Bryan Adams

Bryan Guy Adams, (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian singer songwriter, musician, producer, actor, social activist, and photographer.

Adams rose to fame in North America with his album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless.

For his contributions to music, Adams has garnered many awards and nominations, including  20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations, 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television in 1992. He has also won MTV, ASCAP, American Music awards, two Ivor Novello Awards for song composition and has been nominated five times for Golden Globe Awards and three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting for films.

Adams was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for contributions to popular music and philanthropic work via his own foundation, which helps improve education for people around the world.

Adams was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2011 and Canada's Walk of Fame, Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1998., and in April 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards. In 2008, Bryan was ranked 38th on the list of All-Time top artists in the Billboard Hot 100 50th Anniversary Charts. On 13 January 2010, he received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award for his part in numerous charitable concerts and campaigns during his career, and on 1 May 2010 was given the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for his 30 years of contributions to the arts.

Early life
Bryan Guy Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario, to British parents, Elizabeth Jane (née Watson) and Capt. Conrad J. Adams, who had immigrated to Canada from England in the 1950s. Adams's father, a Sandhurst officer, joined the Canadian Army and later spent time as a United Nations peacekeeping observer, which led to him becoming a Canadian foreign service diplomat. Adams travelled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Portugal and Vienna, Austria, during the 1960s, and to Israel during the early 1970s. Adams has a brother, Bruce.

Early career
At the age of 14, Adams worked as a dish washer to save money for a guitar. He started auditioning as a guitarist while rehearsing his own band in his mother's rented basement in North Vancouver. Adams elected to sing until they found a singer, but they never found one. He quit school after his auditions got him jobs to go on the road and play underage in nightclubs with bar bands like Shock and a short stint with Sweeney Todd, who in 1976 released If Wishes Were Horses with the 15-year-old Adams as the singer. By age 17, Adams had quit touring and started working in the Vancouver studio scene, working as a background vocalist for the CBC and working with other artists and with Motown keyboardist Robbie King, whom Adams attributes as having given him his first ever paying session.

In 1978, at the age of 18, Adams met Jim Vallance introduced by a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Vallance was the former drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician and songwriter. They agreed to meet at Vallance's home studio a few days later, which proved to be the beginning of a partnership which still exists today. Later in 1978, Adams signed to A&M records for one dollar. Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years, most notably "I'm Ready" (recorded for both the album Cuts Like a Knife and later his release for MTV Unplugged) and "Remember," which was recorded on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists even before his first album was released. Also recorded during this time was the disco song "Let Me Take You Dancing," which made the Canadian RPM chart in March 1979 and its B-Side "Don't Turn Me Away". "Straight From The Heart" was also written during this period. The song was later recorded for Adams's third album "Cuts Like A Knife" in 1983 and released as a single, becoming Adams's first top ten record in the U.S. in 1983.

1980s
Adams's self-titled debut album was released in February 1980, and marked the beginning of what was to become a long songwriting partnership between Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance. With the exception of "Remember" and "Wastin' Time", most of the album was recorded from 29 October up until 29 November 1979 at Manta Studios in Toronto and co-produced by Adams and Vallance. The album was certified gold in Canada in 1986.

Adams's second album, You Want It You Got It, was recorded in New York City in two weeks and it marked Adams's first album co-produced by Bob Clearmountain. It was released in 1981 and contained the FM radio hit "Lonely Nights," but it was not until his third album that he achieved international recognition, popularity.

Adams also co-wrote songs for other bands during this time including Billboard charted songs like "No Way to Treat a Lady" for Bonnie Raitt, "Don't Let Him Know" for Prism, "Teacher Teacher" for 38 Special, "Edge Of A Dream" for Joe Cocker, Bonnie Tyler, Kiss, and many more.

Cuts Like a Knife, which was released in January 1983, was Adams's breakout album due mainly to the lead singles. "Straight from the Heart" was the most successful song, reaching number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Another single, "Cuts Like a Knife" charted at number 15. "This Time" also placed on the Hot 100. Music videos were released for four of the singles from the album. "Cuts Like a Knife" arguably became Adams's most recognizable and popular song from the album. Its music video received heavy airplay on music television channels. The album peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 album chart and achieved three times platinum status in Canada, platinum in the United States and gold in Australia.

Adams's album, Reckless, co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, peaked at number one on the Billboard 200. The album was released in November 1984 and featured the singles, "Run to You", "Summer of '69", "Heaven", "One Night Love Affair", "Somebody", and "It's Only Love", a duet with Tina Turner. All the singles had accompanying music videos and all charted on the Billboard Hot 100 but only "Run to You", "Summer of '69", and "Heaven" peaked in the top ten. "Heaven" became the most successful single from Reckless at the time of its release on the pop charts, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the mainstream rock chart. "It's Only Love" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. In 1986, the song won an MTV award for Best Stage Performance. After the release of the album, Adams was nominated for Best Male Rock Performance. The album is Adams's best-selling album in the United States and was certified five times platinum.

In December 1984, Adams embarked on a massive 2-year world tour to launch the album starting in Canada and United States, then into Japan, Australia, back to the UK and again to Canada. After winning four Juno Awards, he headed south towards the American West Coast, culminating with 2 dates at the studded Paladium in Los Angeles.

After the tour in the United States, Adams took part of a grand ensemble of Canadian artists named Northern Lights, who recorded the song "Tears Are Not Enough" for the African famine relief effort. Adams later headed back to Europe for a fifty-city concert tour with rock singer Tina Turner, culminating in April with his return to London to headline three sold-out shows at the Hammersmith Odeon. Adams began the first leg of his tour entitled "World Wide in '85" which started in Oklahoma and ended in October 1985. Adams later visited Vancouver, Canada, and afterward returned to the American East Coast to play 2 sold-out concerts in New York.

In 1985 Adams worked on Roger Daltrey's sixth solo album Under a Raging Moon, which was a tribute album to The Who's former drummer Keith Moon who died in 1978. Adams co wrote two tracks for the album those being: "Let Me Down Easy" and "Rebel". The track "Let Me Down Easy" was a Top 15 Hit on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and featured Adams playing guitar and singing backing vocals aside Roger Daltrey also with Robbie McIntosh playing guitar in the music video. Nearly 30 years later, Adams would release his own version of Let Me Down Easy on a 30-year anniversary version of Reckless.

The follow-up album to Reckless was Into the Fire which was released in 1987. The album was recorded at Cliffhanger Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia and mixed at AIR Studios in London and Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. This album contained the hit songs "Heat of the Night" and "Hearts on Fire" and hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1989 Adams did backup singing on Mötley Crüe's album Dr. Feelgood and also on Belinda Carlisle's song "Whatever It Takes" which appeared on her album Runaway Horses.

1990s
In 1990, Adams voiced the evil rat henchman Hoodwink in the Canadian children's animated television special The Real Story of the Three Little Kittens which was created and produced for The Real Story of... (a.k.a. Favorite Songs) anthology series. It was first broadcast on CTV Television Network in Canada and later on HBO in USA.

Adams's next album, Waking Up the Neighbours, co-produced by Adams and Mutt Lange, peaked at number six on the Billboard 200. It was even more successful on the other side of the Atlantic, reaching number 1 on both big European markets, the UK and Germany. The album was released in September 1991 and featured "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", his second #1 hit single in the Billboard Hot 100. This song was featured on the album and in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman. The single topped the charts in numerous countries around the world including big markets such as the US, the UK, France, Australia and Germany. "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" spent 16 consecutive weeks at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, breaking a record previously held by Slim Whitman with Rose Marie since 1955, this record still stands today. It also achieved record-breaking sales in the US. Canadian content regulations were revised in 1991 to allow radio stations to credit airplay of this album towards their legal requirements to play Canadian music. Adams won a Grammy Award in 1991 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television.

Adams further supported the album with his tour, Waking Up the World which started on 4 October 1991, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On 18 December 1991, Adams played two first-ever shows in Reykjavík, Iceland and then performed in the U.S. with a concert at the Ritz Theatre in New York City on 10 January. It was a sell-out in less than twenty minutes. In attendance were music legends Ben E. King and Nona Hendryx. The Canadian leg of the Waking Up The World Tour kicked off in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 13 January 1992, and wrapped up with a standing room only concert in Vancouver, Canada, on 31 January. In February 1992, he started touring in New Zealand and Australia for seven dates—kicking off with a press conference in Sydney. On 21 February, the tour headed to Japan for approximately a dozen shows in six cities. The tour continued through several European countries in June 1992, including Italy, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, and in July 1992, Bryan performed for the first time in Hungary and Turkey (where he filmed his video for "Do I Have To Say The Words?"). During the long tour, further singles from the Waking Up the Neighbours album were released: In the US, the rocky "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" peaked at number 2, and "Do I Have to Say the Words?" reached number 11. In the UK, "Thought I Died and Gone to Heaven" was the most successful single behind "(Everything I Do) I Do it for You" by reaching the Top 10. In September through December 1993, the tour took place in the US. The Asian tour headed to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong in February 1993, before returning to the US during March through May.

In 1993 he collaborated with Rod Stewart and Sting for the single "All for Love" written for the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie Three Musketeers. The single topped the charts worldwide. In November 1993 Adams released a compilation album entitled So Far So Good, that again topped the Charts in numerous countries such as the UK, Germany and Australia. It included a brand new song called "Please Forgive Me", that became another number 1 single in Australia as well as reaching the Top 3 in the US, the UK and Germany. It was followed in 1995 by, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" (song released with the Motion Picture Soundtrack of the movie Don Juan DeMarco). It became another number 1 in the US and Australia as well as a Top 5 hit in the UK and Germany. Released in June 1996, the album 18 til I Die contained the UK Top 10 singles "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me" and "Lets Make a Night to Remember". The album peaked at number thirty-one on the Billboard 200 in the United States and held that position for three weeks. It was more successful in Europe and Australia and reached the top spot on the UK charts for Adams's third number 1 in a row. The album has been certified platinum in the United States and is Adams last studio effort which has been certified by the RIAA. 18 til I Die was certified three times platinum in Canada and Australia and two times platinum in the UK. On 27 July Adams performed at the Wembley Stadium in London in front of a crowd of about 70,000. It was his second sold-out concert there and it is often considered as his biggest concert ever as it went out live to 25 countries and fans from all over the world came up to watch the performance.It also received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. In December 1997, Adams released MTV Unplugged with three new tracks: "Back to You", "A Little Love" and "When You Love Someone". "Back to You" was the first single, followed by "I'm Ready", an acoustic version of the Cut's Like A Knife track. The album was a top 10 success in Germany while both singles reached the top 20 in the UK.

In 1996, Adams joined good friend & idol Don Henley on stage with a Duet at Live at Honors, Everybody Knows.

On a Day Like Today was released in 1998 and was the first studio album since 1981's You Want It You Got It which wasn't certified by the RIAA. This release coincided with his contract being sold to Interscope Records. Despite Interscope's involvement or lack of, On a Day Like Today enjoyed tremendous success internationally, entering the Top 5 in Germany and was certified platinum in the UK. It generated two British Top 10 singles: "Cloud Number Nine" and "When You're Gone", which featured Melanie C of The Spice Girls.

To commemorate the millennium, Adams released The Best of Me, his most comprehensive collection of songs at that time, which also included two new songs, the title track "The Best of Me" and the UK number 1 track "Don't Give Up". The album reached the Top 10 in Germany and was certified three times platinum in Canada and Platinum in the UK. The single from the album, "The Best of Me" was a very successful hit with the exception of the US, where neither the single or the album were released by Interscope Records.

2000s


In 2000, Adams wrote and sang on a song for Chicane's album Behind the Sun called "Don't Give Up". Even though his voice is somewhat altered electronically, it is still recognisable. An official music video was made of the song, in which Adams also appears.

In 2002, Adams wrote and performed the songs for the DreamWorks animated film, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The songs were included on the film's soundtrack. The most successful single from the soundtrack was "Here I Am", a British Top 5 and German Top 20 hit. The song also gave him his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Song from a Motion Picture.

In 2004, ARC Weekly released its chart of top pop artists since the last 25 years and Adams came up at number 13 in the chart with four number-one singles, ten top five hits and 17 top ten hits. Six years after the release of On a Day Like Today, Room Service was released in September 2004. It topped the charts in Germany and Switzerland and peaked at number four in the UK, selling 440,000 copies in its first week in Europe and thus debuted at number one on Billboard's European album chart. The single, "Open Road", was the most successful single from the album and peaked at number one in Canada and number twenty-one in the UK. In May 2008, the album was also released in the US but charted only at number 134 on the Billboard 200.

In 2005, Anthology, the first 2-disc compilation was released, containing two new tracks. The US release features a new version of "When You're Gone", a duet with Melanie C. Also in 2005, Adams re-recorded the theme song for the second season of Pamela's Fox sitcom Stacked.

In 2006, Adams wrote and performed the theme song "Never Let Go" which was featured in the closing credits of the film The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher. Adams also co-wrote the song "Never Gonna Break My Faith" for the film Bobby. The song was performed by the R&B singers Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige and earned him a Golden Globe Nomination in 2007.

Adams released his eleventh album internationally on 17 March 2008. It was appropriately called 11. The album was released in the US exclusively at Wal-Mart and Sam's Club retail stores on 13 May 2008. The first single released from the album was "I Thought I'd Seen Everything". Adams did an 11-day, 11-country European acoustic promotional tour to kick off the release of the album. The album debuted at number one in Canada (making it his first album to reach that position since Waking Up the Neighbours in 1991) as well as reaching number two in Germany. In the United States, the album charted at number 80. In May 2009, Bryan Adams announced on his Twitter account that he has started writing and recording a new album in Paris.

Adams was one of the four musicians who were pictured on the second series of the Canadian Recording Artist Series to be issued by Canada Post stamps on 2 July 2009. The total estimated number of Bryan Adams stamps that were printed is one and one-half million.

In December 2009, he wrote, produced and performed the song "You've Been a Friend to Me" for the Disney film Old Dogs.

2010s
In February 2010, Adams released "One World, One Flame" – a track used as a theme song by the German TV Station ARD for their Olympic coverage of Olympic Games in Vancouver.

On 12 February 2010, Adams performed a duet with Nelly Furtado. The song was called "Bang the Drum" and was co-written with Jim Vallance for the opening ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. The ceremony was held indoors at BC Place Stadium.

Adams performed at a party that Wayne Gretzky and Jaromír Jágr attended during Olympics, this brought all three together once again, following Gretzky's final game in 1999 at Madison Square Garden, when Gretzky then played for the New York Rangers and Jagr was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Adams then sang the Canadian national anthem and ad-libbed a line to acknowledge Gretzky's departure, singing, "We're gonna miss you Wayne Gretzky."

Adams was one of several well-known Canadian musicians to visit Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at his official residence. Originally the visit was meant to be Adams's plea to the Prime Minister to change the archaic copyright laws, instead Harper turned it into a photo op for himself and an informal "jam session".

In November 2010, Adams released the acoustic album Bare Bones. It was recorded live at various locations on his "Bare Bones Tour" earlier in the year. It was certified gold in India a year later, and he thanked all his Indian fans for supporting him.

On 19 February 2011, Bryan Adams and his band played in Kathmandu, Nepal making him the first ever international artist to perform in Nepal which was organized by ODC Network (P) LTD. Bryan Adams performed at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Cricket World Cup on 17 February 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh and also performed in a solo concert in the next day.

On 19 November 2011, Adams wrote and recorded the dance music single/video for the Loverush UK! single "Tonight in Babylon" in Southwark, London.

On 20 November 2011, Adams performed "When You're Gone" on the TV show The X Factor in the UK with the remaining acts in the competition.

On 31 January 2012, Adams announced a 20-date concert tour across Canada between April and June to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the "Waking Up the Nation Tour".

In July 2012, Adams was featured as the voice of the lead character of a dog called Jock, in the animated South African film Jock of the Bushveld. He also wrote and sang two of the main songs: "Way Oh" and "By Your Side". The American released of the film was retitled "Jock the Hero dog".

In 2012, he wrote and sang on the dance song "Tonight In Babylon", by London duo Loverush UK!. This song was also recorded/released on his Bare Bones Sydney Opera House video.

In 2013, he wrote and sang on "After All" with Michael Bublé from his album To Be Loved. Also in 2013, the Bare Bones acoustic show, "Live at the Sydney Opera House" recorded in 2011, is released on DVD and CD.

In an interview on 18 March 2014, Adams revealed that he has signed a three album contract with Verve Records in the U.S.A. With one album celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Reckless, a new album of covers, and another one with new songs produced by Jeff Lynne.

On 24 May 2014 Adams announced via Twitter that a new album titled Tracks of My Years will be released in September 2014. The album was released on 30 September 2014 and reached #1 on the Canadian album chart. The album contains cover songs and one original song written with Jim Vallance.

On 13 July 2014, Adams presented a live concert on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Canada. Adams was moved by the crowd and mentioned: "Quebec City is the Capital of music and artists."

In July 2014, Adams filmed Bryan Adams in Concert for the American program Great Performances on PBS. It was recorded at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto and first shown on American Public Television on 2 March 2015.

Adams will release his first album of all new material since 2008's 11 on 16 October 2015. The album, titled Get Up is co-written by long time collaborator Jim Vallance and produced by Jeff Lynne

On 7 September 2015, it was announced that Adams would be performing at the 2015 AFL Grand Final, along with English singer Ellie Goulding and American musician Chris Isaak.

Humanitarianism
Most of Adams's philanthropic activity is focused on "The Bryan Adams Foundation", which aims to advance education and learning opportunities for children and young people worldwide, believing that an education is the best gift that a child can be given. The foundation is mostly funded by Adams himself.

Since the 1980s, Adams has participated in concerts and other activities to help raise money and awareness for a variety of causes. His first high profile charity appearance came in 1985 when he opened the US transmission of Live Aid from Philadelphia. In June of the next year, Adams participated in the two-week Amnesty International "A Conspiracy of Hope" tour alongside Sting, U2 and Peter Gabriel. In 1986 Adams performed at The Prince's Trust All-Star Rock Concert in Wembley Arena to celebrate first 10 years of the Trust and again in June 1987 at the 5th Annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala along with Elton John, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others. The following year Adams performed at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert at Wembley Stadium.

Adams helped commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall when, in 1990, he joined many other guests (including his songwriting partner Michael Kamen) for Roger Waters' massive performance of The Wall in Berlin, Germany. He performed the Pink Floyd songs "What Shall We Do Now?" and "Young Lust" during the performance of The Wall, and then joined Waters, Joni Mitchell, Cyndi Lauper, Van Morrison, Paul Carrack and others to perform Waters' "The Tide Is Turning" to close the concert. His version of "Young Lust" peaked at number 7 at Mainstream Rock Tracks.

On 29 January 2005, Adams joined the CBC benefit concert in Toronto for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Twenty years after performing at Live Aid in the USA, Adams played at Canada's Live 8 show in Barrie, Ontario. Later that year, he performed in Qatar and raised £1.5M ($2,617,000) from the concert. He also auctioned a white Fender Stratocaster guitar signed by many of the world's prominent guitarists. The guitar raised a total of 3.7 million US dollars for charity and thus set a record as the world's costliest guitar. The money went to Qatar's "Reach Out to Asia" campaign to help the underprivileged across the continent. Money raised also went to some of his own projects like rebuilding a school in Thailand and building a new sports center in Sri Lanka, both of which had been devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

On 29 January 2006, Adams became the first Western artist to perform in Karachi, Pakistan after 11 September attacks, in conjunction with a benefit concert by Shehzad Roy to raise money for underprivileged children to go to school. Some of the proceeds of that concert also went to victims of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake.

On 18 October 2007, Adams was billed to perform in Tel Aviv and Jericho as part of the OneVoice Movement concerts, hoping to aid in solving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The peace concert for supporters of a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel was called off because of security concerns.

On 25 May 2005, Adams raised £1.3M with cousin Johnny Armitage, from a concert and auction entitled Rock by the River for the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. On 15 May 2006, Adams returned to London to attend the Hope Foundation's event (hosted by designer Bella Freud), helping to raise a portion of the £250,000 to support the Palestinian refugee children. The following June, he offered individuals from the public the chance to bid to sing with him live in concert at three different charity auctions in London. Over £50,000 was raised with money going to the NSPCC, Children in Need, and the University College Hospital. On 28 February 2008 he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program.

To support the peace in Georgia, Adams played a special outdoor concert in Tbilisi, on 19 September 2008.

He played at The Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Born Free Foundation at "Wild and Live" on 14 November 2009. His foundation raised £170,000 for Kids Company, a UK-based charity that helps underprivileged and abused children in London, England.

Animal rights
During his tours of 1992–1994, Adams successfully campaigned for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with Greenpeace Chairman David McTaggart. The two of them distributed over 500,000 postcards at concerts around the world encouraging people to write to politicians of countries blocking the vote, encouraging them to vote "yes" for the creation of the sanctuary at the meetings of the International Whaling Commission. IWC officially created the sanctuary on 26 May 1994.

On 24 April 1993, Adams joined Farm Aid VI alongside Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Ringo Starr.

Adams supports the animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) by shooting photos for them and writing letters. He wrote to the CEO of KFC restaurants in Canada in November 2007, asking them to become leaders in using more modern and more humane methods of killing chickens. Adams has been a strict vegetarian since 1989."

On 14 September 2014, Adams was the first artist to sing at the Invictus Games organised by Prince Harry in East London. Prince Harry reciprocated by attending Adams's exhibition on Wounded soldiers in London.

Photography
Adams works as a photographer as well as musician. On 16 September 2015 he was given a fellowship in the Royal Photographic Society in London for his work in photography. Adams has been published in British Vogue, L'uomo Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Interview magazine and i-D, among others, and shot advertising campaigns for Guess Jeans, Sand, Converse, Montblanc, John Richmond, Fred Perry, Escada, Gaastra, Zeiss, Joop and OPEL cars in Germany.

He has won Lead Awards twice in Germany for his fashion photography, most recently June 2012 and previously in 2006. Other photographic endeavours include founding the art fashion Zoo Magazine, based in Berlin, Germany for which he shoots regularly.

His first book of photos was released by Steidl in October 2012 titled Exposed. Previous published collaborations include; American Women June 2005, for Calvin Klein in the United States; proceeds from this book went to Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City for their breast cancer research for programs, and Made in Canada December 1999 for Flare Magazine in Canada; proceeds went to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Both books were dedicated to his friend Donna, who died of the disease.

As a photographer, Adams has worked with many of his musical peers, including Lana Del Rey, Jared Leto, The Who, Sting, Shania Twain, Mick Jagger, Arcade Fire, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Robert Plant, Take That, Joss Stone, Plácido Domingo, Sarah McLachlan, Celine Dion, Billy Idol, Moby, Amy Winehouse, Annie Lennox, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry, Lenny Kravitz, Die Antwoord, Boy George, John Newman, Vanessa Paradis, Michael Buble, Theo Hutchcraft, Hurts, Anastacia, Gilberto Gil and Morrissey to name a few. On 27 November 2000 Adams played onstage with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall. A DVD of the concert was issued. Adams photographed the band and his photos appear in the DVD booklet.

In 2002, Adams was invited, along with other photographers from the Commonwealth, to photograph Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee; one of the photographs from this session was used as a Canadian postage stamp in 2004 and again in 2005 (see Queen Elizabeth II definitive stamp (Canada)), another portrait of both Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip is now in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Adams supports the Hear the World initiative as a photographer in its aim to raise global awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss.

He photographed Michael J. Fox and Tatjana Patitz in the 2011 Carl Zeiss AG company calendar in New York City in the summer of 2010. The focus was about the size difference of the subjects in a comedic presentation. In 2011, Adams provided the cover art for Lioness: Hidden Treasures, a posthumous release by Amy Winehouse.

Adams released a photographic book entitled Wounded – The Legacy of War, to highlight the real human consequences of war in November 2013. Adams has also recorded songs critical of warfare on past albums.

His photographic exhibitions include:
 * Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 1999
 * McCord Museum, Montreal 2000
 * Saatchi Gallery, London 2000
 * photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany 2001???
 * ICA, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London 2004
 * Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto 2004
 * Calvin Klein, NYC, Dallas, Paris 2005
 * Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London 2005–06
 * Il Tempio Di Adriano, Rome, Italy, July 2006
 * photokina, Köln (Cologne), Germany, September 2006
 * Leica Gallery, Vienna, Austria, November 2006
 * Galerija Fotografija, Ljubljana, Slovenia, November 2006
 * H.Stern exhibition, São Paulo, Brazil, March 2007
 * PhotoEspana, Madrid, Spain, Fotografos Insospechados (Unsuspected Photographers) Mickey Rourke photographs, May–July 2007
 * Nunnington Hall, North Yorkshire, England, May–June 2007
 * 401 Projects, New York City, September–November 2007
 * The Hospital, Covent Garden, London, England, November 2007 (Modern Muses)
 * The National Portrait Gallery, London, England, February–May 2008 (Modern Muses)
 * Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany, May 2008 (Photos of the German National Football Team)
 * 14th Street Gallery, New York City, May 2008 (Hear The World) (plus other exhibitions in Berlin and Zurich with the same show)
 * Saatchi Gallery, London, July 2009 (Hear The World)
 * Calvin Klein American Women 2010, New York City, September 2010
 * Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, July 2012 (Exposed)
 * NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany. "Bryan Adams – Exposed" February – May 2013
 * Westlicht Gallery, Vienna, Austria. "Bryan Adams – Exposed"
 * Marfa Contemporary, Marfa, Texas, May – July 2013
 * City Arts Center, Oklahoma City, February – May 2013
 * Goss-Michael Gallery, Dallas, Texas, December 2012 – February 2013
 * Glenbow Gallery, Calgary, Canada, March – June 2014
 * Stadtgalerie, Klagenfurt, Austria, 3 July – 5 October 2014: "Bryan Adams – Exposed" ]
 * Stadthaus Ulm, Germany, June – September 2014
 * Centro Cultural de Cascais, Portugal October 2014 - 1 February 2015
 * Somerset House, London, England November 2014 - 31 January 2015
 * Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Québec City, Canada 19 February 2015 – 14 June 2015

Personal life
Adams and Alicia Grimaldi, who is also a trustee and co-founder of his namesake foundation, had their first daughter, Mirabella Bunny Grimaldi Adams on 22 April 2011. They announced the birth of their second daughter Lula Rosylea Grimaldi Adams, via People Magazine on 15 February 2013.

Adams has been vegetarian since the age of 29, originally for health reasons, but is also an advocate for animal rights.

Adams has homes in Chelsea, London, and Paris. He is a supporter of Chelsea F.C.

Discography

 * Studio albums
 * Bryan Adams (1980)
 * You Want It You Got It (1981)
 * Cuts Like a Knife (1983)
 * Reckless (1984)
 * Into the Fire (1987)
 * Waking Up the Neighbours (1991)
 * 18 til I Die (1996)
 * On a Day Like Today (1998)
 * Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
 * Room Service (2004)
 * 11 (2008)
 * Tracks of My Years (2014)
 * Get Up! (2015)

Concert tours

 * 1981–1982 "You Want It You Got It Tour" (including some dates with Loverboy)123
 * 1983–1984 "Cuts Like a Knife Tour" (including some dates with Journey and The Police)
 * 1984–1985 "Reckless Tour" (including some dates in England and Europe with Tina Turner)
 * 1986 "Amnesty International" / "Conspiracy of Hope Tour"
 * 1987–1988 "Into The Fire Tour"
 * 1991–1993 "Waking Up The World Tour"
 * 1993–1994 "So Far So Good Tour" (including some date with The Rolling Stones)
 * 1996–1997 "18 Til I Die Tour"
 * 1997–1998 - "Unplugged Tour"
 * 1999 "White Elephant Tour" (including some date with The Rolling Stones)
 * 1999–2001 "The Best of Me Tour"
 * 2002–2004 "Here I Am Tour"
 * 2004–2005 "Room Service Tour" (including some dates with the Def Leppard)
 * 2005–2008 "Anthology Tour"
 * 2008–2009 "11 Tour" / "Acoustic Show" (including some dates with the Foreigner and Rod Stewart)
 * 2010–2014 "The Bare Bones Tour" (including some dates for the "Waking Up The Neighbours 20th Anniversary' Tour 2011–2012" and for the "Reckless 30th Anniversary Tour 2014–2015")

Awards
In addition to his success at the Junos and Grammys and other music awards, Adams was also nominated for his fifth Golden Globe in 2007 for songwriting on the film Bobby which was sung by Aretha Franklin and Mary J. Blige, and has been nominated three times for Academy Awards for writing music in film.

In 1990, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.