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Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart. Between 1980 and 1987 Saxon established themselves as one of Europe's biggest metal acts, they also had success in Japan and in the USA. In Japan, the single "Motorcycle Man" stayed in the charts for over 5 months. They still tour regularly and have sold more than 13 million albums worldwide.
Saxon began with a lineup formed by Peter "Biff" Byford on vocals, Paul Quinn and Graham Oliver on guitars, Steve "Dobby" Dawson on bass and drummer Pete "Frank" Gill. Early in their career, the band changed their name from Son of a Bitch to Saxon, and gained support slots on tour with more established bands such as Motörhead.
In 1979, the band signed to the French record label Carrere and released their eponymous debut album. In 1980, the follow-up album Wheels of Steel (UK no 5) spawned two hit singles: the title track, and the crowd favourite "747 (Strangers in the Night)". Strong Arm of the Law (UK no 11), considered by fans to be one of their best recordings, was released later that same year, and chart success continued with singles from their next release, Denim and Leather (1981 UK no 9). The title track to that album is seen as an anthem of the early 1980s metal movement. Later legal issues with Carrere negated most if not all of the financial gains seen during their early success.
A relentless series of headlining tours around the UK capitalised on this success and a sold out tour of Europe with Ozzy Osbourne as support act highlighted Saxon's immense ability on the road and was set in stone with the live release The Eagle Has Landed (1982 UK no 5).
As the NWOBHM movement began to fade, 1983 Power & the Glory, their highest selling album to date, saw Saxon establish themselves as one of the major European metal acts together with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The "Power and Glory Tour" of 1983 was an arena tour that began in Europe and was a huge success. The US leg of the tour with support act Accept proved successful and Saxon found themselves on the verge of becoming a major act in the US as the album, in its first week of release, sold more than 15,000 copies in Los Angeles alone. The emerging glam metal scene in America would however put a dent in the band's conquest of the American market.
Saxon performing at Sweden Rock Festival, 2008.
Crusader, released in 1984 (UK no 12) sold over 2 million copies and the 1984 world tour "The World Crusade" was again a success both in Europe and America. In the US they had Mötley Crüe and Krokus as support for parts of the tour as the band spent one year on the road. Though still heavy, critics detected a more americanized sound on Crusader and fans began to wonder what direction the band was taking.
They signed with EMI Records in 1985 and took a more commercial direction with their new record company. Innocence Is No Excuse released in 1985, was a question mark to many fans as the raw, heavy Saxon-sound had been polished to gain US attraction. The album has however gained more critical acclaim with the years. A huge world tour followed, but in early 1986 bassist Steve Dawson left the band and Saxon was back in the studio recording their 8th studio album Rock the Nations without a bass player. With Elton John guest playing on piano on 2 tracks, Byford laid down the bass parts, but soon the band hired Paul Johnson to fill the spot and a European arena tour followed.
In 1986 they headlined the Reading Festival and toured the U.S.
With American success hard to find, the release of the disappointing Destiny (1988) did not help and Saxon were later dropped by EMI. They found new life in 1990, signed to Virgin Records and released five studio albums in the 90s before becoming increasingly popular in the new millennium with a string of strong album releases.
Headlining Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock and Monsters of Rock continued their momentum and cemented the band's 25 year long reputation as one of metal's great live acts.
Near the end of the 90s the band was seen going into increasingly heavier metal areas, culminating in 1999 with Metalhead, which had a bit of a power metal sound to it.
Saxon's The Inner Sanctum album, released in Europe on 5 March 2007, and North America on 3 April, was seen by many critics as their best work in years. In 2007, they started a world tour in support of The Inner Sanctum which saw them have only 15 nights off from 60 dates.
Saxon released a new studio album entitled "Into the Labyrinth" on 12 January 2009. In February, it was announced that the band were cancelling the Spanish leg of their European tour with Iced Earth, due to scheduling issues.
At the start of 2009 they toured the UK with Doro, and again at the end of the year they did a UK tour. In August of that year, they played on the Sunday at Sonisphere.
It has been confirmed that Saxon will be playing at the 30th anniversary of Donington Park at the Download Festival 2010. They will be performing on Sunday following the headliners Aerosmith, with a raft of bands that achieved wide success in the 1980s and were the frontrunners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal.
Members
Biff Byford
Paul Quinn
Nigel Glockler
Nibbs Carter
Doug Scarratt
Past members
Graham Oliver
Steve Dawson
David Ward
Pete Gill
Paul Johnson
Fritz Randow
Jorg Michael
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