In the chaotic world of rock 'n' roll, in which the lifespan of most bands can be measured in terms of a few years or a few months, John Kay and Steppenwolf have emerged as one of rock's most enduring and respected bands, delivering hard-hitting, personally-charged music for more than three decades.
\In the late 1960s, Steppenwolf embodied that era's social, political and philosophical restlessness, building an impressive body of edgy, uncompromising rock 'n' roll that retains its emotional resonance more than three decades after the band's formation. Such Steppenwolf standards as "Born to Be Wild," "Magic Carpet Ride," "Rock Me" and "Monster" stand amongst Rock's most indelible anthems.
At last count, the band's worldwide record sales exceed 25 million units. Its songs remain fixtures on classic-rock radio, and have been licensed for use in approximately 50 motion pictures and an even greater number of television programs. Iin addition to being the first band to use the term "heavy metal" in a song (in "Born to Be Wild"), Steppenwolf's punchy style helped to establish the fundamentals of the hard-rock sound that would flourish in the 1970s.
Following Steppenwolf's highly successful 1974 European "farewell" tour, John Kay reformed the band with Jerry Edmonton, Goldy McJohn, George Biondo and new guitarist Bobby Cochran. The group recorded three more albums – "Slow Flux," which yielded the Top 20 hit "Straight Shootin' Woman," "Hour of the Wolf" and "Skullduggery" for the Epic-distributed Mums label, before calling it a day once again in 1976. Kay then signed with Mercury Records and relaunched his solo career with 1978's well-received "All In Good Time."
It was around this time that Kay learned that two of his former bandmates were touring with a bogus "Steppenwolf." The notion of the fake band playing low-rent club gigs – and tarnishing the legacy he'd spent nearly a decade building – aroused Kay's fighting spirit, motivating him and Steppenwolf co-founder Jerry Edmonton (who by then had retired from music in favor of a career in photography) to take steps to establish their legal claim to the band name.
In 1980 Kay launched an all-new lineup, now billed as John Kay and Steppenwolf, virtually starting from scratch to restore his band's good name. The new group spent the next several years working a punishing touring regimen, playing anywhere and everywhere it could to rebuild Steppenwolf's reputation as a class act. It paid off. Today's Steppenwolf, operating without major-label financing, is the model of a successful cyber-age cottage industry, self publishing new music and seeling out venues across the country.
Steppenwolf's dramatic and sometimes turbulent history recently became the subject of an episode of VH-1's documentary series "Behind the Music." That much-talked-about broadcast underlined the band's ongoing stature and influence, but John Kay, now in his fourth decade with Steppenwolf, remains focused firmly on the future.

Contact a Steppenwolf Agent now to book Steppenwolf to appear at your next corporate, private or special event!

Previous | Next

*Please Note: Headline Entertainment will not respond to inquiries related to any of the following (sorry, no exceptions):

• Upcoming public appearances of artists on this site.
• Contact info for artists or requests to fwd messages.
• Artist's TV, stage or film projects or representation.
• Invitations to appear to accept awards, etc.
• Requests for artists to donate items for auctions, etc.
• Media requests for print, radio or TV interviews.
• Non-paying or expenses only fundraisers.
• We will not forward jokes, songs, screenplays, etc.

*Headline Entertainment, LLC, the booking agent working on your behalf, acts only as an entertainment broker/producer for corporate functions, private engagements and special events and does not claim or represent itself as the exclusive booking agent, booking agency or management of any artist on this website.

___________________________________