Peter Frampton has quite a bit to celebrate this week. The veteran British guitar whiz, singer and songwriter got the happy news on Sunday, April 21, that he’s being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall in 2024, one day before his 74th birthday (April 22).
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Frampton has had a long and impressive career that began when he was a teenager fronting the popular U.K. band The Herd and continued with his stint in the blues-rock boogie group Humble Pie in the late 1960s and early ’70s. In the 1970s, of course, Frampton launched a solo career that saw him catapulted to rock stardom thanks to his massively popular 1976 double live album, Frampton Comes Alive!
Outside of his own music projects, the veteran rocker has contributed his guitar talents to an interesting variety of recordings by other artists. In honor of his birthday and his impending Rock Hall induction, here are five noteworthy songs by other artists that feature Frampton:
Harry Nilsson – “You’re Breaking My Heart” (1972)
Frampton plays guitar on most of the songs on Harry Nilsson’s hit 1972 album Son of Schmilsson. Among the tunes to which he contributed was the hilariously profane “You’re Breaking My Heart.” The tune, which was inspired by Nilsson’s separation from his second wife, Diane, features the infamous lyric, “You’re breaking my heart, you’re tearing it apart / So f— you!”
Frampton played electric guitar on that song, which also featured George Harrison on slide guitar, Nicky Hopkins on piano, and Bobby keys on saxophone.
Son of Schmilsson peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies in the U.S.
Frankie Valli – “Grease” (1978)
In the summer of 1978, Frankie Valli scored a huge hit with “Grease,” the title song to the smash film adaptation of the Broadway musical Grease starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The tune was written and produced by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, and Frampton played lead guitar on the track.
“Grease” spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Around the same time, Frampton starred with The Bee Gees in the Beatles-inspired musical film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was a huge flop and hurt both Peter’s and The Bee Gees’ music careers.
David Bowie – “Bang Bang” (1987)
Frampton and David Bowie attended the same school when they were young, and Peter’s father was David’s art teacher at the school. With Frampton’s career experiencing a downturn during the 1980s, Bowie invited him to play guitar on his 1987 album, Never Let Me Down, and his subsequent Glass Spider Tour.
Frampton is featured on guitar on most of the album’s tracks, including Bowie’s cover of the 1981 Iggy Pop song “Bang Bang.” Frampton delivers a blistering solo on the tune.
Dion – “There Was a Time” (2021)
In 2021, Frampton was among the many guest stars featured on doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Dion DiMucci’s album Stomping Ground.
Frampton offered up some tasteful blues licks on “There Was a Time,” an original tune Dion co-wrote with his frequent collaborator Mike Aquilina.
Dolly Parton – “Baby, I Love Your Way” (2023)
For her star-studded 2023 rock album, Rockstar, country legend Dolly Parton teamed up with Frampton for a duet version of his own 1976 hit ballad “Baby, I Love Your Way.”
In a November 2023 interview with the Backstage Pass Rock-News YouTube channel, Frampton revealed that the collaboration came about when he called Parton’s producer to see if there might be a slot for him to play a solo on the Rockstar album. According to Peter, Parton asked if he wanted to do a duet with her on “Baby, I Love Your Way,” and he jumped at the chance.
“I was just floored by how much energy she brought to the [song],” Frampton told the interviewer.
That wasn’t the only song on Rockstar that features Frampton, though, as Parton’s producer also asked him if he wanted to contribute a solo to Dolly’s cover of The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” He was only too happy to play on that tune as well, which also featured Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Mick Fleetwood.
