Throughout the mid 70s and mid 80s STATUS QUO reigned supreme as the undisputed champions of three chord British Boogie Rock. Their down to earth approach in both the musical and image departments won them legions of loyal fans who backed up the sell out tours with a decade long string of major hit albums in both the UK and mainland Europe. Only THE BEATLES and the ROLLING STONES have a greater tally of UK top twenty albums. STATUS QUO started life as an unashamed Carnaby Street garbed Pop band, dropped the pretensions to become a denim clad Hard Rock act and latterly have drifted back into the Pop field. Despite their success at home STATUS QUO never managed to crack America.

The songwriting team of guitarist / vocalist Francis Rossi and bass player Alan Lancaster first teamed up as THE SCORPIONS aged 13 in 1962. This act later evolved into THE SPECTRES, TRAFFIC JAM and then STATUS QUO bringing onboard drummer John Coghlan and vocalist / guitarist Rick Parfitt.

Now in the guise that would eventually become familiar to millions STATUS QUO undertook five years of club gigs and playing Butlin's holiday camps before achieving chart success with 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men'. During this period at the tail end of the psychedelic summer of love STATUS QUO were much more the Carnaby Street dandies than the heads down boogie merchants they were to metamorphose into. Another single 'Ice In The Sun' dented the charts before STATUS QUO drifted into obscurity for a lengthy spell.

A drastic change of musical direction in the late sixties led into turn to the dispensing of their mod haircuts and paisley shirts for the more familiar denim. The first fruits of this revitalised STATUS QUO was the single 'The Price Of Love', a rough and ready version of the EVERLY BROTHERS hit. Although it failed to crack the charts it made enough impact to excite a whole new following of fans.

The singles 'Down The Dustpipe' and 'In My Chair' did enter the lower regions of the charts but their record label Pye failed to capitalize on the band's new found street credibility. STATUS QUO moved to Vertigo Records and their first single for the label 'Paper Plane' proved their biggest hit to date, landing at no. 8 on the UK charts. 1973 was a pivotal year for the band with another hit 'Mean Girl' preceding the quickfire 'Hello' album, putting them at the top of the charts. This no. 1 album hosted 'Caroline', a top five hit and perhaps STATUS QUO's finest moment.

1974 solidified the band's standing with a further hit, 'Break All The Rules', and a sold out three night stand at London's Wembley Arena. The band dominated the charts further as the riff monster 'Down Down' scored the no. 1 spot and the 'Quo' album fell just short of achieving the same. Follow up 'On The Level', hosting another hit 'Roll Over Lay Down', gave STATUS QUO their second no. 1 album. Their unbroken reign continued into 1976 with 'Blue For You' pulling in another number one album statistic and three more hit singles with 'Rain' hitting no.7, 'Mystery Song' no.11 and 'Wild Side Of Life' reaching no.9. Expanding their live format, Andrew Bown joined the band on keyboards.

1977's 'Quo Live', culled from a raucous performance at the Glasgow Apollo and going down in history as one of the landmark British live recordings, entered the album chart at number 3. Refining their sound somewhat, STATUS QUO opted to use the talents of producer Pip Williams for the 'Rockin All Over The World' album. Both the album and the single of the same name sold impressively and a mammoth world tour generated concerts in such far ranging places as the Far East, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

In 1978 STATUS QUO headlined the 'Reading Festival'. The 'If You Can't Stand The Heat' album, their second with producer Pip Williams, fared traditionally well in the UK charts, attaining the no. 3 spot but strangely the lead single, 'Accident Prone', only managed a no. 36 placing, breaking an impressive run of top twenty singles. The band soon bounced back though with the more traditional boogie of 'Again And Again' getting to no. 13.

Keeping up the pace 1979's 'Whatever You Want' album landed at no. 3, spinning off hit singles with the title track and the ballad 'Living On An Island'. A European tour was executed upfront of a round of sold out UK dates. The hit machine churned out 1980's '12 Gold Bars' top five compilation and the new 'Just Supposin' album, which peaked at no. 4. Another crop of hit singles saw the band in the charts with the infectious 'What Your Proposing' at no.2 and 'Lies/Don't Drive My Car' reaching no.11. Typically, 1981 provided more of the same as the 'Never Too Late' album debuted at Number Two spawning two more top ten hits in 'Something 'Bout You Baby I Like' at no.9 and 'Rock 'n' Roll' hitting no.8. The band was also presented with a Music Therapy Silver Clef Award for services to British Music.

STATUS QUO's quite awesome run of hits was dealt a jarring blow in 1982 when it was announced John Coghlan was to leave. Fans were shocked by this fracture in the ranks of four of Britain's most recognised faces. Neverthless, Pete Kircher of THE ORIGINAL MIRRORS stepped in as replacement and the '1+9+8+2' album put the group back at the top of the UK album charts. The year was to be marked by a number of firsts as STATUS QUO officially become the first Rock band to play a charity concert attended by royalty when televised show at Birminghams' NEC venue was attended HRH Prince Charles to launch his Prince's Trust charity. The British public, used to seeing denim clad QUO fans headbanging marvelled at the Prince's attempts at "Getting down" with the Quo. The band would also headline the Castle Donington 'Monsters Of Rock' festival. 1982 predictably garnered a clutch of hit singles too, with 'Dear John', 'She Don't Fool Me' and 'Caroline (Live at the NEC)' all faring well.

Fans concern that the mighty QUO was mellowing seemed justified in 1983 with the release of 'Marguerita Time'. This track, undoubtedly the softest thing the band had recorded to date, gave STATUS QUO a massive radio hit but split the ranks of the devoted fans. A further shock was delivered when the band announced they were to cease touring upon completion of their 1984 'End of the Road' tour. The band's cover of the 50's DION Rock n' Roll staple 'The Wanderer' reached number 5 5 (STATUS QUO had previously covered DION's 1962 'Little Diane' and 1960 hit 'Runaround Sue'), the compilation 'Twelve Gold Bars Volume Two' went top ten whilst the 'End of the Road' live video become recognised as the fastest selling music video ever. Extracurricular activities found Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt participating in the BAND AID single 'Do They Know It's Christmas'. Activity in 1985 was sparse but hugely influential. A one off reformation at the historical 'Live Aid' event in July saw STATUS QUO drawn back together to open proceedings with 'Rockin' All Over The World'. This Wembley concert would be the band's last with Alan Lancaster.

That year, STATUS QUO regrouped adding a fresh rhythm section of bassist John 'Rhino' Edwards and former STRETCH and CHAMPION drummer Jeff Rich. Andy Bown would also be officially recognised as keyboard player. In 1986 Lancaster pursued a lawsuit claiming Rossi and Parfitt were unable to perform under the title of STATUS QUO without his onstage presence.

In the Summer of 1986 STATUS QUO performed as special guests to QUEEN at Wembley Stadium on a bill including THE ALARM and VIRGINIA WOLF. The band's own headline dates in Britain and Europe found WAYSTED as strong support. A revitalised band were riding on a new flush of success afforded by the major hit 'In The Army Now', a mellow, un-Quo like piece of melancholy which came close to securing the UK no. 1 spot. The 1988 album 'Ain't Complainin' would be preceded by another big singles hit, 'Burning Bridges' reaching no. 5. The year had been also marked by another QUO first, the record breaking performance of three gigs in 24 hours in Denmark, in England at Knebworth and Switzerland.

1987 would be taken up by touring with European and Scandinavian headline festival dates. The bands only British Show was to headline the 25th anniversary Reading Festival. The 1988 album 'Ain't Complainin' would be preceded by another big singles hit, 'Burning Bridges' reaching no. 5. The following year STATUS QUO novelly compiled a medley of all their prior hits to form up the 'Anniversary Waltz'. The song again just missed out on the no. 1 spot but it would be the band's last genuine hit in their homeland as the band's material became less and less riff orientated. Indeed, many die hard fans would struggle to maintain their loyalty over the coming years.

STATUS QUO drifted further into the pop field with their early 1996 collaboration with THE BEACH BOYS 'Fun, Fun, Fun'. Although the single charted Radio One refused to play the track and were consequently taken to court by the band citing prejudice against Rock bands. THE BEACH BOYS union had many hardcore fans scratching their heads but undeterred STATUS QUO took the accompanying album 'Don't Stop', a record comprised solely of cover versions, to the number 2 spot in Britain. The band followed the apparent travesty of working with THE BEACH BOYS with an even more unlikely pairing as they teamed up with Maddy Prior of STEELEYE SPAN to record 'All Around My Hat'!!!!

The 2001 album 'Famous In The Last Century', released on the Universal Music TV label, yet again witnessed the band plundering Rock n' Roll standards from the likes of ELVIS PRESLEY, BUDDY HOLLY and CHUCK BERRY. More obscure covers included McGUINNESS FLINT's 'When I'm Dead And Gone', IAN HUNTER's 'Once Bitten, Twice Shy' and BOB SEGER's 'Old Time Rock n' Roll'.

As STATUS QUO geared up for another perennial bout of UK dates in 2001 dubbed the 'Never Say Never' tour their fans would be pleased to witness the release of a mammoth box set 'Rollers Rockin'. The lavish package included many rarities including outtakes, demos and live tracks.

STATUS QUO made a return in August of 2002 touting a new single 'Jam Side Down', with many of their fans believing this to be a welcome return to form. The video for the track was filmed onboard the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal whilst the CD single format carried two exclusive live cuts 'Down, Down' and 'Rockin' All Over The World' recorded live for the 'Top Of The Pops 2' TV show.

In 2003 the band re-recorded a whole glut of early hits, including 'Rocking All Over The World', 'Whatever You Want', 'Down Down', 'Down The Dustpipe' and 'Junior's Wailing' for a retrospective album 'Riffs'. A crop of covers on the album included boogiefied versions of J. GEILS BAND's 'Centrefold', BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE's 'Takin' Care Of Business', THE KINKS 'All Day And All Of The Night', ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's 'Don't Bring Me Down', ELVIS COSTELLO's 'Pump It Up', CANNED HEAT's 'On The Road Again' and the seminal STEPPENWOLF cut 'Born To Be Wild'.

Predictably 2004 would be hectic on the live front, opening with UK and Irish gigs in March with support coming from up and coming Prog-Rockers KARNATAKA. Throughout the Summer the band allied with DEEP PURPLE and CHEAP TRICK for a series of European festival dates upfront of UK and German headline shows. These concerts included such distinctive venues as Epsom Downs Race Course, Exeter Powderham Castle and Lincoln Castle.

STATUS QUO, working on a new album with producer Mike Paxman, closed a thirty year relationship with Universal records in early 2005 by switching to Sanctuary Records. The band's 40th Anniversary tour commenced in Germany on 23rd September, with a 34 date UK tour during November and December, sponsored by chocolate bar 'Kit Kat', which was to include the band's 40th appearance at London's Wembley Arena on 17th December. The band would also make a guest appearance in ITV's soap 'Coronation Street' during the Autumn. However, in early December the STATUS QUO tour would be cancelled when it was revealed Rick Parfitt was to undergo emergency surgery to remove a tumour in his throat. Thankfully the guitarist was declared cancer free and benign lumps would be removed.

April and May 2006 saw Australian "Double Trouble" gigs billed with DEEP PURPLE. In September 2008 STATUS QUO released a new version of 'Whatever You Want' in cooperation with German Techno heroes SCOOTER.