Peter Frampton hits a milestone today as he turns 75.
Born on April 22nd, 1950 in Beckenham, Kent, England, he was seven when he found his grandmother's banjolele (part banjo / part ukulele) in the attic and taught himself how to play. This paved the way to his teaching himself guitar and piano.
Influenced by guitarists Hank Marvin from The Shadows, Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, one of Frampton's early bands was The Preachers, which were produced and managed by Rolling Stones' bassist Bill Wyman.
From there he went onto The Herd and Humble Pie -- where he developed his guitar style -- before going solo in 1971. After four studios albums, he hit pay dirt in 1976 with Frampton Comes Alive!
It was the number-one album on the Billboard album chart for 10 weeks and sold more than eight-million copies in the U.S. -- 17-million worldwide.
Comes Alive was both a blessing and a curse as not only did it bring him fame and fortune, but also branded him a pop star. So, it's no surprise that winning the Grammy in 2007 for Best Pop Instrumental Album for Fingerprints is, as he told us last year, one his proudest mo
Frampton has released five albums since Fingerprints, and, despite his battle with Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM), a disabling muscle disease, he has another one in the works.
He just finished the first leg of his Let's Do it Again tour, with the second leg starting on June 13th in Seattle.