Bob Seger has a career that many artists only dream of, from selling millions of records to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
While Seger bid touring farewell in 2019, legions of fans still adore this “Beautiful Loser” and always will. In honor of his birthday on May 6, we take a brief look at 10 interesting Bob Seger statistics that might surprise you.
Retired From Touring, But None Done With Music
In June 2021, Seger spoke with David Fricke and reflected on his life in music and the December 2020 passing of longtime Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed.
Seger said Reed phoned him to tell him about his colon cancer diagnosis and said, “I listened really hard to him, and he said ‘how grateful I am for my wonderful life.’ … I thought that was so beautiful, and I thought he was so brave. I don’t think I could go out (on tour) without him.”
As far as the touring part of his career goes, Seger said, “You know, I’ve had a great life, oh my goodness. I loved what I did. Never worked a day in my life, really. The hard parts were in sleeping in hotels, having rotten food.”
However, it seems as though Seger isn’t completely retired from music. He touched on his experience during the pandemic and how Bruce Springsteen offered some supportive words saying, “I was getting kind of down on myself, down on the world and down on everything. [Springsteen] said, ‘Bob, go out there and start writing, start singing, start playing, start recording.”
Don’t Forget About the Bob Seger YouTube Channel
If you ever feel like getting lost in the wonder that is Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, you might want to wander over to the Seger YouTube Channel. Not only does the channel feature official music videos, but there’s also various live clips of Seger over the years, which are real gems.
Much like with streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, Seger was one of the last few major artists to not have an official channel on the platform.
When the channel was first unveiled in January 2020, president and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises (parent company of Capitol Records) Bruce Resnikoff said, “What’s really important is that Bob is first and foremost a storyteller, and we now live in a world where artists are able to tell their stories and give their message to old fans and new fans in way that goes well beyond touring and live appearances. In the world of YouTube and videos, we get a chance for Bob to tell his story in way that’s very real to people, and to reach a much broader and younger audience.”