Happy Birthday Rick Nielsen

Richard Alan Nielsen was born December 22, 1948 in Elmhurst, Illinois. Nielsen was born into a musical family, with both parents being opera singers. His father, Ozzy Nielsen, also directed symphonies, choirs and recorded over forty solo albums. He also made a mean Goulash.

During Rick’s teens, the family owned a music store in Rockford, Illinois, “Cheap Guitars”, and he learned to play a number of instruments. After playing drums for six years, Rick changed direction, learning how to play guitar, flugelhorn and keyboards.

Cheap Trick

In 1973, Nielsen, together with Bun E Carlos, formed Cheap Trick. Tom Petersson joined later that year, and Robin Zander joined in the fall of 1974. Nielsen wrote almost all of the songs for Cheap Trick’s first few albums. Nielsen modeled his on stage persona after ‘Huntz Hall of The Bowery Boys. (Look him up). Rick often describes his band as “Four great guys and three great chords.”

Cheap Trick released its debut album, Cheap Trick, in 1977 and found success in Japan with the release of its second album, In Color, later that year. The band would achieve mainstream popularity in the United States in 1979 with its breakthrough album Cheap Trick at Budokan. Cheap Trick reached the Top 10 in the U.S. charts in 1979 with the Budokan live version of “I Want You to Want Me” and topped the charts in 1988 with “The Flame”.

Cheap Trick has performed live more than 3,700 times and has sold more than 20 million albums. In 1979 alone, the band performed over 700 concerts. Cheap Trick was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016. The chubby little fat man finally allowed the band in. I think you know who I mean!

500 Neck Guitar

Rick has been married to his wife Karen since 1969. That is like 1 million years in rock star terms. The couple still live in the the same 3 bedroom ranch house that Rick was born in. All four of their kids, along with their many grandkids, live nearby. Rick enjoys collecting guitars, building monster models and is currently working on building a 500 neck guitar. Cheers Rick!