Susan Kay Quatro (born
June 3, 1950) is an American rock singer-songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist and actress. She was the first female bass player
to become a major rock star. Quatro was born and raised in Detroit and played drums or percussion from an early age as part of her father's jazz band, the Art Quatro Trio. In 1964, Quatro's older sister, Patti, had formed a garage band called the Pleasure Seekers,
Quatro joined too and assumed the stage name of Suzi Soul; Patti Quatro
was known as Patti Pleasure. Suzi would sing and play bass in the band.
The band also later featured another sister, Arlene. The Pleasure Seekers recorded three singles and released two of these:
"Never Thought You'd Leave Me" / "What a Way to Die" (1966) and "Light
of Love" / "Good Kind of Hurt" (1968). The second of these was released
by Mercury Records,
with whom they briefly had a contract before breaking away due to
differences of opinion regarding their future direction. They changed
their name to Cradle in late 1969, not long after another Quatro sister,
Nancy, had joined the band and Arlene had left.
Quatro moved to England in 1971, after being spotted by the record producer Mickie Most, who had by that time founded his own label, Rak Records. Quatro's first single, "Rolling Stone", was successful only in Portugal, where it reached No. 1 on the charts. This was a solo effort, although aided by people such as Duncan Browne, Peter Frampton and Alan White. Subsequently, with the approval of Most, she auditioned for a band to accompany her. It was also after this record that Most introduced her to the songwriting and production team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who wrote songs specifically to accord with her image. This was the height of the glam rock period of the 1970s and Quatro, who wore leather clothes, portrayed a wild androgynous image. In 1972, Quatro embarked as a support act on a UK tour with Thin Lizzy and headliners Slade. In May 1973, her second single "Can the Can" was a No. 1 hit in parts of Europe and in Australia.
"Can the Can" was followed by three further hits: "48 Crash" (1973), "Daytona Demon" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" (1974). They each sold over one million copies and were awarded gold discs.
In 1975 she released "Your Mamma Won't Like Me", which proved to be a moderate success in the UK. Further singles "I Bit off More I Could Chew" and "I May Be Too Young", both failed to reach the UK Top 50. Quatro recorded an album in 1976 and released a new single in 1977 called "Tear Me Apart" which reached the UK Top 30, her first hit to have done so in three years. It would take another year for another big hit, this time with a change to a more mellow style giving Quatro a 1978 single "If You Can't Give Me Love" that became a hit there and in the United Kingdom. Later that year, "Stumblin' In", a duet with Chris Norman of the band Smokie, reached No. 4 in the US. Both tracks were featured on the If You Knew Suzi... album. A year later, Quatro released Suzi... and Other Four Letter Words, which featured the hits "She's in Love with You", which made No. 11 in Britain, "Mama's Boy" (number 34), and "I've Never Been in Love" (number 56). In 1980, after Quatro's contract with Mickie Most had expired, she signed with Chapman's Dreamland Records. That same year, she released the album Rock Hard; both the album and title single went platinum in Australia.
After Chapman's Dreamland Records folded 1981, Quatro was left without a record label. Her last UK hit for some time was "Heart of Stone" in late 1982. In 1983 another single "Main Attraction" was released. It failed to chart but did become a moderate airplay hit.
Between 1973 and 1980, Quatro was awarded six Bravo Ottos. In 2010, she was voted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends online Hall of Fame. Quatro has sold over 50 million albums and continues to perform live, worldwide. Her most recent studio album
was released in 2017 and she also continues to present new radio
programmes.
