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Fifty years ago this week, a young Peter Frampton changed the sound of rock ‘n roll forever. On January 6th, 1976, Frampton released his iconic ‘Frampton Comes Alive’—a two-record collection that went on to become the best-selling live album of all time.
Six million copies of the album sold in 1976 alone. The iconic album spent an incredible ten weeks at #1 and gave us the classics “Show Me The Way,” Baby I Love Your Way,” and “Do You Feel Like We Do?” Peter recorded the album during his 1975 tour, mostly in San Francisco. Prior to ‘Frampton Comes Alive,’ Peter was on the rise, but he wasn’t a mainstream artist.That certainly changed in 1976.
Peter recalls how the album came together, saying “We didn’t have a huge budget to do many, many nights,” he recalls. “It’s like a lot of people will, you know, record a whole tour now.” Back then, Frampton figured the live album might go gold—500,000 copies. It was certified gold after the first week.
Frampton says the album reshaped his image. “I’ve always been a musician first in my mind and a guitarist,” Frampton says. But the album’s popularity made him look more like a pop star than a player. Someone even told him, “If you’re good looking, you can’t be that talented.” Looking back, Frampton credits “an incredible band, good songs, great shows and amazing audiences” for capturing lightning in a bottle.
Fifty years later, in 2026, Peter Frampton is working on a new album that will hopefully be released later this year.
[Source: Premiere]
