Who is Peter Frampton? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Peter Kenneth Frampton

Age: 72 Years, 72 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Barbara Gold (m. 1983; div. 1993), Mary Lovett (m. 1972; div. 1976), Tina Elfers (m. 1996; div. 2011)

father: Owen Frampton

mother: Peggy Frampton

children: Jade Frampton, Julian Frampton, Mia Rose Frampton

Born Country: England

Guitarists Pop Singers

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Males

More Facts

education: Ravens Wood School

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Childhood & Early Life

Peter Frampton was born in Bromley, Kent, on 22 April 1950 in a middle-class family. His father Owen Frampton was a teacher and the head of the art department at the Bromley Technical High School which Peter attended during his early days.

During his childhood, he discovered his grandmother’s ‘Banjolele’ in the attic while cleaning it and later he started to learn to play it all by himself. This led to him getting interested in music and he learned to play musical instruments like guitar and piano. He was inspired by artistes like Cliff Richard, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and Jimi Hendrix, and bands like ‘The Beatles’ and ‘The Shadows’.

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Career

Peter Frampton was a student at the Bromley Technical School where his father was an art instructor. He joined a band named ‘The Little Ravens’ at the age of twelve. After two years with the band, he joined another called ‘The Trubeats.’ Eventually he switched to the band ‘The Preachers’ which was produced by Bill Wyman of ‘The Rolling Stones’.

He joined ‘The Herd’, a pop-rock band, at the age of sixteen as their lead guitarist and singer and soon became one of their popular members. After scoring several hit British pop songs, he was named ‘The Face of 1968’ by the teen magazine ‘Rave’ in 1968.

Two years after joining ‘The Herd’, Peter left the band to join the English rock band ‘The Humble Pie’. He was part of the band for four years, recording four studio albums and one live album. He then left the band and went solo.

His solo debut album titled ‘Wind of Change’ was released in 1972 and a year later he released his second album ‘Frampton's Camel’. After releasing his third album ‘Somethin's Happening’, he toured a lot to promote his solo career.

For his fourth album ‘Frampton,’ he was joined by his former ‘The Herd’ band member Andy Bown and Rick Wills on the keyboard and bass respectively. The album was a big success for him, peaking at #32 on the US chart. It was certified as ‘Gold’ by the Recording Industry Association of America.

In 1976, Peter Frampton released his best-selling live album, ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ which contained popular hits like ‘Show Me the Way’, ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ and ‘Baby, I Love Your Way’. This album had two new members, Bob Mayo on keyboards and rhythm guitar and Stanley Sheldon on bass. The album was a super-hit, staying on the Billboard 200 for 97 weeks.

Due to the huge success of the previous album, his next album ‘I'm in You’ struggled to cope up with the expectations. This was the beginning of a setback that hampered his career for the next half a decade. The next albums ‘Where I Should Be’, ‘Rise Up’, and ‘Breaking All the Rules’ did not fare well.

Through the 1980s and early 1990s, Peter Frampton kept making records but did not receive the rewards he hoped for. In 2006, he released his instrumental album ‘Fingerprints’ which won him the Grammy Award for the ‘Best Pop Instrumental Album’ in 2007.

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Major Works

Among his many albums, ‘Frampton Comes Alive!’ was one of his best-selling ones which had popular hits like ‘Show Me the Way’, ‘Do You Feel Like We Do’ and ‘Baby, I Love Your Way.’ It also featured his ‘talk box’ guitar effect. The album spent 97 weeks on Billboard 200; it was on the top for 10 weeks and spent 55 weeks in the top 40.

After recording numerous albums with various artistes and releasing several hit solo albums, Peter released his first instrumental titled ‘Fingerprints’ in 2006. This became hugely popular and earned him a lot of praise from the critics. He also earned the Grammy Award for ‘Best Pop Instrumental Album’ in 2007.

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Awards & Achievements

Peter Frampton was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 24, 1979.

His album ‘Fingerprints’ was given the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album on 11 February 2007.

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Personal Life

Peter Frampton has been married thrice in his life. His first wedding to Mary Lovett happened on 24 August 1972. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1976.

He later married Barbara Gold in 1983 and together they had two children. After a decade of being married to each other, the couple called it quits through a divorce in 1993.

Peter finally married Tina Elfers on 13 January 1996; the couple had a child together. He filed for divorce in 2011.

Peter Frampton Biography