Bruce Welch OBE (born 2 November 1941 as Bruce Cripps) is an English guitarist, songwriter, producer, singer and businessman best known as a founding member of the Shadows.

Bruce Welch was born in Bognor Regis in 1941. His parents (Stan Cripps and Grace Welch) moved him to 15 Broadwood View, Chester-le-Street, County Durham shortly after. Welch's mother died when he was aged six, and he grew up with his Aunt Sadie.

After learning to play the guitar, he formed a Tyneside skiffle band called the Railroaders when he was fourteen. His Rutherford Grammar School friend Brian Rankin (later to be known as Hank Marvin) joined the group, and they travelled to London in 1958 for the final of a talent competition. Although they did not win, they joined with members of other entrant bands and formed the Five Chesternuts with Pete Chester (born 1942), son of comedian Charlie Chester, on drums.

Upon moving to London, Bruce Welch and Hank Marvin briefly operated as the Geordie Boys before enlisting in an outfit called the Drifters. In September 1958, Welch and Marvin joined the Drifters, later to become the Shadows, as Cliff Richard's backing band. As well as success with the Shadows, Welch acted as producer for (among others) Richard and songwriter for his ex-fiancée, Olivia Newton-John. He also released a solo single, "Please Mr. Please", which was not commercially successful, though the song has been covered by several recording artists (most notably Newton-John, who would take it into the top 10 of the US pop and country charts in 1975).

Welch wrote several number 1 hit singles for Richard and for the Shadows. Among tunes or songs written or co-written by Welch are the Shadows' hits "Foot Tapper", "Theme for Young Lovers", and "The Rise and Fall of Flingel Bunt", Marvin Welch & Farrar's "Faithful" and "My Home Town", and Cliff Richard hits "Please Don't Tease", "In the Country", "Summer Holiday", "I Love You" and "I Could Easily Fall (In Love with You)".

He was the musical consultant for the West End musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story.

After the Shadows disbanded in 1990, with Marvin deciding to tour with his own band, Welch's plans for his own tours did not fully materialise until 1998, when he formed Bruce Welch's Shadows (originally called 'Bruce Welch's Moonlight Shadows' – a name that was dropped after 1998). The group featured former Shadows bassist Alan Jones and keyboardist Cliff Hall, with Bob Watkins on drums. Phil Kelly and Barry Gibson (owner of Burns Guitars) shared lead guitar duties until Gibson's departure in 2000. Daniel Martin replaced Phil Kelly for the 2012 Shadowmania.

In 1998, he produced Shadowmania, a one-day show comprising various Shadows tribute bands, with his own band topping the bill. Due to the event's success he presented it annually until 2012, missing only 2004 and 2009 due to tours with the reformed Shadows.

At Shadowmania 2011 he included a 'Tribute to Jet Harris', his former band member who had died from cancer in March of that year. At Shadowmania 2012, Phil Kelly could not appear because of illness and was replaced by session guitarist-songwriter Daniel Martin, and Justin Daish, leader of The Shadowers (Jet Harris' final backing band). ...

Source: Article "Bruce Welch" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Bruce Welch, né le 2 novembre 1941 à Bognor Regis en Angleterre, est le guitariste rythmique du groupe rock britannique The Shadows.

Pionniers du rock européen en 1958, les Shadows accumulent les hits internationaux dès le début de leur carrière, d'abord en compagnie de Cliff Richard, puis en solo. Ils sont le groupe le plus influent du moment. Apache notamment, bouleversera la musique pop en 1960. Avec Wonderful Land (no 1 en 1962, le titre le plus vendu en Grande-Bretagne de toute la décennie 1960, plus qu'aucun autre single, y compris des Beatles), ils sont les premiers à mélanger des guitares électriques à un orchestre classique souvent dirigé par Norrie Paramor. Ils seront les plus gros vendeurs de disques au monde en 1962–1963 et signent des dizaines de hits dans le monde entier, jusqu'à la fin des années 1960. Ils demeurent encore à ce jour le groupe de loin le plus titré des charts britanniques.

Ils retrouvent le succès après une brève séparation, avec des ventes considérables et plusieurs no 1 dans les années 1970 en Grande-Bretagne (les albums 20 Golden Greats et String of Hits dépassent chacun le million de disques vendus), et de nombreux albums disque d'or et platine dans les années 1980.

Le groupe se sépare en 1990 après un dernier Top 5 puis se reforme pour un best of (nouveau Top 10 et disque d'or en Grande-Bretagne) et deux tournées triomphales en 2004 (essentiellement au Royaume-Uni) et 2005 (Europe, dont Paris au Grand Rex) dont les concerts ont été enregistrés sur un coffret double CD et sur 1 DVD The Shadows Final Tour.

Élu en 2000 «guitariste rythmique du siècle» par le magazine Guitarist (devant Keith Richards des Stones), Welch a également composé et produit plusieurs no 1 internationaux hors des Shadows pour son ex-compagne Olivia Newton-John ainsi que pour Cliff Richard.

Il a été décoré par la reine Élisabeth II officier de l'ordre de l'Empire Britannique.

Source: Article "Bruce Welch" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.