Night Ranger

Formed in San Francisco, the rock band Night Ranger first started to take shape in 1979 when bass player Jack Blades, guitarist Brad Gillis, and drummer Kelly Keagy went in a new musical direction after the end of Rubicon, the funk group they had all been in together. Over the next couple of years they added keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald and a second guitarist, Jeff Watson. After cycling through a number of name changes they landed on Night Ranger in the early 1980s. Their debut album, 1982’s Dawn Patrol captured their knack for melding a big rock sound with pop hooks and went top 40, as did the band’s first single, “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”. 1983’s Midnight Madness would prove to be their defining LP thanks to the top 5 power ballad “Sister Christian” and the number 14 follow-up single “When You Close Your Eyes”. 1985’s 7 Wishes rounded out the group’s era as hitmakers with a trio of songs to crack the top 20. After 1987’s Big Life, Fitzgerald left the group which had fully embraced guitar heavy power ballads. Following 1998’s Man in Motion, Jack Blades departed to form Damn Yankees. The band soldiered on with replacements but did not record another album until 1995’s Feeding off the Mojo. The band’s original line-up came back together for a pair of albums in the late 1990s. After almost a decade of line-up changes and steady touring, the band finally issued a new album, 2007’s Hole in the Sun. The next decade would prove to be a small renaissance for the group as 2011’s Somewhere in California, 2014’s High Road, and 2017’s Don’t Let Up each returned them to the album charts, something they had not achieved since Man in Motion. Nearly 40 years after their debut album, they released ATBPO in 2021.

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