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British rock band

Status Quo are a British rock band. The group originated in London and was founded in 1962 by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster while they were still schoolboys. After a number of name and lineup changes, which included the introduction of John Coghlan in 1963 and Rick Parfitt in 1967, the band became The Status Quo in 1967 and Status Quo in 1969. As of 2022, the group have been active for 60 consecutive years (despite announcing a breakup in 1984, they played Live Aid the following year and resumed normal activities in 1986). They have had over 60 chart hits in the UK – more than any other band – including "Pictures of Matchstick Men", "Down Down", "Rockin' All Over the World", "Whatever You Want", "In the Army Now", and "What You're Proposing". Twenty two of these reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, and fifty seven reached the Top 40. They have released over 100 singles and 33 albums, most of which were bestsellers. Since reaching number 5 on the UK albums chart in 1972 with Piledriver, Status Quo have achieved a career total of 25 UK top ten albums, extending all the way up to their most recent release, Backbone, in 2019. In 2012, they were announced as the tenth best selling group of all time on the UK Singles Chart with 7.2 million singles sales in their homeland alone. As of 2015, they were one of only 50 artists to have achieved more than 500 total weeks on the UK Albums Chart. With their various records for both single and album releases, Status Quo are one of the most successful and bestselling bands of all time, especially in their home country. In July 1985 the band opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with "Rockin' All Over the World". In 1991, Status Quo received a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2014, preparing to headline that year's Download Festival, Status Quo won the Service to Rock award at the Kerrang! Awards. Status Quo appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops more than any other band. Their success and longevity as well, in part, as their connections to the British Royal Family, including philanthropic work with the Prince's Trust, have seen them frequently described as a "national institution" by the media. The band have sold approximately 108 118 million records worldwide.

Status Quo were formed in 1962 under the name The Paladins by Francis Rossi (vocals, guitar) and Alan Lancaster (bass) at Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Catford, London, along with classmates Jess Jaworski (keyboards) and Alan Key (drums). In 1965, when Rossi, Lancaster and Jaworski left school, Jaworski opted to leave the band and was replaced by Roy Lynes. They began writing their own material, and later that year met Rick Parfitt who was playing with a cabaret band called The Highlights. By the end of 1965, Rossi and Parfitt – who had become close friends after meeting at Butlins – made a commitment to continue working together. On 18 July 1966, the Spectres signed a five year deal with Piccadilly Records, releasing two singles that year, "I (Who Have Nothing)" (first recorded by Joe Sentieri and most famously covered by Tom Jones) and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" (an original song by Alan Lancaster), and one the next year called "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" (originally recorded by New York psychedelic band the Blues Magoos). In 1967, the group's sound began moving towards psychedelia and they renamed themselves Traffic, but were soon forced to change it to Traffic Jam to avoid confusion with Steve Winwood's Traffic, following an argument over who had registered the name first.

In January 1968, the group released the psychedelic flavoured "Pictures of Matchstick Men". In 1976, Bown also began playing live with the band and was eventually made an official member of Status Quo in 1981. The band's first recording without Lynes was the late 1970 single "In My Chair", followed by their fourth album Dog of Two Head in 1971.

In 1972 the band left Pye Records and signed with the heavy rock and progressive label Vertigo Records. "Down Down" topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1975, becoming their only UK No. 1 single to date. From 1977 onwards, the band's sound became more polished as they began to employ outside producers. Roger Glover of Deep Purple and Rainbow was the first outside producer to work with Quo since Pye's John Schroeder in the early 1970s, and produced the non album single "Wild Side of Life" and its B side "All Through The Night" in 1976. The next three studio albums, Rockin' All Over the World (1977), If You Can't Stand the Heat (1978) and Whatever You Want (1979), were produced by Pip Williams, while the band's first two albums of the 1980s, Just Supposin' (1980) and Never Too Late (1981), were produced by John Eden. All five of these albums went Top 5 in the UK. The title track of Rockin' All Over the World, a minor hit for its writer John Fogerty (formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival), became one of Status Quo's most enduring anthems. "Deciding to retire from the road – all that was about was getting Francis a solo career," declared Lancaster. "Nobody on the outside knew it, but he didn't want to work with me or Rick anymore." In 1984, the band released a cover of "The Wanderer" by Dion as a single from 12 Gold Bars Vol. 2, which reached No. 7 while the album reached No. 12. citing increasing musical differences, notably during sessions for Back to Back. The specific dispute concerned two tracks that became hits for the group around that time. Lancaster had co written "Ol' Rag Blues", but was angered when the producers chose to release a version with Rossi singing the lead vocal instead of one sung by himself. The injunction also prevented the release of a single, "Naughty Girl", for which a catalogue number was issued by Vertigo. An out of court settlement was made in January 1986, giving Rossi and Parfitt the rights to the band's name, enabling the new Status Quo line up to continue recording In The Army Now, for which "Naughty Girl" was reworked as "Dreamin'". Lancaster remained in Australia, and in 1986 joined an Australian supergroup, The Party Boys, featuring Angry Anderson of Rose Tattoo, John Brewster of the Angels and Kevin Borich, but achieved little success outside Australia. Lancaster left Status Quo formally in 1987. In 1986, Quo supported Queen on the latter's Magic Tour. The commercially successful In the Army Now album was released later that year, peaking at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. Its title track became one of the band's biggest UK singles, reaching No. 2. 1992 brought the band's third live album, Live Alive Quo. The next studio album, 1994's Thirsty Work, included a cover of the Jennifer Warnes song "I'm Restless" revealing an alternative and lighter sound to the band. to the frequent criticism that they are a three chord band. Produced by veteran producer Pip Williams, who had worked with Quo in the studio since 1977, the album was only moderately successful. In 2008, they teamed up with German techno group Scooter to record a jumpstyle version of their 1979 single "Whatever You Want" entitled "Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)". In December 2008, they released their 75th single and first Christmas single, entitled "It's Christmas Time", which peaked at No. 40 in the UK Singles Chart. The track was from the new Pictures – 40 Years of Hits greatest hits album. The following year a live album and DVD, Pictures – Live at Montreux, was released.

Rossi and Parfitt were each awarded the OBE in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to music and their long standing charity work, including for The Prince's Trust, British Heart Foundation and Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy. Classic Rock magazine reported on 17 March 2010 that the band had patched up their relationship with Lancaster, and were discussing the possibility of a future collaboration. The article stated "While the band are back on friendly terms with Alan, it's unlikely we'll see any future reunion, with Quo continuing as normal and Lancaster busy with charity events and overseeing the activities of his son's band The Presence". Later that month, on 26 September, a new version of "In the Army Now" was released through Universal / UMC, with all profits from this updated and lyrically reworked version donated equally to the British Forces Foundation and Help for Heroes charities. Live at the BBC, a box set of sessions, live concerts and TV appearances at the BBC was released on 24 October 2010. The set was released in various formats: a full 7CD and 1DVD version covering almost all appearances, while the 2CD and 4CD versions present some highlights; the DVD was also released individually. The album peaked at No. 10 on the UK chart. it screened in cinemas on 22 October 2012, and was released on Blu ray and DVD the following week. The movie included contributions from Brian May, Jeff Lynne, Cliff Richard, Joe Elliott, Paul Weller, Joe Brown, Jim Lea, Andy Scott and Steve Diggle. In April 2012, Status Quo announced they were shooting their first feature film, over several weeks in Fiji. A 90 minute action comedy, entitled Bula Quo!, taking its name from the islanders' traditional Fijian greeting, and also referencing the title of the band's best selling album, Hello! featuring the band as themselves, and also starring Jon Lovitz, Craig Fairbrass and Laura Aikman. The film was directed by Stuart St. Paul, produced by Tim Major and was released in cinemas on 5 July 2013. The film was accompanied by a soundtrack album of the same name, the band's 30th studio album, released on 10 June. It featured nine new songs and ten re records and live tracks. Bula Quo! debuted in the UK chart at number 10. On 9 July 2012, the band released the single "The Winner" for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In July 2012 Coles, an Australian national supermarket chain, signed Status Quo to record a version of "Down Down" using Coles' tag line 'Down, down, prices are down'. In September 2012, the band performed at Hyde Park for BBC Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park. In November 2012, Coles continued their association with Status Quo, producing a series of television adverts with the band appearing and performing "It's Christmas Time". In 2013, new adverts were released by Coles with Quo using "Whatever You Want" as the new jingle. In December that year, Quo toured under the Quofest banner for a second year, this time supported by Bonnie Tyler and Eddie and the Hot Rods. In December 2012, Letley announced his decision to leave the band after 12 years, and subsequently departed following completion of their 2012 winter tour. However, Letley toured with Quo their Australia and Mexico tour in March and April 2013, due to limited time to find a new drummer after the Frantic Four Tour. The 1970–81 line up (Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan) reunited as "The Frantic Four" in March 2013 for a series of dates in Manchester, Wolverhampton, Glasgow and London. Three live albums were issued from the tour, covering the O2 Academy in Glasgow (9 and 10 March 2013), the Hammersmith Apollo (15 and 16 March 2013) and the last date of the tour at Wembley Arena (17 March 2013), with the Wembley show also being filmed for a DVD. In May 2013, Leon Cave became Quo's new drummer. On 25 November 2013, it was announced that Status Quo would headline the second stage at the Download Festival in June 2014.

In January 2014, Wychwood Brewery announced they would be releasing a Status Quo brand of beer, named after their 1972 album Piledriver, exclusively in JD Wetherspoon pubs across the UK in February, before going on general sale in April. March 2014 saw the second 'Frantic Four' reunion tour featuring Rossi and Parfitt with original members Lancaster and Coghlan with their last gig being at The O2 in Dublin, which was recorded and filmed for album and DVD release, both titled The Frantic Four's Final Fling. Rossi indicated that this would be the last reunion tour of the 'Frantic Four' line up. On 8 March 2014, Rossi and Parfitt appeared on ITV show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway performing "Rockin' All Over the World" with McBusted. In August 2014, it was reported that founding keyboardist Jess Jaworski had died. In October 2014, Parfitt and Rossi appeared on BBC's The One Show, performing an acoustic version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men". In May 2015, the twosome appeared on BBC's Later with Jools Holland, to talk about their Aquostic – Stripped Bare album. On 9 May 2015, they performed "In the Army Now" at the VE Day 70: A Party to Remember. On 22 October 2014, the band launched the Aquostic album with a 90 minute performance at London's Roundhouse, with the concert recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series. Footage from the concert was later used, interspersed with interviews with Rossi and Parfitt, in BBC Four's Status Quo: Live and Acoustic, in January 2017. A live album and DVD of the concert, both titled Aquostic – Live at the Roundhouse, were issued in 2015. On 5 June 2015, Status Quo were the headline act at Palmerston Park in Dumfries, at the stadium of Queen of the South and were supported by Reef and Big Country, in the first ever live concert at the venue. On 1 February 2016, it was announced that Status Quo, in addition to the spring and summer dates already scheduled, would tour Europe starting in October. The final dates would take place in the UK towards the end of the year, after which the group would retire from playing 'electric' tours. The 'Last of The Electrics' tour was subsequently extended into 2017, with additional concerts outside the UK. The band performed in Aquostic line up at BBC Radio 2's Live in Hyde Park, in September 2016. Their next album Aquostic II – That's a Fact! was released on 21 October that year. On 28 October 2016, Parfitt permanently retired from live performances after suffering a heart attack earlier the same year. On 24 December, he died in hospital in Marbella, Spain as a result of severe infection, after suffering an injury to his shoulder. Parfitt's funeral was held at Woking Crematorium on 19 January 2017. Irish guitarist Richie Malone, who had substituted for Parfitt during some 2016 live shows, took his place in the group on rhythm guitar, playing on both recorded material and at live shows. The band had to postpone a concert in June 2017 after frontman Rossi became ill.

2017 and 2018 saw the releases of three new live albums, The Last Night of the Electrics, Down Down and Dirty at Wacken and Down Down and Dignified at the Royal Albert Hall, with the former two also having companion DVD releases. In June 2019, Status Quo were the special guests for Lynyrd Skynyrd, on their UK farewell tour. On 14 June 2019, the band announced that they were working on Backbone, their 33rd studio album – the first Status Quo studio album not to feature Parfitt. On 25 August 2019, the band appeared on ITV show The Sara Cox Show where Rossi spoke about the new album Backbone and also his autobiography I Talk Too Much, after which they performed an upcoming track called "Liberty Lane" as well as "Rockin' All Over the World". The album was released on 6 September 2019 and it reached number 6 in the UK Albums Chart. On 15 September 2019, the band performed at BBC Radio 2's Live in Hyde Park from Hyde Park, London for the third time. They were third from top of the bill, playing in the early evening and followed by Westlife and then The Pet Shop Boys. On Christmas Day 2019, the band appeared on Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off, performing "Rockin' All Over the World". On 11 August 2020, Status Quo cancelled their forty date Backbone UK and European tour because of the COVID 19 pandemic. Various commitments for the following year meant the band were unable to reschedule the shows in 2021. On 20 August 2020, Rossi appeared on ITV daytime show This Morning and spoke about what he was doing during lockdown and the pandemic, and announced a new tour called Out Out Quoing to be scheduled for 2022. On 2 November 2023, Rossi appeared on More4 show Little Trains and Big Names with Pete Waterman talking about his childhood and the raise of Status Quo and Waterman helps Rossi to build his first model railway layout.

Status Quo have performed a career total of at least 3700 documented gigs as of September 2022. After the addition of early undocumented gigs and various lost performances, the concert total is likely to be higher and is estimated by the band to be over 6000, with an audience in excess of 25 million people. The band have performed over a hundred gigs in a single year several times, with the recorded peak of 144 (1971), averaging a live show every 2.5 days.

In 1989, American alternative rock group Camper Van Beethoven scored a number one hit on Billboard magazine's Modern Rock Tracks chart with a cover version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men". The song is from their album Key Lime Pie. British alternative rock band Kasabian released their own cover version of the same song as a B side from their 2006 single Shoot the Runner. The 1996 re issue of the album Too Rye Ay by Dexys Midnight Runners contained a cover version of "Marguerita Time". Ozzy Osbourne, backed by Type O Negative, covered "Pictures of Matchstick Men" as part of the soundtrack to the Howard Stern biographical movie Private Parts in 1997. Towards the end of his life, DJ John Peel was known for playing "Down Down" as part of his eclectic DJ sets. Arjen Lucassen (from the Dutch project Ayreon) covered "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" and "Ice in the Sun" on his solo album Strange Hobby. Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz recorded a cover version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men", on his 1985 solo album Seeing Eye Gods. German power metal band Helloween covered "Rain" for their single "Power". It can also be found on the bonus disc of the special edition of their 1996 album, The Time of the Oath.