X

One of the first and most highly-regarded American punk bands. The four-piece is largely built around the talents of John Doe (real surname Duchac). His range is considerable. It’s his version of ‘I Will Always Love You’ that Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston dance to in the film ‘The Bodyguard’ (1992). Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) has recorded one of his songs and he has worked with Aimee Mann and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys). Therefore it’s not so remarkable that the first two X albums were produced by Ray Manzarek, the legendary keyboardist of The Doors. ‘Los Angeles’ (1980) and ‘Wild Gift’ (1981) are considered by Rolling Stone to be among the top 500 albums of all time. The title song of their debut is in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The group had difficulty following up such a great start. They split up in 1988. Ten years later they reformed and they continue to tour regularly. In 2011, Pearl Jam invited X to travel to Europe with them.