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January of
. He followed that up
with “Have You Ever Really Loved a
Woman?” from the Johnny Depp and
Marlon Brando lm
Don Juan DeMar-
co
. Not only did Adams score another
chart-topper with the song, but also
another two Grammy nominations
(bringing his total at the time to a cool
dozen) and his second Oscar nomina-
tion for Best Song. His third came with
the
duet with Barbra Streisand on
“I Finally Found Someone,” the theme
of her lm with Je Bridges,
e Mirror
Has Two Faces
. Adams even collabo-
rated with Hans Zimmer to create a
full-length song score for
Spirit: Stallion
of the Cimarron
in the spring of
.
Put all of this together, and the stats
are enough to amaze any music lover.
Adams has reached the number-one
spot on charts in over countries. He
has amassed numerous Juno Awards,
three Academy Award and ve Golden
Globe nominations, and a Grammy
Award. Heck, he is even a Companion
of the Order of Canada and has been
inducted into the Canadian Music Hall
of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.
at’s when you walk away, right?
Not if you’ve got the pluck of this
Canuck.
With his new album, Adams is once
again proving that some artists just get
better with age. Released in November
,
Ultimate
includes all of the hits
his fans can’t seem to get enough of,
including “Cuts Like a Knife,” “Run to
You,” “When You’re Gone” with Melanie
C (a.k.a. Sporty Spice), and, of course,
“(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.”
And he really does do it all for the fans,
because the album also includes two
new tracks, “Please Stay” and “Ultimate
Love.”
But Adams has taken his career in
another new direction of late, team-
ing up with Vallance, his songwriting
partner since the beginning, to create
the music and lyrics for the musical
Pretty Woman
, based on the
movie
starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.
e production premiered this spring
in Chicago’s Oriental eatre before
moving to Broadway’s Nederlander in
mid-July.
“I wrote a lot of the musical right
there in Chicago, actually,” said Adams,
who subsequently spent a portion of
May overseas on a UK arena tour in
support of his current album. “I got
involved a er a friend of mine told me
it was in production, so I put myself for-
ward and got the gig. We have listened
to the Chicago audience, so I imagine
some of the music might change
before it opens on Broadway, but
that just seems to be the nature of
the beast.”
Indeed, coming to Ravinia and
returning to the Chicago area is
a treat for Adams, as the Windy
City now holds a special place in
his Canadian heart. “We will be
doing all of the songs you know
and love, a fabulous video and
light show,” explained Adams.
“We also will be doing a few
new songs from the
Ultimate
album. It’s always good to sing
outside, unless it’s freezing.”
Anything goes, of course, in a
Chicago summer, but no matter
what temperature it is, rain or
shine, Ravinia will be packed with
the fans that he has amassed over his
picture-perfect career. “My fans have
always been amazing,” said Adams.
“We’ve been touring America since
,
and it just always gets better and better.”
Adams continues to run on all
cylinders, playing over
concerts a
year, including much attention for his
mind-blowing performance at Prince
Harry’s Invictus Games last year in
Toronto, where he was joined onstage by
none other than Bruce Springsteen.
Ultimate artists tend to stick together.
And no matter what Adams’s future
still holds for him, chances are we will
never forget that he ts the title.
Tricia Despres is a Chicago-area freelance enter-
tainment writer whose work has appeared in the
Chicago Sun-Times
,
Taste of Country
, and a number
of local, regional, and national publications. Follow
her on Twitter at @CHIWriter.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | JUNE 18 – JULY 8, 2018
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