Nazareth

Formed in Dunfermline, Scotland, in the late 1960s, Nazareth helped shape the history of British hard rock with a rough edge, nourished by blues rock, boogie and a strong sense of melodic refrains. The band took its classic lineup around Dan McCafferty on vocals, Manny Charlton on guitar, Pete Agnew on bass and Darrell Sweet on drums, after early beginnings under the name The Shadettes. After the albums Nazareth in 1971 and Exercises in 1972, Nazareth found a more direct and heavier balance with Razamanaz in 1973, followed by Loud ’n’ Proud in 1973 and Rampant in 1974. Hair of the Dog in 1975 remains one of its major landmarks, between taut hard rock and more accessible ballads, while Love Hurts becomes one of its most identifiable tracks. Over the decades, Nazareth underwent several lineup and style evolutions, with periods more oriented toward melodic rock in the 1980s and then a return to a more upfront writing approach in the 1990s and 2000s. After Darrell Sweet’s death in 1999, Lee Agnew joined the band on drums. Dan McCafferty left the stage in 2013 for health reasons, and Nazareth continued with new singers. Among the recent albums are Rock ’n’ Roll Telephone (2014), Tattooed on My Brain (2018) and Surviving the Law (2022), which extend the identity of a live band that remained faithful to a compact, rough and unadorned hard rock.