Stevie Wright

Steven Wright was born on 20 December 1948 in Leeds, England. His family migrated to Australia in 1957.

In the early sixties Steven fronted two local bands, The Outlaws, followed by Chris Langdon & The Langdells. In mid 1964 while Stevie was singing with the The Langdells, he met Hendrickus Vandenburg (aka Harry Vanda) and Dingeman Vandersluys who were in the process of putting a new band together. Steven became the lead singer and also brought in his friend, guitarist George Young (brother of Angus from AC-DC). The Easybeats were formed when they found their final member, drummer Snowy Fleet.

Steven’s meteoric career with The Easybeats rocketed him to the top of the Australian pop scene. Within months of forming, they were topping the charts around the country. Steven and George were an accomplished and productive writing team with a knack for writing memorable, down-to-earth rock lyrics. They co wrote ‘She's so fine’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Women (make you feel alright)’, ‘Come and see her’, and ‘Wedding ring’ from 1964-1965 for The Easybeats, as well as other hits for other newcomer performers such as Johnny Young.

The success of ‘Friday on my mind’ took the band to dizzy new heights and seemed to bode for a great future, but over the next two years in the U.K. the group gradually fizzled out and performed their farewell tour in late 1969. Stevie returned to Australia and tried to establish a solo career.

Stevie's first post-Easybeats gig was the short-lived Sydney group Rachette (1970-71). In late 1971 Steve joined Likefun but only played with them for a short time. In 1972, he spent a few months with a band called Black Tank and in June 1973 he made an appearance on ABC’s Aunty Jack on ABC TV. By the time that special aired on TV, Stevie was well on his way back to the limelight.

In 1972, he won the part of Simon Zealotes in the Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Stevie re-engaged Vanda & Young who had just returned from the U.K. and were then producing for Albert's. Stevie was one of the first new acts signed to the new Albert label. The team produced the album Hard Road with songs such as ‘Hard Road’, ‘Didn't I Take You Higher’, ‘Evie’, ‘Movin' On Up’, ‘Commando Line’, ‘Life Gets Better’ and ‘Dancing in the Limelight’ combining to be regarded as one of the best albums of the period.

Stevie's groundbreaking debut solo single ‘Evie (Parts I, II and III)’ is a genuine rock epic, clocking in at 11 minutes. Released in May 1974, ‘Evie’ shot to the top of charts, peaking at number two nationally during July. The Hard Road album also peaked at number five nationally. It was released on Atlantic in the USA and Polydor in the U.K. and made a strong impression overseas. Suzi Quatro later covered ‘Evie’, and Rod Stewart included a version of ‘Hard Road’ on his Smiler album.

Stevie hit the road to promote the album and singles, with his backing group, The All Stars. After the tours, Stevie went back into the studio and cut his second solo LP, Black Eyed Bruiser, which yielded the singles ‘Guitar Band’ (November 1974), ‘You’ (March 1975) and ‘Black Eyed Bruiser’ (May). 'Guitar Band' performed strongly, reaching number eight nationally in December 1974. 'Black Eyed Bruiser' failed to chart despite the success of the title track.

By mid 1975, The All Stars had left to back rising solo star John Paul Young, Stevie’s career headed into a steep decline from this point. He played a few gigs around Sydney during mid-1976 with a band called Sacha, but for the rest of the decade he disappeared from view as he plunged ever deeper into the grip of drug and alcohol addiction.

He put himself through rehab and on 4 November 1979 he re-emerged for a truly great performance. Playing in front of 10,000 people on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, he turned in a truly electrifying performance of the complete Evie suite.

For a few years Stevie assisted with back up singing for Albert’s bands. In 1986 there was a reunion for the Easybeasts who performed to sell-out houses. The same month, Alberts re- issued the ‘You’ single from Blackeyed Bruiser with a new B-side, ‘20 Dollar Bill’ to promote the Stevie Wright "Best Of..." compilation called Facing The Music.

In 1988, Wright formed a new backing band Hard Rain to celebrate 25 years in music. Wright issued a new album, rather ironically titled Striking It Rich, on the Laser label in 1991. It featured seven new songs, a new version of ‘Evie’ and re-workings of six Easybeats songs.

In 2002 Stevie joined the sell-out Long Way To The Top tour and his nightly rendition of ‘Evie’ proved to be one of the emotional highlights of the concerts.