Magnum

Formed in Birmingham in 1972 around guitarist, composer and producer Tony Clarkin and singer Bob Catley, Magnum originally belonged to the melodic British hard rock tradition, with a sound that fused AOR, arena rock and strongly narrative songwriting. After beginnings on the local scene and spells supporting hard rock acts in the late 1970s, Magnum refined its approach on Kingdom of Madness (1978), Magnum II (1979) and especially Chase the Dragon (1982). The real turning point came with On a Storyteller’s Night (1985), which established Magnum on the European stage, followed by a broader, more produced period marked by Vigilante (1986), recorded with Roger Taylor and David Richards, Wings of Heaven (1988) and Goodnight L.A. (1990), produced by Keith Olsen. The band split in 1995; for a time Clarkin and Catley continued as Hard Rain before Magnum reformed in 2001. Since that return, Magnum has maintained its balance of chiming guitars, prominent keyboards and melodic choruses on albums such as Breath of Life (2002), Princess Alice and the Broken Arrow (2007), The Visitation (2011), Lost on the Road to Eternity (2018), The Monster Roars (2022) and Here Comes the Rain (2024). Tony Clarkin’s death in January 2024 marked the end of the band’s historic core, but Magnum continues to perform live around Bob Catley.