Having fronted Status Quo as lead singer and lead guitarist for over fifty years, Francis Rossi might be forgiven for sticking to what he knows and keeping life simple. By stepping into a brand new side of performance with his ‘one man’ shows however, he has demonstrated a couple of unarguable truths: he is not afraid of change, and he does have a lot to talk about!
There was change aplenty in the early days of Francis’ musical career. He was born in 1949 into a large house full of Italians, music and noise. His family ran the Rossi’s Ice Cream business and it wouldn’t be long before Francis had to choose between driving the van on rounds or sticking with music. Francis was an obsessive Pop fan and his love of the Everly Brothers, and then The Beatles, soon led him to start making music of his own. His first instrument was the harmonica, then an accordion, and he next took up the trumpet in the school orchestra. He soon put that aside and picked up his first guitar, forming a band, who took the name The Scorpions for a very brief time, with fellow pupil bassist Alan Lancaster in South East London. They soon became The Spectres, having found drummer John Coghlan. The Spectres then became Traffic and subsequently Traffic Jam, who finally morphed into Status Quo in 1967, with singer and guitarist Rick Parfitt joining the line-up. The band had a string of singles that failed to set the world alight but then enjoyed a big hit in 1968 with Francis’ psychedelic-leaning song ‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’.
In that same year, Francis bought the Fender Telecaster that became his trademark. It started life as a 1959 Sunburst but Francis sanded it down, drilled a hole through it and painted it green. It was his instrument of choice right up until around 2014, by which point the wood had suffered so much that it wouldn’t stay in tune anymore; the guitar was eventually sold by Bonham’s auction house for over £100K.
From that point on, the sound of the band evolved quickly, as they rejected notions of ‘playing the game’ or embracing the latest looks. Francis is convinced that the band never fell out of fashion as they never were fashionable. Over the course of four albums that are now rightly considered classics, the paisley shirts went and the denim and flailing hair appeared. Quo crashed into the charts with the “no nonsense boogie” of the ‘Piledriver’ album in 1972, the first of an incredible run of success on the legendary Vertigo label. Neither Francis nor Quo ever really went away – though these days the denim [and the hair] have gone to be replaced by waistcoats and a rather snappier look overall.
Over these five decades of success, Francis has become a genuine household name, known in certain circles as the ‘GOMOR’ [the grand old man of rockl]. Francis is an ebullient character, known for his willingness to chat. Never one to stick to a brief, a conversation with Francis will rarely finish where it started and, as many journalists and presenters have discovered, it’s not all suitable for a family audience. Some of the stories, from the darker days of rock n roll excess that he and Quo were once known for, are true cautionary tales, though for Francis it has always been about the music and the songs.
Many of the mainstays of any Status Quo live set originated with Francis: from ‘Caroline’ to ‘Down Down’ to ‘Paper Plane’. Even the track that arguably split the band up for a while – 1983’s ‘Marguerita Time’ - was one of his! Almost everyone knows at least a couple of his songs: the band’s total world-wide record sales exceed 118 million units. Quo have also played over 6000 live shows to a total audience in excess of 25 million people at legendary venues like the Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Wembley, Wacken and Glastonbury.
In his career he has been awarded an OBE, gained entries in the Guinness Book of Records, won a Brit Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution To The British Music Industry’, appeared on the ‘Band Aid’ single, opened Live Aid, been immortalised by both Tussauds and Royal Doulton, the list goes on.
Outside of Quo, Francis is a committed family man, he’s never moved away from South London where he lives with wife Eileen and several of his children. He has also recorded two solo records and also a collaborative album with vocalist Hannah Rickard, titled ‘We Talk Too Much’ – a reference to his 2019 Sunday Times bestselling autobiography [with Mick Wall] ‘I Talk Too Much’.
In that same year, Francis undertook his first ever one-man shows. Rather than testing the waters, he dived right in by booking a full forty date tour! The shows were a great success, he loved the experience and in 2021 he did another, longer, run. 2023 saw the debut of the Tunes & Chat Tour (more tunes, less chat) – based around acoustic performances of some of his classic songs, plus some rarely performed numbers and, of course, anecdotes from what has been a remarkable life.
In 2024 Status Quo performed a series of European shows, culminating in August and, whilst there is nothing set in stone, Francis has been clear that he does not see the band touring again. There is plenty for the fans to enjoy though, as 2025 sees the release of ‘Status Quo - Live!’ as a super deluxe 8CD edition that offers up - for the first time ever - the full live sets from each of those legendary nights at the Glasgow Apollo Theatre in 1976.
2025 also sees Francis performing 74 UK dates for his brand new “An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More…”. The first batch of dates in spring were extended (doubled) and now include winter dates. This tour which will take him the length and breadth of the country; and European dates are on their way in 2026.
With these solo shows, Francis has found a certain balance. Whilst always candid about his days of self-destruction and excess, he has replaced that with a lifestyle geared around keeping himself fit in body and mind: a finely tuned diet, daily exercise regimes and a lot of crosswords.
There is more to come – watch this space - from this versatile musician, performer, raconteur, film star [we see you ‘Bula Quo!’] and, whatever it is, you can guarantee it will be entertaining and won’t stick to the script!
