John Fogerty | |
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 Fogerty atSXSW 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | John Cameron Fogerty (1945-05-28)May 28, 1945 (age 80) Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Origin | El Cerrito, California, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1959–present |
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| Website | Official website |
John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American musician. Together withDoug Clifford,Stu Cook, and his brotherTom Fogerty, he founded theswamp rock bandCreedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter. CCR had nine top-10 singles and eight gold albums between 1968 and 1972, and was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.[6]
Since CCR parted ways in 1972, Fogerty has had a successful solo career,[7] which still continues. He was listed onRolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest Songwriters (at No. 40)[8] and the list of 100 Greatest Singers (at No. 72).[9] His songs include "Proud Mary", "Bad Moon Rising", "Fortunate Son", "Green River", "Down on the Corner", "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Up Around the Bend", "Have You Ever Seen the Rain", "Centerfield", "The Old Man Down the Road", and "Rockin' All Over the World".
Fogerty was born inBerkeley, California, and grew up in nearbyEl Cerrito,[10] the third of five boys born to Galen Robert and Edith Lucile (Lytle) Fogerty. He is ofIrish descent.[11] His father was born inIowa, and worked as aLinotype operator for theBerkeley Gazette in California. Lucile Fogerty taught second grade and was fromGreat Falls, Montana. John first attended a Catholic school, the School of the Madeleine, in Berkeley, California. In his memoir,Fortunate Son, Fogerty was critical of the school, saying when in class he was not permitted to go to the bathroom when he asked, and frequently wet himself and was forced to sit in his wet clothing.[12]
After one year, Fogerty enrolled in the nearby Harding Grammar School. In his book, he stated that his parents werealcoholics and that they divorced when he was in the third or fourth grade.[13] He later attendedSt. Mary's High School, then transferred toEl Cerrito High School, where he met the other future members of CCR and took guitar lessons from Berkeley Folk Festival creator/producerBarry Olivier.[14][15] Fogerty's older brother Tom was a guitarist and bandmate in the group that eventually became CCR. Fogerty spent summer vacations atPutah Creek, nearWinters, California, which became the subject of the CCR song "Green River".[16][17]
While in junior high school in 1959, Fogerty formed acover band withbassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford called the Blue Velvets. The band was inspired byrock and roll pioneers, especiallyLittle Richard[18] andBo Diddley. Later, Fogerty's brother Tom joined the group. In 1964, the band signed withFantasy Records, which, without the band's knowledge or approval, changed the band's name from the Blue Velvets toThe Golliwogs. This group recorded seven singles that were not commercially successful.[19]
Fogerty received his draft notice for military service during theVietnam War in 1966.[20] The same day he received the notice, he went to a localUnited States Army Reserve recruiter, who signed him up immediately for training as a supply clerk.[20] Fogerty believes the recruiter dated the paperwork to take effect before the draft letter arrived.[21] During his time in the Army Reserve, Fogerty attended training atFort Bragg,Fort Knox, andFort Lee.[20] He completed his six months of active duty service in July 1967.[20]
Faced with another four to five more years of duty as a reservist, Fogerty began a campaign to sabotage his fitness for service. He began to engage in such activities as strict fasting to give an emaciated appearance, smoking marijuana before an army psychological evaluation, engaging in petty crime, and planting a syringe in his belongings. As a result of this behavior, Fogerty was granted an early discharge from the Army Reserve in mid-1968.[22]
After Fogerty's active duty Army Reserve service ended, the Golliwogs resumed playing. In 1968, they changed their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival, with John Fogerty taking his brother's place as lead singer. The band released theireponymous debut album and also had their first hit single, "Susie Q". Many other hit singles and albums followed, beginning with "Proud Mary" and the albumBayou Country.
Fogerty, as writer of the songs for the band as well as lead singer and lead guitarist, felt that his musical opinions should count for more than those of the others, leading to resentments within the band.[23] These internal rifts, and Tom's feeling that he was being taken for granted, caused Tom to leave the group in January 1971. The two other group members, bassist Cook and drummer Clifford, wanted a greater role in the band's future. Fogerty, in an attempt to keep things together, insisted Cook and Clifford share equal songwriting and vocal time on what became the band's final album,Mardi Gras,[24] released in April 1972, which included the band's last two singles, the 1971 hit "Sweet Hitch-Hiker", and "Someday Never Comes", which made it into theBillboard Top 20. The album was a commercial success despite poor reviews, peaking at number 12 and achieving gold-record status. The group disbanded shortly after the album was released.
The only reunion of all four original members was at Tom Fogerty's wedding in 1980. Fogerty, Clifford, and Cook played a 45-minute set at their 20th El Cerrito high school class reunion in 1983, and Fogerty and Clifford were reunited again for a brief set at their 25th class reunion.
Even early in his career, “Fogerty's attitude toward music [was] serious, practiced, even perfectionistic. He drilled his bandmates in rehearsal after rehearsal, insisting that his songs be performed his way. ...[He] was known for not indulging in drugs, and although John struggled with alcohol later in life he had only contempt for musicians whose habits interfered with their performances.”[25] “Not in my band,” he writes in his memoir,Fortunate Son. “You dare not be stoned playing music around me.... When you're working, you're supposed to be working.”[26]
As CCR was coming to an end, Fogerty began working on a solo album ofcountry and westerncovers, on which he produced, arranged, and played all of the instruments. Despite the solo nature of the recordings, however, Fogerty elected to credit the album to The Blue Ridge Rangers—a band of which he was the only member.[27]
The eponymousThe Blue Ridge Rangers was released in 1973; it spun off thetop-20 hit "Jambalaya", as well as a lesser hit in "Hearts of Stone".[27] Fogerty, still using "The Blue Ridge Rangers" name, then released a self-penned rock-and-roll single: "You Don't Owe Me" b/w "Back in the Hills" (Fantasy F-710). It was a commercial flop, failing to make the USBillboard Hot 100, though "You Don't Owe Me" was a minor hit in Canada, reaching No. 79. Fogerty thereafter abandoned the "Blue Ridge Rangers" identity, and released all his subsequent work under his own name.[27] In early 1974, Fogerty released "Comin' Down The Road"—backed with the instrumental "Ricochet".
His first official solo album,John Fogerty, was released in 1975.[27] Sales were slim and legal problems delayed a follow-up, though it yielded "Rockin' All Over the World", a No. 27 hit for Fogerty in the United States. In 1977, the British rock bandStatus Quo recorded their version of "Rockin' All Over the World", which hit No. 3 in the UK and was a Top 20 hit in several other countries (although it did not make the Top 100 in the US).[27] Status Quo played it at the opening of the 1985Live Aid concert.
In 1976, Fogerty finished an album calledHoodoo.[27] A single, "You Got the Magic" backed with "Evil Thing", preceded the album's release, but it performed poorly. The album, for which covers had already been printed, was rejected byAsylum Records a few weeks before its scheduled release, and Fogerty agreed that it was not up to his usual high standards. Fogerty told Asylum Records to destroy the master tapes forHoodoo sometime in the 1980s.[28]
After a hiatus of several years from the music industry, Fogerty's solo career re-emerged with 1985'sCenterfield, his first album forWarner Bros. Records, which had taken co-ownership of Asylum's contract with Fogerty.[27]Centerfield went to the top of the charts and included a top-10 hit in "The Old Man Down the Road".[27] The title track is frequently played on classic rock radio and at baseball games to this day, but the album led to legal problems for Fogerty.
Two songs on the album, "Zanz Kant Danz" and "Mr. Greed", were believed to be attacks on Fogerty's former boss atFantasy Records,Saul Zaentz.[27] "Zanz Kant Danz" was about a pig that cannot dance, but would "steal your money". When Zaentz responded with a lawsuit, Fogerty issued a revised version: "Vanz Kant Danz" (changing the lead character's name to Vanz). Another lawsuit (Fantasy, Inc. v. Fogerty) claimed that "The Old Man Down the Road" shared the same chorus as "Run Through the Jungle", a song from Fogerty's days with CCR to which Fantasy Records still owned the publishing rights.[27] Fogerty ultimately won his case when he proved that the two songs were distinct compositions and also that sounding like himself was not plagiarizing. Fogerty thencountersued for attorney fees (Fogerty v. Fantasy). After losing in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Fogerty won his case in theU.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that a trial court has discretion in awarding fees to defendants or plaintiffs.[27]
On May 31, 1985, Fogerty filmed a one-hour music and interview special for Showtime calledJohn Fogerty's All-Stars. The setlist consisted ofrhythm and blues tunes from the 1960s, as well as material from theCenterfield LP and the song "No Love in You" written by Michael Anderson, which Fogerty found on theTextones' debut albumMidnight Mission and he later recorded with Textones' band leader Carla Olson.John Fogerty's All-Stars was recorded in front of an audience of Warners Bros. Music employees and other invited guests at A&M Records on La Brea in Hollywood. The band includedAlbert Lee,Booker T. Jones,Duck Dunn,Steve Douglas, andPrairie Prince.
The follow-up album toCenterfield wasEye of the Zombie in 1986, but it was significantly less successful than its predecessor.[27] Fogerty toured behind the album, but he refused to play any CCR material.Eye of the Zombie took on a darker mood, talking about a troubled society, terrorism, and pop stars selling out. For over 20 years after theEye of the Zombie tour ended in late 1986, Fogerty refused to play material from the album in concert. However, "Change in the Weather" was included in the setlist for his 2009 tour, and it was even re-recorded for that year's solo release,The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.
Fogerty played CCR material again at a concert in Washington, D.C., for Vietnam veterans that took place on July 4, 1987. The show was aired onHBO. Aside from a guest appearance at the Palomino and performance at the 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, this was the first time Fogerty had performed any Creedence Clearwater Revival songs for a large audience since 1972. On May 27, 1989, he played a set of CCR material atOakland Coliseum for the Concert Against AIDS. His backing band that night consisted ofJerry Garcia andBob Weir on guitars,Randy Jackson on bass, andSteve Jordan on drums.[29]
In 1990, his brother Tom Fogerty died of complications fromAIDS at the age of 48, survived by his second wife and six children. Tom contracted HIV from blood transfusions during surgery for a back ailment. Specifically, he died from a tuberculosis infection. John Fogerty has mentioned that the darkest moments in his life were when his brother took the record company's side in their royalties dispute, and the fact that when his brother died, the two of them were barely speaking to each other.[30] In fact, even in the brothers' very last conversation with each other, Tom at one point referred to Creedence Clearwater Revival's former manager Saul Zaentz as his "best friend".[31] Given that Zaentz had swindled the band out of millions of dollars and had just recently attempted to sue John, this revelation made it painfully difficult for John to reconcile with Tom. In the eulogy he delivered at Tom's funeral, he said: "We wanted to grow up and be musicians. I guess we achieved half of that, becoming rock 'n roll stars. We didn't necessarily grow up."[32]
Fogerty traveled toMississippi in 1990 for inspiration, and visited the gravesite of blues legendRobert Johnson. According to him, while there, he had the realization that Robert Johnson was the true spiritual owner of his own songs, no matter what businessman owned the rights to them, thus Fogerty decided to start making a new album and to perform his old CCR material regularly in concert.[33][34] At this time, visiting the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church cemetery, Fogerty met Skip Henderson, a New Jersey vintage guitar dealer who had formed a nonprofit corporation, theMt. Zion Memorial Fund, to honor Johnson with a memorial marker. Fogerty subsequently funded headstones forCharlie Patton,James “Son” Thomas,Mississippi Joe Callicott, Eugene Powell, andLonnie Pitchford, and helped with financial arrangements for numerous others.[35]
Creedence Clearwater Revival was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. Fogerty refused to perform with his former bandmates and fellow inductees Stu Cook and Doug Clifford during the musical portion of the induction ceremony, citing the Zaentz lawsuit as a reason. In place of the surviving members of CCR, Fogerty recruited session musicians on drums and bass and was also joined byBruce Springsteen andRobbie Robertson in performing three songs: "Who'll Stop the Rain", "Born on the Bayou", and "Green River".[36] Tom's widow Tricia had expected a CCR reunion and even brought the urn containing her husband's ashes to the ceremony. Furious, Cook and Clifford, who were seated with their families at a table across the room from Fogerty's, walked out of the ballroom just as the performance began, and would later write separate letters to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's board of directors, saying it was "hurtful" and "insulting" to allow the performance to continue without them.[37] During the induction speech, Springsteen said, "As a songwriter, only a few did as much in three minutes [as John Fogerty]. He was an Old Testament, shaggy-haired prophet, a fatalist. Funny, too. He was severe, he was precise, he said what he had to say and he got out of there."[38]
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Fogerty returned to the commercial music industry in 1997 withBlue Moon Swamp. The layoff betweenZombie andSwamp had been longer than his mid-1970s to mid-1980s break. The album was much more successful thanZombie and won theGrammy for best rock album in 1997. A live album, namedPremonition, of the equally successful Blue Moon Swamp tour, was released to similar acclaim and good sales in 1998. A track fromBlue Moon Swamp titled "Blue Moon Nights", was used in the 2002 filmThe Rookie.
On October 1, 1998, Fogerty was honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame located at 7000 Hollywood Blvd.[39]
In 2004, Fogerty releasedDeja Vu All Over Again throughDreamWorks Records, which had taken over distribution of Fogerty's Warner catalog.Rolling Stone wrote: "The title track is Fogerty's indictment of theIraq War as anotherVietnam, a senseless squandering of American lives and power". On the album, Fogerty squeezed ten songs into only 34 minutes.
The sale of Fantasy Records toConcord Records in 2004 ended the 30-year estrangement between Fogerty and his former label, as the new owners took steps to restoreroyalty rights Fogerty had given up to be released from his contract with Fantasy in the mid-1970s. In September 2005, Fogerty returned to Fantasy Records, made possible when DreamWorks Records' noncountry-music unit was absorbed byGeffen Records, which dropped Fogerty, but continued to distribute his earlier solo albums. The first album released under the new Fantasy contract wasThe Long Road Home (November 2005), a compilation CD combining his CCR hits with solo material. A live CD and concertDVD were released the following year.
Fogerty's touring schedule increased in the period afterDeja Vu All Over Again. In October 2004, Fogerty appeared on theVote for Change tour, playing seven of the concerts in U.S.swing states. He also appeared in a Christmas special video produced by the Australian children's groupThe Wiggles. Fogerty toured withJohn Mellencamp in the summer of 2005 and withWillie Nelson in the summer of 2006. On June 29, 2006, he played his first headlining British concert since 1972, at theHammersmith Apollo theater in London, as part of the European leg of the tour. During that leg, he also performed in Sundsvall, Sweden, where 25,000 people came to see him perform at the town square. On Thanksgiving Day of 2006, Fogerty performed at halftime at theMiami Dolphins/Detroit Lions game and at theDenver Broncos/Kansas City Chiefs halftime later that evening.[40][41][42]
Fogerty was inducted into theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2005, Fogerty received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council memberB.B. King.[43][44]
On June 23, 2007, Fogerty appeared atGlastonbury Festival, playing an hour-long set of 17 songs, mainly CCR classics.[45] Introducing "Who'll Stop the Rain", Fogerty said he did not perform it atWoodstock as rumored, but wrote the song inspired by the event.[46]
Revival was released October 2, 2007.[47] Heavily promoted by the label,Revival debuted at No. 14 on the U.S.Billboard 200 chart with sales about 65,000 copies in its first week.[48]Revival was nominated for a Grammy Award forBest Rock Album of 2008, but lost to theFoo Fighters.[49]
On February 10, 2008, Fogerty appeared withJerry Lee Lewis andLittle Richard on theGrammy Awards show. Along with these rock icons and his regular touring band, he played his 1973 single "Comin' Down The Road", leading into Lewis and Richard's performances of "Great Balls of Fire" and "Good Golly Miss Molly", respectively.
On March 16, 2008, Fogerty kicked off an Australian tour. On March 22 inPoint Nepean, Australia, surprise guestKeith Urban joined Fogerty on stage, performing two songs: "Broken Down Cowboy", off Fogerty's newest albumRevival, and "Cotton Fields", from CCR's albumWilly & the Poor Boys.[citation needed]
On June 24, 2008, Fogerty made a return to theRoyal Albert Hall, a venue he last played with CCR in 1971. It was the last concert on his 2008 European tour. This concert was filmed (causing staging problems that annoyed some fans)[50][51][52] and was released in 2009.
On April 16, 2009, Fogerty performed his hit "Centerfield" from center field of the newYankee Stadium, at its opening-day festivities.[53]
On July 2, 3, and 4, 2009, Fogerty performed with theLos Angeles Philharmonic at theHollywood Bowl, which was sold out for these shows. Though billed as Fogerty with the L.A. Philharmonic, the orchestra began the night with music by U.S. composers, and Fogerty and his band came on after intermission, playing only three songs with the orchestra.[citation needed]
On August 31, 2009, Fogerty releasedThe Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, a sequel to his 1973 solo debutThe Blue Ridge Rangers. The album includes a duet with Bruce Springsteen on the 1960Everly Brothers classic "When Will I Be Loved". In addition,Don Henley andTimothy B. Schmit ofEagles sang with Fogerty on a cover ofRick Nelson's 1972 classic "Garden Party".[54] The album was the first issued on Fogerty's own label Fortunate Son Records, which is distributed by theVerve Forecast Records unit ofUniversal Music Group and also handles the Fogerty/CCR Fantasy catalogue.[55]
On October 29, 2009, Fogerty appeared at Madison Square Garden for the first night of the celebratory 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts. Bruce Springsteen, with the E Street Band, called Fogerty out to play three songs with them. "Fortunate Son" was their first song, followed by "Proud Mary", and finally the duo tried their take on Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman". The show aired as a four-hour special on HBO on November 29, 2009.[56][57]
On November 3, 2009, Fogerty released the Royal Albert Hall DVD entitledComin' Down The Road, named after his 1973 single, which he performed at this concert. Fogerty was also nominated for a Grammy Award at the2010 Grammys. He was nominated for the Best Rock Solo Vocal Performance Grammy for the song "Change in the Weather", which he recorded forThe Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again.
For his songwriting achievements, Fogerty was honored as aBroadcast Music Incorporated Icon at the 58th annual BMI Pop Awards on May 18, 2010. BMI Icons are selected because of their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."[58]
Fogerty began recordingWrote a Song for Everyone in 2011, which was released onVanguard Records on May 28, 2013, his 68th birthday. The album is a collection of classics and tracks from his canon of hits performed with other artists.[59] The album includes two new Fogerty-penned songs. On November 17, 2011, Fogerty performed on theLate Show with David Letterman.[60] On November 17 and 18, Fogerty performed two CCR albums,Cosmo's Factory andGreen River, respectively, in their entirety at theBeacon Theatre in New York City (he also playedCosmo's Factory in Atlantic City on November 20). He was also featured on theCBS coverage of theThanksgiving Day Parade, performing several prerecorded songs.
In January 2012, Fogerty's new song "Swamp Water" debuted over the opening credits of the new Fox TV seriesThe Finder. Fogerty wrote the song for the show and guest-starred in its debut episode.[citation needed] On November 12, 2012, Fogerty announced that he was writing his memoirs, and that the book was expected to be released in 2015.[61]
During the 2014 Veterans Days celebration, "Salute to the Troops" at the White House, Fogerty performed for many veterans.
On February 21, 2015, he was a featured artist for theNational Hockey League stadium series game between theLos Angeles Kings and theSan Jose Sharks atLevi's Stadium inSanta Clara, California.[62]
In October 2015, Fogerty published his autobiography,Fortunate Son (Little, Brown & Co.).
In September 2017, Fogerty signed a new recording contract withBMG Rights Management, which will cover an upcoming album and his solo catalogue.[63]
In November 2019, Fogerty appeared on Public Broadcasting Station pledge week with "John Fogerty: My 50 Year Trip", a taped performance from Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado. His most recent performance was at the Winstar in Thackerville, Oklahoma, on December 31, 2019. The remaining performances of his current tour "My 50 Year Trip" have been postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
While on lockdown during the pandemic in early 2020, Fogerty, accompanied by sons Shane and Tyler and daughter Kelsy, began releasing performance videos of previously released originals and covers. Under the brand "Fogerty's Factory", the group performed remotely onThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert,NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts, andSiriusXM's Classic Vinyl station.[64][65][66] Collecting seven songs from the remote performances, theFogerty's Factory EP was released on May 28, 2020, coinciding with Fogerty's 75th birthday. A 12-track album edition featuring additional lockdown performances followed on November 20.[67][68]
Fogerty performed backing vocals on "Scream and Shout", a single by his sons' band Hearty Har, released October 19, 2020.[69]
On January 6, 2021, Fogerty released "Weeping in the Promised Land", a gospel-styled single, featuring sociopolitical commentary onBlack Lives Matter, the COVID-19 pandemic, andDonald Trump.[70]
On January 13, 2023, Fogerty announced on Twitter that he now owned the rights to the CCR global catalog after a 50-year legal battle.[71] He followed the announcement on August 22, 2025 with an album of re-recorded Creedence Clearwater Revival songs, titledLegacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years.[72] He performed a concert with his band on NPR's Tiny Desk on January 16, 2026.[73]
Fogerty married Martha Paiz in 1965 and had three children (Josh, Sean, and Laurie). They divorced in the late 1980s.[74]
Fogerty met Julie Lebiedzinski (born Julie Lynne Kramer in Elkhart, Indiana on February 7, 1960)[75] in 1986 while on tour inIndianapolis, Indiana. They married inElkhart, Indiana, on April 20, 1991, and had two sons (Shane and Tyler) and a daughter (Kelsy). Kramer had a daughter, Lyndsay, from a previous marriage.[76][77] As of 2020[update], they lived inThousand Oaks, California.[78]
Sons Shane (guitar, vocals) and Tyler (vocals) performed with their father in concert as of 2007[update].[79] All three of his youngest children appear in hisYouTube channel videos.[80]
Fogerty has a granddaughter who has also appeared in online videos with him.[81][82]
In 2023, he bought a Hidden Hills estate from Sylvester Stallone for $17 million.[83]
Fogerty is a lifelongliberalDemocrat.[84] In his lyrics, Fogerty has lampooned manyRepublicans, includingRichard Nixon andRonald Reagan.[85] Fogerty participated in the Vote for Change tour in support ofJohn Kerry's 2004 presidential bid againstGeorge W. Bush.[86] In 2015, Fogerty threw his support behind Democratic presidential candidateHillary Clinton, saying, "[L]iberals tend to have the little guy in mind." However, he also expressed a liking forDonald Trump's "rebelliousness" and the appearance that Trump "can't be bought" due to his vast wealth.[84]
Despite his personal views, Fogerty has attracted high-profileconservative fans, including Bush, Trump, andRush Limbaugh.[87][88][89] Trump frequently used "Fortunate Son" during his 2020 reelection campaign, prompting Fogerty to issue a cease-and-desist letter.[88]
Without any first-hand experience, Fogerty managed to almost single-handedly invent southern rock while staring at his wall and culling any images that he could pull from his mind.
A new honoree of the Academy, rock and roll legend John Fogerty, sings at Banquet of the Golden Plate ceremony.
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| Preceded by | AMA Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting 2009 | Succeeded by |