How Bob Seger Got His Silver Bullet Band Name
(Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
Hall of Fame rocker Bob Seger has had a tremendous career in rock and roll. Bob Seger got his star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1987. He was inducted by Kid Rock into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. A long list of nominees for the Golden Globes, ASCAP, Acadamy Awards, and 7-time Grammy nominations and one win. But did you ever stop to ponder how the Sliver Bullet Band name came to be?
Behind The Name Silver Bullet Band
Before The Silver Bullet Band, Bob was a part of a different band of guys and they called themselves “The Town Cryers.” They even had business cards made up! sometime between 1961 and 1963, making Bob was pretty young between 16 and 18 years old.
Folklore had the Sliver Bullet name as a very hot Hemi-powered ’67 Plymouth GTX that cruised and raced around Detroit back in the day when Gratiot and Woodward Avenues were dominated by street racers. To this day that grey GTX has never been beaten. What else would a bunch of Detroit rockers who worked in an auto assembly plant name their band after that. But this story was never confirmed.
Bob Spills The Beans On The David Lettermen Show Appearance
In 2014 on a press tour to promote the album and tour, ‘Ride Out.” Host David Lettermen asks about the band’s name origin. To which Bob Seger replied,” Members of the band had been arguing about what to call themselves for a long time and couldn’t reach an agreement. Seger told Dave that when they got paid, their manager wrote the name “Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band” on their paychecks. Seger said the manager got tired of waiting for the band to come up with something, so he did.
After 50 Years Bob Seger Retires Or Has He?
After 50 years on the road, Seger retires. In a recent interview, Bob Seger said that he couldn’t imagine touring again following the loss of his close friend Alto Reed.
But in 2023 made a surprise appearance in Nashville, performing as part of Patty Loveless’ induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. The appearance has Seger fans speculating on anything else in the future to come.
Bob Seger Joins Big Jim’s House To Celebrate Seger De Mayo
Big Jim’s house tradition to celebrate Bob’s birthday on May 6th. This year was a little different though, Bob joined the show to talk about a variety of things. Check out the interview with WCSX’s Big Jim O’Brien
Bob Seger: 10 Statistics that Might Surprise You
Bob Seger has a career that many artists only dream of, from selling millions of records to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
While Seger bid touring farewell in 2019, legions of fans still adore this “Beautiful Loser” and always will. In honor of his birthday on May 6, we take a brief look at 10 interesting Bob Seger statistics that might surprise you.
Retired From Touring, But None Done With Music
In June 2021, Seger spoke with David Fricke and reflected on his life in music and the December 2020 passing of longtime Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed.
Seger said Reed phoned him to tell him about his colon cancer diagnosis and said, “I listened really hard to him, and he said ‘how grateful I am for my wonderful life.’ … I thought that was so beautiful, and I thought he was so brave. I don’t think I could go out (on tour) without him.”
As far as the touring part of his career goes, Seger said, “You know, I’ve had a great life, oh my goodness. I loved what I did. Never worked a day in my life, really. The hard parts were in sleeping in hotels, having rotten food.”
However, it seems as though Seger isn’t completely retired from music. He touched on his experience during the pandemic and how Bruce Springsteen offered some supportive words saying, “I was getting kind of down on myself, down on the world and down on everything. [Springsteen] said, ‘Bob, go out there and start writing, start singing, start playing, start recording.”
Don’t Forget About the Bob Seger YouTube Channel
If you ever feel like getting lost in the wonder that is Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, you might want to wander over to the Seger YouTube Channel. Not only does the channel feature official music videos, but there’s also various live clips of Seger over the years, which are real gems.
Much like with streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, Seger was one of the last few major artists to not have an official channel on the platform.
When the channel was first unveiled in January 2020, president and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises (parent company of Capitol Records) Bruce Resnikoff said, “What’s really important is that Bob is first and foremost a storyteller, and we now live in a world where artists are able to tell their stories and give their message to old fans and new fans in way that goes well beyond touring and live appearances. In the world of YouTube and videos, we get a chance for Bob to tell his story in way that’s very real to people, and to reach a much broader and younger audience.”
Born in Mt Clemens, Screamin’ Scott has been a part of the Detroit airwaves for 30-plus years. With 40 years of experience in radio. When he’s not out on the streets for WCSX, you can find him devoting time to local charities with his, “Screamin Angels”; and for 16 years with Rock 4 Tots charity. And last 10 years with his local band, "Chit!." Screamin Scott likes to write about nostalgic Detroit area memories, classic rock, and local metro Detroit topics.
