One of Canada's most successful musicians, Bryan Adams entered the music industry as a songwriter in the late 1970s before achieving solo fame in TheEighties. Initially marketed as a "Canadian [[BruceSpringsteen Springsteen]]" with a guitar-and-organ dominated sound, Adams developed his own distinctive [[ArenaRock melodic rock]] beginning with his breakthrough album, ''Cuts Like A Knife''.

In 1984, Adams became a global superstar with the release of his most successful album, ''Reckless'', which produced a number of hit singles, including the anthemic "Summer of 69" and the PowerBallad "Heaven".

In 1991, Adams teamed up with Mutt Lange to record the album ''Waking Up The Neighbours''. During these sessions they wrote a new ballad for the ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' [[AwardBaitSong soundtrack]]. Originally intended to be given to another artist, Adams released "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" himself, and it subsequently became ludicrously successful.

While his success has declined in America, Adams is still very popular in Europe and remains one of the most influential and best-selling Canadian artists of all time.

Not to be confused with Music/RyanAdams, nor with [[Wrestling/{{Demolition}} Brian Adams, aka Crush]].
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!!Tropes
* AwardBaitSong: Starting with the ''Robin Hood'' song, he became well known for these.
* BestYearsOfYourLife[=/=]LoveNostalgiaSong: "Summer of 69".
** Fun fact: he was 9 years old in 1969, so he took his nostalgia from somewhere else. (His co-writer, Jim Vallance was 17.)
* BlackSheepHit: "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" was not well-liked by the producers of ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'', who complained that it sounded "too modern" (because of the piano, surprisingly, rather than the guitars), so they put it over the end credits. It ended up becoming the biggest hit of the year almost everywhere.
* BreakawayPopHit: "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" (''DonJuanDemarco'') and "Heaven" (''A Night In Heaven'')
* BritishEnglish: Adams says "bloody" in You Want It You Got It. The fact he has British parents may explain his choice of word, but it is still really weird to hear him sing it with his Canadian accent. Jim Vallance posted a picture of the original lyric sheet for the song on his website, which clearly says "fucking" instead of "bloody". So it may have been deliberate censorship as the song was considered a potential single at the time.
* CanadaEh
* DarkerAndEdgier: The ''Into the Fire'' album.
* DoubleEntendre: ''18 'til I Die'' is essentially "Double Entendre: The Album".
** "Summer Of '69" is a deliberate and notable one.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His first recordings as part of the band "Sweeney Todd" are definitely this, where he sings in a falsetto British accent that was his attempt at singing like the band's previous singer. Similarly, his first single "Let Me Take You Dancing", which is a disco-influenced song, with some varispeed on the vocals making him sound younger than he is. From his first album onwards, he starts to reach his recognisable sound, but doesn't quite get there until his second album You Want It You Got It.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: He confirmed in an interview that, yes, "Summer of 69" actually ''is'' [[FreudWasRight named in reference to the sex act]] and that anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. His co-writer, Jim Vallance, however claims otherwise.
* GloryDays: [[NostalgiaFilter Deconstructed by]] "Summer of 69".
* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: His debut single, the disco "Let Me Take You Dancing" and the three chord rock song "Don't Turn Me Away" only appeared on the original single. Adams acknowledges their existence, but has no desire to release them on CD.
* NamesTheSame: A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Adams_High_School high school in Texas]] is of no relation to him, and was opened two years before he was born.
* OldShame: His first single "Let Me Take You Dancing", a disco song. Never included on CD. He has performed it live on occasion since the late 90s, so he eventually warmed to it, but not enough to release it on CD.
* PopStarComposer: He wrote an album's worth of songs in ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron''.
* ReclusiveArtist: To the point that [[https://getsatisfaction.com/allmusic/topics/bryan_adams_and_his_albums_are_not_findable_in_the_search_engine he requested Allmusic to delete his page]].
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