Ted Nugent Biography

Ted Nugent was born in 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. Nugent began learning to play guitar when he was just a young man, and by the 1960’s, he’d formed a few of his own bands, performing music in the style of the Rolling Stones. His greatest initial success came with Amboy Dukes, a band which issued three albums: Amboy Dukes (1967), Journey to the Center of the Mind (1968), and Migration (1969), before changing their name to Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes in the early 1970’s.

Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes established a firm fan base and released the albums Survival of the Fittest (1971), Call of the Wild (1973), Tooth, Fang & Claw (1974.)  They disbanded in the mid 1970’s, but by that time Ted Nugent had established a reputation for himself as a skilled guitarist. He dropped the Amboy Dukes name and established a band on his own, signing with Columbia Records in 1975. Ted Nugent, the debut album, was released in the same year and their new hard rock/metal sound and strong stage presence immediately sold records and drew crowds. Free-for-All came next in 1976, and then Cat Scratch Fever in 1977, which spawned the chart-topping hit single “Cat Scratch Fever.”

Ted Nugent’s Tarzan-like stage presence brought them sold-out crowds as they toured throughout the United States, but his assertive handling of his band members led to the unraveling of the group as they defected one by one.  Nevertheless, Ted Nugent continued to release albums throughout the 1970’s and into the 1980’s, including: Double Live Gonzo! (1978), Weekend Warriors (1978), State of Shock (1979), Scream Dream (1980), Nugent (1982), Penetrator (1984), Little Miss Dangerous (1986), and If You Can't Lick 'Em...Lick 'Em (1988.) By the end of the 1980’s, Ted Nugent had joined the band Damn Yankees, but the band released only two albums, and Ted Nugent embarked on a solo career.

As a solo artist, Ted Nugent released Spirit of the Wild (1995), Craveman (2002), Love Grenade (2007), and a series of live albums, but in the new millennium Nugent has become mostly recognizable for his strong and vocal conservative political stance on a variety of issues. An avid hunter and outdoor sportsman, Ted Nugent speaks frequently on the issue of gun rights and has sparked recent debate for his heated criticism of the current democratic administration. He has hosted a series of morning radio shows in Detroit and produced a number of instructional hunting videos. In 2001, Ted Nugent released his autobiography, God, Guns & Rock n’ Roll. He continues in the new millennium to perform, tour, and speak publicly about the political issues important to him.