Susie Quattro biography personal life children. History of Suzi Quatro

Childhood and youth

Suzi Quatro was born on June 3, 1950 in Detroit (Michigan, USA), in the family of jazz musician, Italian-American Art Quatro and Hungarian Helen Saniszlai. The singer’s father worked for, and in the evenings he played jazz in local clubs, leading the Art Quatro Trio group. The head of the family first brought Susie on stage at the age of eight. Then the artist in my dad's band played congas.

Singer Suzi Quatro

At the age of 14, Quatro became a member of the female ensemble “Pleasure Seekers,” which at that time already included her two sisters, Arlene and Patti. At that time, “Pleasure Seekers” was one of the few garage rock bands in which all the members played musical instruments independently, and even regularly performed at the youth club “Hideout”, which became famous for the fact that it was here that rock began his musical career -performer Bob Seger.

In 1966, Pleasure Seekers released two singles, “Never Thought You'd Leave Me” and “What a Way to Die.” It is noteworthy that both songs were released on the club owner’s own label, “Hideout”. Thanks to these compositions, “Pleasure Seekers” attracted the attention of representatives of the Mercury Records label, with which the girls eventually signed a contract, recorded the track “Light of Love” and went on a tour of the United States, holding a number of performances in front of American troops in Vietnam.

Suzi Quatro

In 1967, the musical group changed its name to “Cradle”; due to the birth of a child, Arlene left the group, and Susie’s third sister, Nancy, took her place. That same year, the performer’s brother Michael became Cradle’s manager and agreed with British producer Mickey Moust to meet at one of his charges’ concerts. The entrepreneur liked Susie's expressive style of performance, and he offered the vocalist a contract with his own label, RAK Records.

Biography

Susie was born on June 3, 1950 in Detroit in the family of jazz musician Art Quatro, an American of Italian descent, and Hungarian Helen Saniszlai. It is known that Susie's paternal grandfather, who arrived in the United States in 1901, bore the surname Quattroccio; he soon shortened it to “Quattro” to make it easier for others to pronounce. The future singer spent her childhood in the fashionable suburban area of ​​Grosse Pointe, not far from the lake coast.

Art Quatro worked for, and in his spare time he led the musical group Art Quatro Trio; It was he who first brought his eight-year-old daughter onto the stage, where she began to play the congas. Susie soon began playing the piano, and by the age of 14 she became a member of the all-female ensemble Pleasure Seekers, which also included her sisters Arlene and Patti. The group (according to AllMusic) "...one of the very few all-female garage bands whose members played their own instruments" regularly performed at the Detroit youth club Hideout

(also famous for being where Bob Seger began his career).
In 1966, the Pleasure Seekers released the single "Never Thought You'd Leave Me" ("What a Way to Die" on the flip side) on a label founded by the club owner (both songs were re-released in the 1980s on a '60s garage rock compilation What a Way to Die
). The single had some success and attracted the attention of a large label to the group: having signed a contract with Mercury Records, Quatro and the sisters recorded “Light of Love”, toured America and performed for American troops in Vietnam.

Arlene had a child and left the lineup, giving way to Quattro's third sister, Nancy, after which the ensemble changed its name to Cradle, the group focusing on hard rock and original material. Brother Michael Quatro became the team's manager: it was he who persuaded the successful British producer and entrepreneur Mikkie Most

) come to one of the concerts. Most, who was recording for the Jeff Beck Group at Motown Studios in Detroit, noticed Susie with her unusual expressiveness and offered her a solo contract with his own, recently formed label, RAK Records. So six months after formation, Cradle disbanded; sister Patti joined the Los Angeles all-female rock group Fanny.

At that moment, Suzi Quatro became interested in Elektra Records, but Quatro made her choice without the slightest doubt. “According to the president of Elektra, I was destined to become the next Janis Joplin. Mickey Most offered me a trip to England so that I could become the one and only Suzi Quatro. I didn’t intend to become number two,” she said in an interview with Jane Hall. At the end of 1971, Quatro flew from Detroit to England.

Around the same time, she began training in dance, preparing for a career as a professional dancer, but, fortunately for us, the craving for music prevailed, and already at the age of 14, Suzy, along with her two sisters, performed as part of the group SUZI SOUL AND PLEASURE SEEKERS, soon changed its name to CRADLE. In 1967, the group released several singles and gave a series of concerts at American military bases in Vietnam.

Unfortunately, the group soon broke up. In 1971, on the advice of Jeff Beck's esoteric manager Mikkie Most, Susie went to look for fortune in England. Luck did not come immediately. Only a year later she managed to record her first single, which failed miserably, as a result of which her entire group fled, and she was left in splendid isolation and penniless.

Mickey Bridge helped her out. Under his leadership, she recruited a new line-up and settled under the wing of a record label. Suzy, one might say, began her musical career anew, starting to collaborate with famous hit-makers Mick Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who wrote material for many glam artists, including SMOKIE, T. REX, MAD, SWEET, GARY GLITTER. The result of this cooperation was impressive. The song "Can the Can" became an instant hit and topped the British, Japanese and Australian charts. On the wave of success, in 1974 she tours Australia, where the public accepts her with a bang, and critics praise her loudly, predicting a bright future for her.

A whole series of hits follows. The public received her sharp, hoarse voice, leathery rocker glam ambience and defiant manners very warmly, unlike her parents, who were shocked by the behavior of their child. This is not to say that her music was angry or aggressive. Rather, it was all permeated with the spirit of careless rock and roll carelessness, combined with some kind of almost childish naivety and openness. In general, this is good healthy hard rock, bright and expressive, with lively rock and roll drive and somewhat provocative and colorful attributes of glam rock.

In two years she was able to achieve a lot. Her debut full-length album was released in 1973. Some of the songs were written by Susie herself in collaboration with guitarist Lennie Tuckey, some were covers, but almost all the hits belonged to the Chinn & Chapman tandem.

By that time, Suzy Cuatro was already an established singer with an international name and reputation as a "hard rock diva", and the album was a significant commercial success. She managed to fully prove that a petite and fragile girl can not only be a good singer and put on bright stage shows, but also successfully cope with the role of a bass guitarist, albeit not as strong and sophisticated as, for example, John Paul Jones or Chris Squire, but working quite decently within the confines of her style.

The second album came out a year later. Unfortunately, it turned out to be noticeably paler than the debut, and in general, the success of the first album was not destined to be repeated by the other records. Softening the style did not benefit the music. She did not have that “detachment” and drive, that purity and flow of healthy energy that abounded in her previous work.

The next album was even closer to what, to put it as correctly as possible, can be called “pop music.” It’s hard to say what caused such a failure, but Susie at that time was clearly not at her best, and the main authors of the hits, Chinn and Chapman, were either worn out or simply tired. But be that as it may, the records turned out to be pale and sluggish, the concert performances were inferior to the earlier ones, and Susie gradually found herself in the second tier.

Music

Quattro's first single, "Rolling Stone", did not have the slightest success anywhere except in Portugal, where it unexpectedly rose to number one on the charts. At that moment, Most introduced the artist to the author duo of Mike Chapman and Nikki Chinn, by that time known for their collaboration with “The Sweet”. The result of this collaboration was impressive: the song “Can the Can” instantly became popular and reached number one in the British, Japanese and Australian charts.

The second hit was the track “48 Crash” by the same duo. Both songs were included in Suzie's debut album, Suzie Quatro. It is known that some of the compositions were written by the performer in collaboration with guitarist Lenny Taki. These were partly cover versions of already popular singles, but the main hits belonged to the Chinn-Chapman tandem.

Suzi Quatro on stage

On the wave of success, in 1974 Quatro toured Australia. At the same time, she remained unknown in the United States until the late 1970s, even though she toured the United States with Alice Cooper and once appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The album “If You Knew Suzi” (1978) marked the singer’s transition to a more mature sound, close to soft rock. The single "Stumblin' In", recorded as a duet with Chris Norman, brought the artist her first popularity in the USA.

To an even greater extent, Quatro’s popularity overseas was facilitated by her participation in the sitcom “Happy Days”. Her heroine in a leather jacket, who played the guitar and spoke in a “male” language, became so popular that ABC offered Quatro an original show on television, which the vocalist refused.

In 1980, the work “Rock Hard” was released (a video was shot for the composition of the same name from the record), which marked Quatro’s return to hard rock. The 1983 album was in approximately the same vein. The works turned out to be worthy, and the public warmly received them, although the popularity they had in the early seventies no longer existed. Then Susie disappeared from the public eye for a long time, only occasionally reminding herself of her work on television and participation in theatrical productions.

Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman

One of her most significant works in the musical genre was the role of Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun. She received recommendations for this role from Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had already discussed a similar opportunity with her several years earlier. In 1986, the musical was completed and staged in London, at the West End theater.

In the early nineties, the vocalist resumed her musical activities. Successful tours, singles occupying leading places in the charts, the success of the compilation album “What Goes Around” - all this added optimism to the artist and gave her an incentive to work. The year 1992 turned out to be rich in negative events. This year her mother dies, and around the same time family relationships become complicated, leading to a divorce from her husband. Soon she marries a PR manager, German Rainer Haas.

Creatively, the year was successful. Despite all the ups and downs in her personal life, she is still energetic on stage, and the single “And So To Bed” (the lyrics of the song belong to her pen) took leading positions in the European charts for a couple of weeks. In 1997, the album “Unreleased Emotion” was released, recorded in the early eighties.

Much of the material was written while Susie was pregnant with her first daughter, Laura, and perhaps because of this the songs were melodic and calm. The next album was released in 2003. The album “Wake Up Little Suzi” demonstrated to listeners that the vocalist is in good shape and is ready to delight fans with new material for many years to come. In 2006, the album “Back To The Drive” was released, and in 2011, “In the Spotlight” hit the shelves.

Discography

Albums

• 1973: Suzi Quatro
• 1974: Quatro
• 1975: Your Mama Won't Like Me
• 1976: Aggro-Phobia
• 1977: Live And Kickin'
• 1978: If You Knew Suzi…
• 1979: Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words
• 1980: Rock Hard
• 1982: Main Attraction
• 1990: Oh Suzi Q.
• 1996: What Goes Around
• 1998: Unreleased Emotion
• 2006: Back To The Drive
• 2011: In the Spotlight

Singles

Personal life

There is very little information about the singer’s personal life on the Internet. What is known for certain is that Susie was married twice. Her first husband was guitarist Len Taki, with whom she legalized her relationship in 1978.

Suzi Quatro with her first husband Len Taki (left) and second husband Rainer Haas (right)

In this marriage, the couple had two children: daughter Laura (born in 1982) and Richard-Leonard (born in 1984). After 14 years of marriage, the musicians divorced. The second husband of the vocal performer was concert promoter Rainer Haas, whose wedding took place in 1993.

Suzi Quatro now

In May 2020, the singer published news on her official website that she was preparing to release a new album. As a result, the release of the album “Quatro Scott Powell” took place in February 2017. Rockers Andy Scott and Don Powell participated in the recording of the CD. Despite her advanced age, the famous vocalist continues to give concerts. In October, the artist, together with David Essex and the bands “The Osmonds” and “Hot Chocolate”, will perform in London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Cardiff as part of the “Legends life” show program.

Suzi Quatro in 2017

It is reliably known that the performer of the song “Stumblin in” is not on social networks. True, fans on Facebook have created a Susie fan page, which regularly publishes materials related to Quatro’s creative biography (interviews, lyrics and chords of compositions), as well as photographs from performances.