Born on This Day in 1951, the Singer-Songwriter and Guitarist Behind the Most Famous Tribute To Rock and Roll of All Time

We all know “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Even if you weren’t alive to even hear The Arrows or Joan Jett popularive the song in the 70s and 80s, respectively, you’ve definitely heard it at some point. It’s one of the greatest odes to rock music ever written. And the tune’s songwriter, Alan Merrill, was born on this very day, February 19, in 1951. Let’s celebrate Merrill’s contributions to rock music, including “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and beyond.

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Remembering Alan Merrill’s Contributions to Rock Music

Alan Merrill was born on February 19, 1951, in New York City. The song of jazz musicians, Merrill grew up surrounded by music his entire childhood. He essentially started his professional music career at the age of only 14, playing live music in Greenwich Village with the likes of The Kaleidoscope in the mid-to-late 1960s.

Merrill’s first band was the short-lived band The Left Banke, which dissolved shortly after he auditioned. He moved to Japan with his mother and joined the outfit The Lead via RCA Records. Merrill recorded the album Alone In Tokyo in 1971. He also acted in a television soap opera and worked as a model.

In 1972, Merrill’s song “Movies” was covered by singer Tiny Time. Later, he formed the glam rock outfit Vodka Collins. In the mid-1970s, Merill moved to the UK and formed the band Arrows, his most acclaimed band. The group scored a Top 10 hit in the UK with the song “Touch Too Much”, as well as other popular singles through the mid-1970s.

Merrill would then pen “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” and record the song in 1975. The song was popular, and The Arrows would be given their own television series in 1976. Though, due to issues with management, they were unable to release music during their tenure on the show.

In the late 1970s through the 2000s, Alan Merrill established new bands and reunited with former groups. In 1982, Joan Jett released her cover of “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” that would become a No. 1 smash hit on the Billboard charts.

Tragically, Alan Merrill passed away on March 29, 2020, at the age of 69 from complications related to COVID-19. But rock and roll didn’t die with him; it lives on in the swell of energy that “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” gives listeners to this very day, decades after Merrill first wrote and recorded the song.

Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images