The story of Michigan rocker Bob Seger

You'll find longtime manager Punch Andrews at the vortex of Seger's career

Anyone who wants to do any kind of business with Bob Seger finds that the whirling, noisy vortex of everything relating to Seger's career and music is a busy guy in a Birmingham office named Edward "Punch" Andrews. As Seger's longtime manager, Andrews takes care of the business, fends off unwanted business advances, holds the record companies accountable and makes it possible for his artist to concentrate on making music or just living his life.

The 16 songs Seger can't do without

Creem Magazine, in 1974, asked Bob Seger to list his favorite songs. This is that list. (And it includes only two of his own).

The stories behind 'Face the Promise'

A very long time in the making, "Face the Promise" came about after Bob Seger scrapped innumerable songs he had been working on for years (Seger and Punch Andrews must have an underground bunker somewhere holding all that "unreleased material."). But once Seger changed direction, he was invigorated to the point where he stopped sailing and put aside his golf clubs until the whole thing was done. Here's a rundown of each album track, with Seger's comments in quotes below:

Seger's discography

"The Lonely One" -- Demo, never released. Recorded by a 16-year-old Bob Seger, reportedly in the basement of Max Crook's house. Crook played the musitron, an early synthesizer, on Del Shannon's hit "Runaway." Recorded 1961.

Position on the Billboard chart doesn't always tell the story

With an artist like Bob Seger, Billboard chart position doesn't always tell the story; many of his hits were rock tracks played heavily on radio, not necessarily pop single hits. It's still interesting to see some of the highest positions Seger songs and albums achieved on various Billboard charts over the years.

Travelin' man goes on tour

It started out as a possible tour, then "we'll try a few dates in the fall," then Bob Seger said he'd do the Detroit dates and re-assess if he could handle morebut every day seems to bring a new concert date. Here are the dates he's played, and those he's announced:

'It's great to be back!' Seger says

GRAND RAPIDS -- Seger Nation reconvened -- it only took 11 years, but it's as if 1975 at Cobo Hall was just yesterday. People scarfed down too many beers, slow-danced at inappropriate times, and you even saw grandmotherly types try to scoot past security.

Around the nation: What the critics say about the new tour

He may be "sweet 16 turned 61," but Bob Seger has been drawing positive reviews for his first concert tour in a decade. Here is a sampling of reviews and interviews:

What critics have said down through the years

"If there is any grace in heaven, 'Night Moves' will give Bob Seger the national following which has long eluded him. It is simply one of the best albums of the year. As a vocalist, Seger recalls Rod Stewart; his raspy voice can both soar and attack. As a composer, he echoes Bruce Springsteen in his painful attempts to memorialize his past."-- Kit Rachlis, Rolling Stone, January 1977

Seger's back in the groove

Way out in the woods of northern Oakland County, where the only sound comes from the Zen swish of a maple leaf drifting to the ground, Bob Seger waits for the writing gods to give him five more songs.

Fans rock the Hall on Seger's behalf

Seger fans had to wait years before he was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. In this story, fans, critics and Hall of Fame nominating committee members have their say. Fan Eric Verona even launched a web site, rockthehall.com, to press the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to induct Seger.

Seger sails first across finish line

MACKINAC ISLAND -- When Detroit rocker Bob Seger's boat Lightning was announced as the winner of the Port Huron to Mackinac race on Tuesday, it was enough to make a sports copy editor weep for joy.

He's a national superstar, but our hometown hero's still the same fiery workingman

Bob Seger is a national pop music star by chance, not by choice.

Money paves the way for chart-topping success

The claim that if a record is "in the grooves" it's assured of becoming a hit is a myth and one believed only by the most naďve aspiring pop singers and ...

A long climb to the top

I've got something I've been wanting to say for about eight years now:

How sweet it is -- Seger fans may be 'stars' in a movie

If you were one of the 60,000-plus at the Bob Seger concert at Pontiac Stadium last June, you just might be in the movies.

Bob Seger's homecoming at Pontiac Stadium

After years of struggle, Seger burst out of the funky bars and into stadium shows after the success of his 1975 album "Beautiful Loser" and the live album ...

What Bob would like to sing -- 'it was a very good year'

Bob Seger's "Live Bullet" may in fact be the vehicle that can finally launch him into his rightful place in contemporary music. The album was recorded live ...

Detroit's pop star still aspiring at 31

Chronologically, Bob Seger is somewhere between the old man and the young man he was writing about in "Beautiful Loser." He's 31 and you might say he's a ...

Bob Seger to perform at Palace on Dec. 20

Bob Seger fans, at last, you can save the date: Seger will perform his first Detroit area show in a decade at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Seger rocks 'n' rolls, thrills fans at Cobo

It could have been that it was a homecoming for Bob Seger that made his two-night sellout performance at Detroit's Cobo Arena so triumphant this week.

Seger's on verge of breakthrough

It looks like Bob Seger won't have to go to Katmandu after all.

Singer Bob Seger: Big time a beat away

When Bob Seger goes on tour he travels in a camper bus, which after only 15,000 miles already has blown an engine and two mufflers.

Bob Seger's raw music is strictly first-class

As long as there's a market for the kind of music that ignites and colonizes an audience with its raw power and gut level rapport, there's the good chance that ...