Today we will tell you about the singer and writer Phil Mogg we know from the band UFO.
(Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg)
1. He was born on 15 April 1948 as Phillip John Mogg, in a suburb of London, England.
2. In 1968 he formed the "UFO" together with his two friends, bassist Pete Way and drummer Andy Parker.
3. Initially, the band was defined under the genre of Space Rock and Boogie, but later the style changed to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.
4. The band's first album was released in 1970.
5. In the early 70s one of the "UFO" warm-up bands "Scorpions".
6. In 1973 Phil Mogg made the deal of his life. He offered the young and charismatic guitarist of the Scorpions - Michael Schenker to join the UFO. Michael agreed, left the Scorpions, and joined the UFO.
7. Immediately upon Michael Schenker's entry to UFO he began to change its sound, with Mogg being smart enough to allow him to influence the band's sound and style.
8. Mogg's collaboration with Michael Schenker lasted from 1974 to 1979, during which "UFO" released 6 important influential albums, the most recent of which is the masterful album "Strangers in the Night".
9. Unfortunately, Mogg did not get along with Michael Schenker and following a conflict in which each blames the other, Michael Schenker left the band on October 29, 1978, after the band performed in California.
10. Mogg will continue to lead "UFO" at a high level and is the only regular member of the band since its inception, who has also appeared on each of their albums.
11. As part of Mogg's revolving door policy, no less than 41 members will pass through the band over the years, including some more well-known such as Bernie Marsden, Simon Wright, Jason Bonham, and Aynsley Dunbar, and Billy Sheehan.
12. During his career, Mogg has released 22 studio albums along with "UFO", the last of which was in 2017, plus one more cover album, 14 live albums, and 16 compilation albums.
(Photo: IMDB)
13. Mogg was also part of the band Mogg/Way in which he released two albums in 1997 and 1999, as well as the band S$ign of 4 with which he released one album in 2002.
14. In 2018 Mogg announced that he was going on a final tour with "UFO" on the occasion of the band's 50th anniversary and that he would then retire.
15. The tour that began in 2019 has not yet ended in light of the Covid-19 crisis. The very last performance of "UFO" will take place on October 29, 2022, in Athens, Greece, where the band made their debut with current guitarist Vinnie Moore eighteen years earlier.
16. The list of musicians who have been influenced by Mogg and "UFO" is extremely diverse and among them (and this is only a partial list) are Slash, Tom Morello, Mike McCready, "Def Leppard", Kirk Hammett, Steve Harris, Billy Corgan and more.