Status Quo (band)

One of Britain's most consistently popular rock groups, Status Quo was formed in 1962 by school friends Francis Rossi (lead guitar, vocals) and Alan Lancaster (bass guitar, vocals). The classic Quo line-up, which lasted until 1985, was completed with the addition of John Coghlan (drums, percussion) and Rick Parfitt (rhythm guitar, vocals).

After brief flirtations with Progressive Rock and Psychedelic Rock yielded little success, Quo hit on the formula that's sustained them for the past forty years with the 1970 album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon, the first to feature their straightforward, no frills, blues-based boogie rock style powered by Rossi and Parfitt's dual Telecasters.

Notably, they were the band that opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with their Signature Song, "Rockin' All Over the World". When they were unavailable to play Live 8 twenty years later, Coldplay paid tribute with a performance of the song when they opened that show.


 * Career Resurrection: Punk Rock and tensions within the band prompted the departure of Lancaster and Coghlan, and accusations that they'd grown stale years ago almost finished them off, but the advent of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal helped to rejuvenate their fortunes and returned them to the charts.
 * Fan Nickname: If you just say "Quo" people will know who you mean. The classic Rossi/Parfitt/Lancaster/Coghlan line-up also got "The Frantic Four".
 * I Am the Band: Status Quo is Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt.
 * Long Runner Lineup: They've had three of the second type described on the trope page. The first was Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan, with keyboardist Andy Bown becoming increasingly integrated into the group, but remaining credited as a guest musician for a while for contractual reasons. The second was Rossi, Parfitt and Bown with new bassist and drummer Rhino Edwards and Jeff Rich. This one lasted for fourteen years until Rich left and was replaced by Matt Letley, who's been with them ever since.
 * Status Quo Is God: Potential bad puns aside, they've essentially been playing the same style for more than forty years, and any deviations from it don't last very long.
 * Three Chords and the Truth: Famous for it, so much so that one of their more recent albums was given the name In Search Of The Fourth Chord.
 * Vocal Tag Team: Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. Originally, Alan Lancaster sang lead a few times as well.