33 Facts About Tony Carey

Tony Carey had been playing his church's piano during off hours since he was very young, and was permitted to play the pipe organ as well.

Tony Carey's family acquired a piano when he was seven, and at the age of eleven he got his first acoustic guitar and formed his first group, which played music by The Mamas and the Papas and others.

Tony Carey's father gave him a Lowrey organ for his 14th birthday, and he started a rock band with other neighborhood children, playing music by The Doors.

At age 17, Tony Carey moved to New Hampshire to start a new band called Blessings, which secured a recording contract with ABC Dunhill.

Tony Carey recorded one studio album with Rainbow, the acclaimed 1976 release Rising.

Tony Carey recorded keyboard parts for Rainbow's next studio album, Long Live Rock 'n' Roll, many of which he says were included in the final album.

Tony Carey left Rainbow in 1977 and moved to Germany in August 1978, where he began a solo career.

Tony Carey released I Won't Be Home Tonight on the Rocshire label in 1982, along with the single "West Coast Summer Nights".

Tony Carey opened for Night Ranger on many dates of their 1984 tour in support of this album.

The album is a rock opera for which Tony Carey wrote the lyrics and music, sang all vocals, and played most of the instruments.

Tony Carey filed a seven figure lawsuit against Peter Hauke, left Frankfurt and started recording in a studio in Tutzing with Peter Maffay.

Tony Carey began producing and making guest appearances on releases by other artists.

Tony Carey recorded the soundtrack for Wilder Westen Inclusive, a three-part television film directed by Dieter Wedel.

Tony Carey played on albums with artists including Peter Maffay, Milva and Anne Haigis.

In November 1989, Tony Carey released the album For You, on Metronome records which was produced by Tony Carey and Nigel Jopson.

In November 1990 Tony Carey released the album Storyville, the last on Metronome records.

Tony Carey produced, played several instruments and wrote four of the songs on Chris Norman's 1991 album Interchange.

Tony Carey produced the album with guitarist Ken Rose and Ben Wisch, and five of the songs were co-written with Rose.

Tony Carey produced, wrote music and played on three albums with Swiss singer Natacha.

Tony Carey had at this time moved from Germany, and lived six years in Mallorca.

Tony Carey recorded his next album there, Island and Deserts, released in 2004.

Since the early 1990s, Tony Carey had been writing and recording new material with political and historical themes.

Tony Carey released the compilation The New Machine, which featured some tracks recorded in the 1980s from an uncompleted Planet P album.

In 2006 Tony Carey produced and played on Songs For the Siren by David Knopfler of Dire Straits.

In March 2009 Tony Carey was diagnosed with a virulent form of bladder cancer.

Tony Carey released Christmas Hymns in December 2009, an homage to the hymns he sang as a boy at midnight mass.

In 2010 it was announced that Tony Carey had formed a new musical racing project called EBC ROXX with Jurgen Blackmore and Ela.

In 2010 and 2011, Tony Carey released two albums featuring cover versions, Stanislaus County Kid Volume 1 and 2.

Steeltown was based on Norway and its history, after Tony Carey played and travelled there extensively, both as a solo artist and with a band consisting of mostly Norwegian musicians.

Tony Carey recorded a 19-minute rock opera entitled Operation: Paperclip, The Return of The Stanislaus County Kid, written by Bob Madsen and Kenny Steel.

In February 2021, Tony Carey released the new single, "We Hear You Calling", with a version of "Deportee" written by Woody Guthrie.

Tony Carey became a member of the band Mandoki Soulmates featuring Leslie Mandoki.

In June 2024 Tony Carey re-released a remixed and remastered version of the Planet P album Steeltown, and sang lead vocals and played piano on Mandoki Soulmates album A Memory Of Our Future, released in May 2024.