Some of his best-known songs include Summer of '69, Heaven, Everything I Do (I Do It for You), Cuts Like a Knife, and Run to You. His most popular albums are Reckless, Waking up the Neighbours and 18 Til I Die.

Adams is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his contribution to popular music. In 1998 he was promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada for his philanthropic work. He was also inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Canada's Juno Awards April 2006. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards.

Early life

Adams was born in Kingston, Ontario and traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East as a child with his diplomat parents, until they settled back in Canada in 1973. Adams started his musical career by dropping out of school at age 15.

Musical career

At the age of seventeen, Adams sent a few demo recordings to A&M Records and was signed to them by age 18 for one dollar. He has released fourteen albums since then.

Some of the first demos written in 1978 have surfaced over the years; most notably is I'm Ready (recorded for both the Cuts Like a Knife LP and later on the MTV Unplugged album), and Remember which went on his first album. Both songs were covered by other artists before his first album even got released.