SUZI QUATRO
LEATHER FOREVER - ENCORE TOUR
With a career now spanning over 50 years of performing, it’s “one more time for Suzi” as she returns in February 2017 for a national tour starting on the Gold Coast on February 3 and finishing in Darwin on March 4. Tickets go on sale early October.
“Well…..what can I say….eh! Australia. You’re in my bones, you’re in my blood, I was born to entertain, I had to come back – I missed you too much,” Suzi said on the announcement of the tour.
With 31 Australian tours under her belt, for this tour, Suzi will bring Andy Scott from THE SWEET on guitar and vocals and Don Powell from SLADE on drums. They will perform as “QSP” for the opening act. The trio have released an album “QSP” which will be released in October. Suzi will have an eight-piece band, performing the hit programme for the second half of the show, in her leather jumpsuit of course.
Born in Detroit Michigan, Suzi was raised in a musical family who all played various instruments. Suzi made her stage debut, playing bongos in her father’s Jazz band, The Quatro Trio. From an early age, she studied classical piano and percussion and at the age of 14 began an all-girl band with her sister Patti calling themselves The Pleasure Seekers. Suzi was ‘told’ she would be playing bass guitar which was as tall as she was and also became the lead singer. In 1969 they changed their name to Cradle and it was this band that caught the attention of famed record producer Mickie Most who offered her a solo contract as a singer/songwriter/musician.
She went to the UK in 1971 to begin her journey to fame. Suzi began working with the now legendary songwriters Chinn and Chapman. Chapman also produced Suzi, which resulted with her first magic hit “Can The Can” which went to #1 around the world, and sold over 2.5 million copies. In the past four years the original video has nearly 6 million hits.
Between 1973 and 1980 Suzi Quatro featured in the British charts for 101 weeks and to date sold over 55 million records including hits, “48 Crash”, “Too Big”, “Devil Gate Drive”, “Daytona Demon”, “The Wild One”, “She’s In Love With You”, “Rock Hard” and her duet with Chris Norman, “Stumblin’ In”.
In 1977 Suzi then spread her wings and headed for the small screen playing Fonzie’s good friend, Leather Tuscadero in Happy Days. She continued to act in other television series including Minder, Dempsey and Makepeace, Absolutely Fabulous and Midsomer Murders. In 1986 Suzi made her West End debut playing the lead of Annie Oakley in Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun receiving critical acclaim. In 1991 Suzi wrote and starred in the title role in a musical about the life of actress Tallulah Bankhead entitled Tallulah Who?
Recently, Suzi presented her one-woman show Unzipped both in the West End and on BBC Radio 2 as a two-hour Christmas special performed live at the BBC Radio Theatre in London. Suzi has had her own radio show on this station since 1999 and has recently published her first poetry book released worldwide titled “Through My Eyes”.
Suzi was one of the first rock and roll acts to tour to Russia where she performed to 500,000 people in six weeks in 1989.
The tour is presented by Duet Productions and Sony Music. Denis Handlin AM, Chairman and CEO Sony Music Entertainment Australia and President of Asia said, “I have been a fan of Suzi’s since day one of her career. A brilliant artist with an amazing career and it’s thrilling to see her touring Australia again! We are proud to be a partner with Duet in the forthcoming Australian tour “Leather Forever” and to be releasing the new album entitled QSP, Suzi Quatro with legendary performers Andy Scott (The Sweet) and Don Powell (Slade) we are really looking forward to them performing on the tour".
