John Kay and Steppenwolf, one of rock’s most enduring and respected bands that have delivered hard-hitting, personally-charged music for more than three decades, are set to appear at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on June 26 at 7 p.m. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 25 at noon.
John Kay and Steppenwolf’s worldwide record sales exceed 25 million units. The band’s hits – “Born to Be Wild,” “Magic Carpet Ride,” “Rock Me” and “Monster” – stand amongst rock’s most indelible anthems and remain fixtures on classic rock radio. The songs have been featured in approximately 50 motion pictures and countless television programs. And, in 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.
Steppenwolf’s remarkable resilience is largely a reflection of the fierce determination and never-say-die tenacity that’s driven John Kay for much of his life. Born Joachim Fritz Krauledat in 1944 in the section of Germany then known as East Prussia, his family fled to West Germany when he was four. While he couldn’t speak English, he was profoundly affected by the American rock ‘n’ roll he heard on U.S. Armed Forces Radio. The music’s primal energy touched something deep in him, instilling both a driving ideal of personal freedom and an abiding interest in American culture. That vision became a reality in 1958, when the teenager emigrated with his mother and stepfather to Toronto. There, Kay immersed himself in the rock, R&B, country and gospel music that emanated from late-night U.S. clear-channel AM stations, while learning English from the speed-rapping DJs who dominated the rock ‘n’ roll airwaves.
In 1967, Kay formed Steppenwolf, christening the group after Hermann Hesse’s mystical novel of the same name. Steppenwolf’s self-titled 1968 debut album – recorded in a mere four days – introduced the band’s tough, blues-rooted sound, topical lyrics and the gritty growl of Kay, whose brooding presence and trademark shades made him one of the era’s most magnetic and identifiable figures.
Steppenwolf soon emerged as one of the few bands of the late ’60s to successfully straddle the pop-oriented AM mainstream and the hip FM underground, scoring substantial success on both the single and album charts. “Born to Be Wild” became Steppenwolf’s first major hit and was subsequently featured prominently (along with the band’s pointed reading of Hoyt Axton’s anti-hard-drug composition “The Pusher”) in the seminal ’60s film Easy Rider, cementing Steppenwolf’s status as counterculture icons as well as earning the group a hardcore biker following.
The band’s career momentum continued with such best-selling albums as Steppenwolf The Second, At Your Birthday Party, Monster, Steppenwolf Live, Steppenwolf 7 and For Ladies Only.
Steppenwolf’s dramatic and sometimes turbulent history was the subject of an episode of VH-1’s documentary series Behind the Music and Kay also published an autobiography, Magic Carpet Ride, which related the ups and downs and his and his band’s history. The band regularly hosts Wolf Fest, an annual weekend-long festival that draws fans from around the world, to their adopted home base in Tennessee.
Tickets cost $69, $59 and $49*; all seats are available at the Hard Rock Live Box Office, Tuesday – Saturday from noon – 6 p.m. and Sunday – Monday only open on event days at noon. Tickets also are available at all Ticketmaster outlets online at www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone: 1-800-745-3000. Doors open one-hour prior to show start time. *Additional fees may apply.