Peter Frampton

British rock musician Peter Frampton was practicing guitar at age eight and was a professional at sixteen. As a member of a bubblegum group called The Herd, Frampton enjoyed his first brush with fame. In 1969, the young musician teamed with Steve Marriott to form Humble Pie. In 1971, Frampton felt he'd outgrown the group and hit the trail on his own, spending the next few years in session work with such established giants as George Harrison. Winds of Change, his first solo album, came out in 1972, but it wasn't until 1976 that Frampton finally struck the mother lode with Frampton Comes Alive the double album that held its Number One sales slot for 17 weeks. Frampton's next album, 1977's I'm With You, was not as successful, and his next career move turned out to be his worst. Frampton agreed to co-star with the Bee Gees in Robert Stigwood's filmization of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978), which ended up a monumental failure. Following this fiasco, Frampton suffered a number personal and professional blows from which he still has not completely recovered--not the least of which was a near-fatal auto accident. Despite his drop-off of popularity, Peter Frampton has continued to record and to perform before respectable crowds. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide