Bryan Adams: «My Covid in Milan, I counted the ambulances that passed. Dogs? Sent to Earth to Save Humanity”

“So happy it hurts” is about freedom. What is happiness for you and why are human connections so important?

«I’m happy as I look forward, I don’t dwell on the past. Happiness is in the little things, there isn’t just one that gives me joy. Human ties are very important, we are made to communicate. If you ask me what I need, I answer: a dog. Dogs were sent to earth to save mankind, I really believe that.”

With “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”, he wins a Grammy, fifteen million copies, is nominated for an Oscar, is in the top 15 best-selling singles in history: how did he enjoy all that success in the 90s?

«The funny thing is that honestly I don’t remember much about the 90s, they went by in an instant. There was a lot of work to do, just as many concerts, the tours were exhausting and covered several stages, too many. We also played in countries that had never hosted major shows before, but we, undeterred, were making our way around the world. There wasn’t much time to think about success, we stayed focused on rock».

“(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” was the soundtrack to Robin Hood. And speaking of soundtracks, after that song he had fun playing the three Musketeers with Rod Stewart and Sting in “All for love”. And among the Italian artists you have duetted with Zucchero and Laura Pausini: who would you like to sing with now?

“I just had a duet with a very good Canadian country singer, Tenille Townes.”

In the 80s and 90s his songs ended up punctually in the charts, even today the public expects to hear his most sensational hits, from “Heaven” to “Summer of ’69”. How has the world of rock changed in recent years?

“People still come to see rock concerts, that’s incredible to me. All I’ve ever wanted, and all I’ve done, is to write songs for myself, that satisfy me. Believe me, it’s enormously gratifying that the songs have stood the test of time.”

You remained one of the last rockers around. Was Neil Young right when he sang “rock’n’roll never die” or will rock too end?

«I really like the latest rocker around as a definition, thank you. People still love rock music, if there’s one strange thing it’s that the radio doesn’t welcome it anymore».

Do you see any artists or bands on the horizon who can follow in the footsteps of you old rock lions?

“Not really, there isn’t a new Axl Rose, there isn’t a new Bono, and that’s a shame. I like Australian band Airbourne, they could be the next big rock band.”

How did the idea of ​​working on the musical “Pretty Woman” come about?

“I was dating a girl who was a dancer in London’s West End and one night on our way home she told me she wished someone would turn it into a musical. So I called Disney and they said it wasn’t the right time. Ten years later I was introduced to producer Paula Wagner and she hired me and Jim Vallance to make it. It was hard work, but a lot of fun. I’d like to do another one someday, who knows.”

He said the musical was successful in Italy because Italians have good taste, thank you. What memories do you have of Italy and in particular of Florence?

«We can open a chapter dedicated to food, art and architecture. Italians, then, were to opt for a vegetarian diet certainly would not have problems: the products offered by the earth, nature first, is genuine, poor and therefore really good. I had a dinner or two at a small restaurant in Florence that had four tables, with a husband and wife running the place. The mother in the kitchen was the absolute best, in her simplicity ».

It seems that in the time of Covid he spent the quarantine in Milan: what did he see from the window?

“Not much, actually, it was one of the most boring periods of my life. I was lucky because I felt good, I wasn’t hospitalized, but closed in quarantine, yes. I lay down to read or write, I started counting the passing ambulances. I was very bored.”

Photographer as a second profession, and in both he excels: can he express his emotions with the image like music?

“Photos are a great way to make value statements. I’ve made books about the homeless, their struggles, and also a work about the victims of war (Wounded: The Legacy Of War). In a way, I can vent my frustrations with society, making it art».

Who had the most fun capturing?

«I liked them all, recently I shot the album cover of the band Rammstein, it was nice to work with them again».

IS was the first Western rock artist to visit Vietnam since the end of the war, it was 1994. Can you tell us about that experience?

“An emotional country with so many restrictions, we were told not to go, as in many other places, but I wanted to do it at all costs. And I’ve found incredible people.”

He is very active in environmental campaigns. “Thanks to Bryan Adams, 90 percent of the whales living on earth today have been saved,” said David McTaggart, president of Greenpeace. A nice win.

“I loved David, he was a true ‘hero of the earth’ and one of the founders of Greenpeace in Vancouver in the 1970s. We campaigned in the 1990s to create the South Antarctic Whale Sanctuary: we put thousands of postcards on seats, asking people to write to the governments of countries that were trying to ban the sanctuary. It was eventually created, though I’ll never know how much credit we got. But I remember the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands wrote to my office, saying: ‘Please stop sending postcards – we will be voting for the sanctuary!’

The Bryan Adams Foundation enables the education of children around the world in difficult situations. Do you think we can still evolve as an association, and in what direction?

“All of my philanthropic work is off the radar, I just go my own way and try to help where I can.”

Memorable his duet with Luciano Pavarotti, with “O sole mio”. Is it true that the spaghetti you cooked for her after the concert was the best she’s ever eaten?

«Each dish shared with Luciano was the greatest ever eaten, in the “strict” sense of the term».

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