I like the idea of someone who is morally ethical, but who likes to go out and party. I was sitting down with my guitar, and the music just came out of me. What was the inspiration for Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning? Did you have anyone in mind for the woman in the song? When I then sent it to Ed, he jumped on it. Then I sent it to Jim, asking, “What do you think of this idea?” and he went, “Er… That needs a bit of work.” Which was fine, but I always thought it was a good idea. I just thought, “I wonder if he’d be up for writing a song with me?” I sent Ed a note, saying, “I’ve got this idea…” And he went, “Yeah!” I’d love to work with Ed again, he’s great. I went along to his show, as I had a night off, so we met up and stayed in touch after. We’d met when we were both in Ireland on tour. Once I’d had the idea, I sent it to Ed and we collaborated back and forth on email. The message of Shine A Light felt a good way of saying goodbye. I lost my father, and I wanted a song that could be a send-off for him, or for anybody else. It was written as an idea for my parents. How did you come to write the title track of Shine A Light with Ed Sheeran? I just never bothered getting round to asking her! Driving Under The Influence Of Love was written for Joe Cocker before he died. After I sang Summer Of ’69 with Taylor Swift on her tour, I thought The Last Night On Earth could be good for Taylor to work on with me. The same goes for The Last Night On Earth. I wrote it with Gretchen, but I’d shelved it, thinking maybe it could be good for somebody else to record. I started writing Part Friday Night, Part Sunday Morning years ago, but I’d never recorded it. I’m all over the place, so it tends to be whoever’s most available and convenient at the time. How did you decide which songwriters to work with on the album? You’ve worked with most of them before – Jim Vallance, Eliot Kennedy, Gretchen Peters… Really, though, Shine A Light is simply the best songs I could put together. I kept interspersing new and old ideas that had some sort of cohesion.
I wasn’t writing them thinking, “I must write for the musical” – songs just come out how they will.
Within a year, I started realising I had enough material for an album, so last summer I gathered the last few songs together. I was parking the ideas for songs that weren’t suitable for the musical. I was getting songs together for the Pretty Woman musical, which I’ve co-written with Jim Vallance. This one wasn’t even a question of thinking of an album. Fresh from a sell-out arena tour, the Canadian icon invited Classic Pop to his management studio in Chelsea to talk about how he’s stayed on top for 35 years…ĭid you have any grand plans as to how you wanted the new album to sound? The energetic Shine A Light – featuring Ed Sheeran co-writing the title track and a Jennifer Lopez duet made with Ariana Grande’s producer – has kept Bryan firmly where he belongs. He talks to Classic Pop about his 40 years in the music business and how his new album has found him co-writing with one of the biggest pop stars on the planet…Į ver since his fourth album, Reckless, in 1984 featured Summer Of ’69 and Heaven, all of Bryan Adams’ albums have reached the Top 10. As he nears his 60th birthday, Bryan Adams – singer, songwriter, record producer, guitarist, photographer, activist and vegan – shows little sign of winding down.