Francis Rossi, OBE (born 29 May 1949 Forest Hill, South London) is a British musician best known for being a co-founder of the English rock band Status Quo, in which he sings lead vocals and plays lead guitar. Rossi is known for his trademark green Fender Telecaster, which has been his main guitar since he bought it for £70 in 1968.
BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS
Full Name: Francis Domonic Michael Nicholas Rsossi
Description: Vocalist, Guitarist, UK
Known For: Member of – “Status Quo”
Instruments: Guitar
Music Styles: Rock
Location: United Kingdom
Date Born: 29th May 1949
Location Born: Forest Hill, United Kingdom
CONTACT DETAILS
Web Site: http:www.statusquo.co.uk/
YOUTUBE VIDEO
BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE
Francis Rossi
An English rock guitarist.
He has enjoyed minor success with brief projects outside the group. In 1985 when Status Quo were on hold, he recorded two singles and a (so far unreleased) album – which was provisionally titled Flying Debris – with his longtime writing partner Bernie Frost. The single releases were “Modern Romance (I Want to Fall in Love Again)” (UK No. 54), and “Jealousy”. In 1996 he issued a solo album, King of the Doghouse, which was not a commercial success, although it produced a UK No. 42 single, “Give Myself to Love”. Some years earlier, in 1976, he appeared on the soundtrack album and film All This and World War II comprising cover versions of songs by The Beatles. Although the album sleeve credits the performance of “Getting Better” to Status Quo, the track featured Rossi’s vocals and the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1977, he produced and played guitar on John Du Cann’s solo album The World’s Not Big Enough.
In 1980, Rossi and Frost contributed vocals to “Ships in The Night”, a track from Exiled, a concept album by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe which featured various other artists, including Colin Blunstone and Dan McCafferty. In 1981, he produced and played the Coral sitar, synthesizer, and guitar on two tracks on Line-Up by Graham Bonnet, one of which was the Top 10 hit, “Night Games”.
3 May 2010 saw the release of his long-awaited second solo album, One Step at a Time, including a re-recording of Quo’s 1973 classic “Caroline”. Rossi wrote and recorded three songs with Guy Johnson, who penned the UK Top 20 hit “Going Down Town Tonight” for Status Quo in 1984. On the news that Rossi will embark on a six date tour of the UK to promote the album, he commented, “I never stop writing songs and melodies but there have been many tracks over the years that just weren’t right for Quo. These songs have been gathering dust in my mind for too long and now seems the right time to showcase them. It’s a big step for me but I hope to see lots of the same faces out there on the road!”.[3] On that tour his son Nicholas shared the stage with him – a collaboration Rossi was thinking about quite a long time before.
Despite Status Quo remaining hugely popular especially in the UK and mainland Europe and also Australia, Francis has recently hinted that the time might be drawing near for Status Quo to finish as a band. In an interview with Classic Rock Magazine in May 2012, focusing on the reunion of Quo’s classic ‘Frantic Four’ line up, Rossi said “I don’t think Status Quo will be around much longer either. It’s increasingly difficult to cope with the energy discharge a concert requires”. Despite that, the band will be touring for the foreseeable future.
Musical equipment
Rossi’s guitar of choice is the Fender Telecaster and has used several over the years including his main guitar which is a 1965 Fender Telecaster with a maple fretboard, which he purchased in 1968 for £70. It was originally a sunburst that was painted green in 1970. Through the years several parts have been replaced with G&L parts and a third pickup has been added in a configuration much like a Fender Stratocaster. He also owns two other green Fender Telecasters that are both brighter in colour and feature rosewood fretboards. One is used for the song “Down Down” and the other for the song “Whatever You Want”. Like his main guitar they are both in a three pickup configuration. For amplification Rossi uses Marshall JCM800 or JCM900 Lead series amplifiers with 4×12 cabinets and a Roland GP8 to boost his signal. The sound from his Marshall rig is blended with Vox AC30 amplifiers that are kept behind his Marshall setup.
Personal life
Rossi lives in Purley, Surrey, England. He has eight children by two marriages, including his current to Eileen. When not touring, Rossi keeps fit by swimming and exercising. He is a collector of koi and likes clay pigeon shooting. He is known by his bandmates for being a fan of pasta. When not touring, Rossi is known[by whom?] to enjoy simply staying at home and relaxing.
Rossi recently moved from the house in which he had lived since the age of 18, because he considered it pointless to live in a ten-bedroomed house when his children had all left home. He left behind the ‘ARSIS (A Roof Somewhere in Surrey)’ music studio, housed in an extension to the house which he had built himself. This studio was used in the recording process of his solo effort One Step at a Time and the Quid Pro Quo album.
In March 2009 Rossi decided that his distinctive trademark ponytail of the previous 35 years should be cut off. The ponytail was subsequently won by long-time Status Quo fan Sharon Littleton in a competition organised by The Sun newspaper.
Rossi was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours along with bandmate Rick Parfitt.
Web site
http://www.francisrossi.com/