did double duty for a stretch of the band's 2011 tour, filling in for Mick Jones of Foreigner, which was also on the bill that summer along with Journey. On March 8, 2011, Night Ranger announced new member Eric Levy (

Garaj Mahal Garaj Mahal is a jazz fusion band formed in 2000 that combines jazz, rock, Indian music, and funk. The band consists of Fareed Haque (guitar), Kai Eckhardt (bass), Sean Rickman (drums), and Eric Levy (keyboards). Garaj Mahal allows its music to b ...

) and the departure of Christian Matthew Cullen. Night Ranger released its new album, ''Somewhere In California'', on June 21, 2011. The video for the first single, "Growin' Up in California", can be seen on YouTube. On March 25, 2012, Night Ranger gave an ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' performance of

the Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the ...

prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at

Auto Club Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also prev ...

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regiona ...

. In May 2012, Night Ranger celebrated the 30th anniversary of their debut album ''Dawn Patrol'' by recording "24 Strings and a Drummer" as both a live DVD and album in an intimate, all-acoustic setting in front of a select number of fans at TRI Studios in San Rafael, California. According to Brave Words, the CD/DVD features some of their greatest hits, such as "(You Can Still) Rock in America" and "Sister Christian", in new acoustic arrangements. The live acoustic album consist of 12 songs plus a bonus track. On June 4, 2012, Night Ranger returned to the Islington Academy in London for the second headlining show in 12 months at the 800-capacity venue. On July 12, 2012, Night Ranger opened for the German band The Scorpions at its US farewell "Get Your Sting and Blackout" tour at

Merriweather Post Pavilion Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. In 2010, Merriweather was named the second best amphitheater in the Uni ...

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began wit ...

. Alongside their major hits, the band also commemorated Gillis's brief stint with

's band with a cover of "Crazy Train". From July 13 to 15, 2012, Night Ranger performed in the small midwestern town of Woodhaven, Michigan, for the Uncle Sam Jam. On September 1, 2012, Night Ranger performed as the headlining act for the "River Days" festival in Portsmouth, Ohio. Keyboardist Eric Levy was forced to miss this performance due to his wife giving birth. Brandon Ethridge (from the musicals ''Rock of Ages'' and ''We Will Rock You'') handled the keyboards for this performance. In late 2012, guitarist

(whose resume includes stints with

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

Skid Row A skid row or skid road is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or fo ...

Vince Neil Vincent Neil Wharton (born February 8, 1961), best known by the stage name Vince Neil, is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist of heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, which he fronted from their 1981 format ...

Band,

Ratt Ratt is an American glam metal band formed in San Diego, California, in the 1970s, that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum, and multi-platinum by the RIAA. The group is bes ...

, Warrant, L.A. Guns,

Tal Bachman Talmage Charles Robert Bachman (born August 13, 1970) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1999 hit, " She's So High", a pop rock tune from his self-titled 1999 album that led to a BMI award. Musical career 1 ...

, John Waite, and others) came aboard Night Ranger to substitute for Joel Hoekstra while he was off playing for Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He likewise returned in late 2013, once again to fill in for Hoekstra, when Trans-Siberian called him away again. On June 10, 2014, Night Ranger released their 11th studio album, '' High Road'', available in CD, vinyl, and digital formats. A deluxe edition includes a bonus track, and a DVD of music videos and behind-the-scenes extras; Best Buy offers an exclusive version of the deluxe edition with a second bonus track. On August 21, 2014, Hoekstra was announced as leaving the band to join the guitarist he originally replaced, Reb Beach, in

. Keri Kelli was then brought back in as the permanent replacement for Hoekstra. The band released a live DVD/double CD recording on December 2, 2016, with Frontiers Records. Celebrating the band's 35th anniversary, "35 Years and a Night in Chicago" was recorded May 7, 2016, at the House of Blues in Chicago, Illinois. Included in the release is a new song, "Day and Night". A second encore that night featured another new song, "Running Out of Time". These new songs were part of an album of new material. On January 13, 2017, the band released a new single, "Somehow Someway", from '' Don't Let Up''. The album was released by Frontiers Music SRL on March 24, 2017. It features 11 songs, and was produced by the band. It is the first studio album by the group to include Keri Kelli on guitar. On May 24, 2021, Night Ranger announced the upcoming album ''ATBPO'', to be released in August.

Musical style

Night Ranger's music is typically classified as

glam metal Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...

, and

arena rock Arena rock (also known as AOR, melodic rock, stadium rock, anthem rock, pomp rock, corporate rock and dad rock; ; ) is a style of rock music that originated in the mid-1970s. As hard rock bands and those playing a softer yet strident kind of po ...

Band members

Current members * Kelly Keagy – drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals *

– lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals *

– bass, lead and backing vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitars *Eric Levy – keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals *

– lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Dawn Patrol'' (1982) * '' Midnight Madness'' (1983) * '' 7 Wishes'' (1985) * ''

Big Life Big Life was a record label established in 1987 by Jazz Summers and Tim Parry. It featured hundreds of releases from artists such as The Orb, Stare, Yazz, Junior Reid, Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Mat ...

'' (1987) * '' Man in Motion'' (1988) * ''Feeding off the Mojo'' (1995) * ''Neverland'' (1997) * ''Seven'' (1998) * ''Hole in the Sun'' (2007) * '' Somewhere in California'' (2011) * '' High Road'' (2014) * '' Don't Let Up'' (2017) * ''ATBPO'' (2021)

References

External links

* * *
Interview with Brad Gillis on Yuzu Melodies
{{Authority control 1982 establishments in California 1989 disestablishments in the United States Articles which contain graphical timelines CMC International artists Frontiers Records artists Glam metal musical groups from California Hard rock musical groups from California MCA Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 1989 Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups from San Francisco Musical groups reestablished in 1991 Universal Music Group artists