Born on 29 May: Francis Rossi has kept Status Quo alive for over 60 years

Born in 1949 in Forest Hill near London (United Kingdom). Since the passing of Rick Parfitt (2016) and Alan Lancaster (2021), at 76, he is the last surviving founding member of Status Quo and now performs under his own name.

Still a teenager, along with his childhood friend bassist Alan Lancaster (who passed away in September 2021), he laid the foundations for Status Quo. Barring two exceptional solo ventures, he has dedicated his entire life to the UK’s leading boogie (with a touch of hard rock) band. He has released no fewer than thirty albums.

Francis Rossi surely remembers another major milestone in his band’s career. In 1991, to celebrate 25 years in the business, Status Quo performed on the same day at four different venues in four cities: Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham and the famed Wembley Arena in London. On his 76th birthday, with his band now on hiatus, he continues to tour small-town venues, simply enjoying sharing his music...

Like many guitar-led bands, akin to the German Scorpions with "Wind of Change" in 1990 (paying tribute to the then-ongoing democratisation of the now-defunct Soviet bloc), Status Quo’s greatest success came with... a ballad with a pacifist flavour: "You’re In The Army Now" (1986). Few people realise this was, in fact, a cover of a track composed in 1981 by brothers Rob and Ferdi Bolland. The original version by the two Dutchmen was, incidentally, even more openly anti-militarist.

"We Talk Too Much", Francis Rossi’s last collection of original material, was released in 2019, but he has recently unearthed demo versions and some unreleased tracks that, in my humble opinion, are often more interesting than the official Status Quo versions. As this collection of 17 songs is called "The Way We Were Vol. 1", more instalments are sure to follow...

Fun fact: In 2012, Status Quo appeared in an advert for Australian supermarket chain Coles, rewriting some of the lyrics to "Down Down" (1975) to promote the retailer’s discount deals!

A few upcoming concerts:

30 May: Gwyn Hall - Neath (Wales)

31 May: Corn Exchange - Newbury (England)

3 June: Les Cligg - Folkestone (England)

4 June: Westlands - Yeovil (England)

And across the UK in the autumn, then Ireland, Sweden and Norway in 2026!

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Francis Rossi with Status Quo on stage at Forest-National in Brussels (Belgium) on 27 March 1981