Ted Nugent

Ted Nugent started playing guitar as a teenager in Detroit and eventually formed the Amboy Dukes. That band had a hit with 'Journey To The Center Of The Mind' in 1968. He went solo in the mid-1970s and released his self-titled debut album in 1975, which included the long, grinding instrumental 'Stranglehold.' The next year's 'Free For All' and 1977's 'Cat Scratch Fever' kept the same basic formula: loud, straightforward rock built around his guitar playing.

His stage show was always part of the appeal, full of energy and theatrics. Songs like 'Fred Bear' were explicitly about hunting. He kept recording and touring with a fairly steady band that often included vocalist and guitarist Derek St. Holmes.

Nugent's music didn't change much over the decades. He stuck to a hard rock sound that appealed to a specific audience, releasing albums like 'Craveman' in 2002. While critical opinion varied, his early solo work, especially songs like 'Stranglehold' and 'Cat Scratch Fever,' remained his best-known material.