Bryan Adams 'shines a light' on 4 decades of music

“Shine A Light,” the title track of Bryan Adams’ new album, was co-written with prolific collaborator, English musician Ed Sheeran.

“I met Ed in Dublin this year at one of his shows and we kept in touch,” Adams said in a tour press release. “One day I sent him a chorus I had for a song idea I had called ‘Shine A Light’ and asked him if he was interested in collaborating on it. I got a couple of verses back a few days later, and man you should hear him sing it!”

Sheeran probably won’t be there, but concert-goers will hear the song from the Canadian singer-songwriter himself when he plays the UPMC Events Center in Moon on Aug. 14.

Adams is touring behind “Shine A Light,” released March 1. Already having covered Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the tour continues through 2019 with dates across the United States and South America.

The 12-track album, Adams’ first since 2015’s “Get Up,” is “a good blend of rock and pop and R&B,” he says. It also features a duet with Jennifer Lopez called “That’s How Strong Our Love Is.”

Making the scene

At 15, Adams moved from his hometown of Kingston, Ontario, to Vancouver, where he got into the local music scene. In 1978, when he was 18, he signed with A&M records for $1.

“Cuts Like a Knife,” released in January 1983 is considered Adams’s breakout album, due to the lead singles. “Straight from the Heart” reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Cuts Like a Knife” hit No. 15.

Adams’s follow-up 1984 album, “Reckless,” confirmed Adams’ popularity with singles like “Run to You,” “Summer of ‘69,” “Heaven,” “One Night Love Affair,” “Somebody” and the Tina Turner duet, “It’s Only Love.”

In 1992, his ballad “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” won an American Music Award for best pop/rock single and a Grammy Award for best song written for a motion picture, television or other visual media. In 1991, the song was included in both the soundtrack album for “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” and Adams’ sixth album, “Waking Up the Neighbours.”

Over the years, he has collaborated with artists like Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, Rod Stewart and Sting. He’s written music for more movie soundtracks and co-wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway show, “Pretty Woman: The Musical.”

Showing his Canadian loyalties, Adams performed the Canadian national anthem at NHL legend Wayne Gretzky’s final game in 1999 at Madison Square Garden in New York, when the longtime Edmonton Oiler was playing for the New York Rangers.

Renaissance man

What music fans might not know is that Adams is a longtime vegan and animal rights activist, along with being an accomplished photographer. He’s published several books of photos and his work has appeared in magazines such as “Vanity Fair,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Esquire” and “Interview,” and he’s shot advertising campaigns for prestigious names like Hugo Boss, Guess Jeans, Converse, Ermenegildo Zegna, Jaguar and others.

In 2002, Adams was among photographers from the Commonwealth invited to snap Queen Elizabeth II during her Golden Jubilee; one of his photos from this session was used on Canadian postage stamps in 2004 and 2005. Another Adams portrait of the queen and Prince Philip hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Set list

Adams has more than four decades of songs to chose from on his current tour. Here’s the set list from his July 12 show at Shaw Millennium Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada:

1. “Ultimate Love”

2. “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”

3. “Run to You”

4. “Shine a Light”

5. “Heaven”

6. “Go Down Rockin’”

7. “Don’t Say You Love Me”

8. “It’s Only Love”

9. “Cloud #9”

10. “You Belong to Me”

11. “Summer of ‘69”

12. “Here I Am”

13. “When You’re Gone”

14. “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”

15. “Back to You”

16. “Somebody”

17. “Heat of the Night”

18. “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You”

19. “Cuts Like a Knife”

20. “18 til I Die”

21. Hearts on Fire

22. “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”

23. “Kids Wanna Rock”

24. “Please Forgive Me”

25. “Brand New Day”

Encore

1. “I Could Get Used to This”

2. “Alberta Bound”

3. “I Fought the Law”

4. “Whiskey in the Jar”

5. “Straight From the Heart”

6. “All for Love”