Night Ranger

Night Ranger formed in the early ‘80s and consisted of drummer/vocalist Kelly Keagy, bassist/vocalist Jack Blades, guitarists Brad Gillis and Jeff Watson, and keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald. The band was initially performing under the name, The Rangers, but changed their name to Night Ranger in 1982 due to a country band already having claimed the name The Rangers. By the end of 1982 the band had already signed a record deal with Boardwalk Records and released their debut album “Dawn Patrol”. The album was commercially successful, reaching the No. 38 position on the US Billboard 200. The album also contained the singles “Sing Me Away” and “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me”, which were also turned into music videos and received much airplay on MTV.

In 1983 the band switched over to MCA Records and released their second studio album “Midnight Madness”. The album reached the No. 15 position on the US Billboard 200 chart and gained Night Ranger a larger fan base. Instead of playing concerts as the opening act, Night Ranger was now playing headlining shows. The album contained three hit singles: “(You Can Still) Rock in America”, “Sister Christian”, and “When You Close Your Eyes”. The power ballad “Sister Christian” is one of the most popular songs that Night Ranger wrote, and it was ranked No. 32 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 1980s. The song reached the No. 5 position on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been featured in several films such as “Boogie Nights” and “Friday the 13th”.

In 1985 the band released the album “7 Wishes”, which contained the singles “Sentimental Street” and “This Boy Needs to Rock”. The album was a commercial success and was later certified platinum. The band was able to achieve commercial success over the radio because they were very similar to other popular hard rock bands, but they were also slightly cleaner than other bands like Motley Crue and Ratt. Night Ranger’s guitarists, Gillis and Watson, were also praised for their dueling guitar techniques and were constantly featured in guitar magazines.

During the years between 1984 and 1987 Night Ranger contributed songs to many film soundtracks. Their songs were featured in such movies as “Teachers”, Explorers”, “Sixteen Candles”, and “Out of Bounds”. They also provided the title theme for the film “The Secret of My Success”. The remaining years in the 80s showed Night Ranger releasing two more albums. “Big Life” was released in 1987 and “Man in Motion” was released in 1988. After “Man in Motion” was released the band briefly disbanded. During the time Night Ranger was broken up Jack Blades formed the band Damn Yankees with Ted Nugent and Tommy Shaw, and Jeff Watson pursued a solo career.

In 1996 the five original members reunited Night Ranger and later released the 1997 album “Neverland” and the 1998 album “Seven”. Although these albums weren’t significantly successful in the US, they were however very popular in Japan and garnered Night Ranger a large fan base in Asia. Later in their career, Alan Fitzgerald and Jeff Watson would leave Night Ranger once again and would be replaced by Eric Levy on keyboards and Keri Kelli on guitars. In 2007 Night Ranger released “Hole in the Sun”, which was their follow up to their 1998 album “Seven”. In 2014 they released the album “High Road”, which contained the single “Knock Knock Never Stop”.

Night Ranger has been pleasing fans with their headlining shows ever since they released “Midnight Madness”. They have toured all over the world and played gigs with many notable artists such as ZZ Top, Ozzy Osbourne, and Kansas.