BIOGRAPHY – Cinderella

Many of the American glam metal bands to emerge during the mid-1980s would become influenced by blues later in their career. Yet whilst Faster Pussycat and Poison were largely unsuccessful with this, Cinderella enjoyed acclaim for their albums Long Cold Winter and Heartbreak Station, both of which had moved the band further away from the hair metal scene they had originated from. Formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1983, the band was conceived by multi-instrumentalist Tom Keifer, who had grown up on The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the Delta Blues, and bassist Eric Brittingham. Keifer was already a gifted songwriter, having become an expert on both the guitar and piano, and began composing the songs that the group would perform together. They were joined by drummer Tony Destra (who sadly passed away in 1987) and guitarist Smerick but they left soon afterwards to form their own band, Britny Fox.

After recruiting guitarist, Jeff LaBar and drummer Jim Drnec, Cinderella began to perform regularly around Philadelphia and were discovered by up-and-coming singer Jon Bon Jovi, who suggested the band to his record company. Cinderella were signed to Mercury Records in 1985 and commenced work on their debut album, Night Songs, with several of the tracks having previously been recorded for their demo. It soon became clear that Drnec was unable to perform sufficiently and so the label brought in session drummer Jody Cortez to assist. Once the recording was completed, Drnec was replaced by Fred Coury, who had learned to play both the violin and trumpet, before turning to drums at the age of twelve. Having previously performed with London, Coury was an experienced drummer and, now with a completed line-up, the label prepared to promote their latest talent.

The band recorded three music videos to promote the album, with the rock track Shake Me and the power ballad Nobody’s Fool enjoying regular broadcasts on MTV. Night Songs went triple platinum and Cinderella embarked on a tour with various popular rock groups such as Bon Jovi and Poison, as well as appearing at the Monsters of Rock festival un the UK in 1987 alongside W.A.S.P. , Metallica and Dio. The following July saw the release of their second album, Long Cold Winter, which saw the band moving in a different direction, something that would strike a note with critics. Whilst the track Gypsy Road would be a minor success it would be the piano-based ballad Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone) that would ultimately be responsible for the album going double platinum.

1990′s Heartbreak Station would see Cinderella fully embrace their passion for blues, which would alienate some of the fans who had followed the group during their Night Songs era. Their comeback single, Shelter Me, would even feature gospel, whilst the title track would owe a debt to country. The album went platinum but failed to watch the success of its predecessors and soon afterwards Coury announced that he was leaving the band to form Arcade with Stephen Pearcy of Ratt. The group continued through various other drummers, such as session drummer Kenny Aronoff and Kevin Conway, but Cinderella encountered further problems when, shortly before the band was to tour Japan, Keifer lost his voice. Doctors eventually diagnosed that the singer had paresis of the laryngeal nerve which affected the left vocal cord and was forced to undergo two throat operations.

Despite his condition, the band were able to contribute the track Hot and Bothered to the soundtrack for the hit comedy Wayne’s World, which also featured music from Alice Cooper, Queen and Ugly Kid Joe. After months of extensive therapy, Keifer was finally able to commence work on the group’s fourth album, Still Climbing, which was released in 1994. The album failed to make an impact now that grunge had begun to dominate the music scene and the Cinderella went on hiatus, allowing Keifer to redevelop his voice and work on solo material. The band reformed in 1996 and continued to perform, whilst Mercury Records released the retrospective Once Upon A… Although they signed to Sony Records in 1999 no material was released and when they were dropped some time later they focused on touring, whilst Brittingham and LaBar formed Naked Beggars with his wife, Inga Brittingham. To date, Still Climbing was the last studio album released by Cinderella.