Dennis Frederiksen
| Dennis Frederiksen | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dennis Hardy Frederiksen |
| Also known as | Fergie Frederiksen, David London |
| Born |
May 15, 1951 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | January 18, 2014 (aged 62) Mound, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | Hard rock, pop rock, progressive rock, pop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1975–87, 1995–2014 |
| Labels | Frontiers |
| Associated acts | MSFunk, Trillion, Angel, LeRoux, Toto, Frederiksen/Phillips |
| Website | www |
Dennis Hardy Frederiksen (May 15, 1951 – January 18, 2014) was an American rock singer best known as the former lead singer of Trillion, Angel, LeRoux and Toto, as well as providing backing vocals for Survivor. He was occasionally credited as Fergie Frederiksen or just Fergie. He contributed to hit singles in three consecutive years, all with different bands: Survivor's "American Heartbeat" in 1982, LeRoux's "Carrie's Gone" in 1983 and Toto's "Stranger in Town" in 1984.
Frederiksen started his musical career at the age of 13, and he played clubs and pubs at the age of 15 with a group called the Common People in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1975, while he was still attending college at Central Michigan, Frederiksen was asked by his friend Tommy Shaw to replace him as the lead vocalist for the band MSFunk, as Shaw was leaving to join Styx. Frederiksen was with MSFunk for a year before disbanding in 1976. While living in Chicago, he helped form a local progressive rock band called Trillion with keyboardist Patrick Leonard. Trillion's debut album was released in 1978 and was produced by Gary Lyons (producer of Foreigner's debut album); all but one of its nine tracks were co-written by Frederiksen. The band went on to tour with Styx and Heart, where Frederiksen began performing his trademark back-flips during live shows to fire up crowds, a gimmick he would continue with later bands. Frederiksen would leave the group after one album, and was replaced by Thom Griffin.
After leaving Trillion, Frederiksen started focusing mainly on session work; primarily movie soundtracks. In 1979, he signed with Casablanca Records, where he performed under the alias of David London. (Frederiksen wanted to separate his rock image from the disco image Casablanca was known for.) He sang two tracks ("Samantha" and "Sound Of The City") on the soundtrack to Can't Stop The Music (which reached number 47 on the Billboard 200), as well as a more AOR-style solo album in 1981, with his friend Mark Christian as the lead guitarist. This would turn out to be one of the last albums released by Casablanca Records, as the fall of disco in the early 1980s forced the label to fold, eventually becoming part of Mercury Records. He would drop the stage name soon after, officially going by his childhood nickname "Fergie".
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