1. William Stuart Adamson was a Scottish rock guitarist and singer.
26 Facts About Stuart Adamson
1. 2.
Stuart Adamson was born in the city of Manchester, England, to Scottish parents Anne and William Stuart Adamson.
3.
Stuart Adamson entered rock music during the British punk rock movement of the mid-1970s, forming a Dunfermline band called Tattoo in 1976 after seeing the Damned at a gig in Edinburgh.
4.
Besides Stuart Adamson, Tattoo included his friend William Simpson, who would play bass guitar in their next band, Skids, which began performing in the local area and in Edinburgh.
5.
Stuart Adamson was involved with the band's first three long-players, before quitting the act in 1981 after disagreements with Jobson, whose personality was increasingly dominating the band's output.
6.
Stuart Adamson found international fame with Big Country, a band formed with friend and fellow guitarist Bruce Watson, then employed as a submarine cleaner at Rosyth naval base, and a rhythm section of studio musicians Mark Brzezicki and Tony Butler, found with the help of his label.
7.
Stuart Adamson supplied much of the distinctive guitar work, as well as being the lead singer and main songwriter.
8.
Stuart Adamson had two children with his first wife Sandra in 1982 and 1985.
9.
Stuart Adamson was a keen motorcyclist who regularly purchased new machines for riding around Fife.
10.
Stuart Adamson's interest extended to the race track where he sponsored the career of the British Championship rider Iain Duffus in the late 1980s.
11.
In 1999, Stuart Adamson briefly disappeared, causing the band to miss performances.
12.
In 2001, Stuart Adamson was again reported missing by his wife Melanie.
13.
Stuart Adamson had been due to face DUI charges in March 2002, and had been ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous.
14.
Stuart Adamson had previously experienced problems related to alcoholism, and had begun drinking again after having been sober for over a decade.
15.
Stuart Adamson's manager had hired a private investigator to search for Adamson and two fans volunteered to help out.
16.
On 4 December 2001, Stuart Adamson checked into the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii.
17.
On 16 December 2001, Stuart Adamson was found dead in his hotel room.
18.
Stuart Adamson's body was flown back to Scotland, where after a private funeral service at Dunfermline Crematorium in Fife, he was cremated.
19.
In September 2011 a commemorative bench to Stuart Adamson was unveiled at Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline.
20.
Stuart Adamson was the inspiration behind the song "3 Ways To See Despair" by Manic Street Preachers.
21.
Stuart Adamson used Fender Stratocasters in this period to achieve lighter tones.
22.
Around the time of The Seer, Stuart Adamson began to lay his SG2000s aside and experimented with other models.
23.
Stuart Adamson had several guitars made for him by the Glasgow guitar-maker Jimmy Moon.
24.
Stuart Adamson was noted for his use of the E-Bow, a device that magnetically vibrates guitar strings and generates unique tones with infinite sustain.
25.
The Scottish flavour is present due to Stuart Adamson using an open 'drone' string when writing and playing songs.
26.
Stuart Adamson used Session 'Sessionette:75' amplifiers mainly for live performances and recordings.