{"id":738337,"date":"2026-08-15T01:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/738337\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T01:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T01:20:17","slug":"peter-frampton-the-lessons-that-life-has-taught-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/738337\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Frampton: The lessons that life has taught me"},"content":{"rendered":"

My doctor calls me a young seventy-five,\u201d Peter Frampton<\/a> says with a smile. \u201cWhich is better than an old seventy-five, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

For an artist who\u2019s lived many lives \u2013 prodigy, teen idol, guitar hero, global superstar, forgotten man, comeback kid, survivor \u2013 Frampton wears it all lightly. Sitting in a sunlit room in his house, with trimmed white beard, wearing a blue denim work shirt and a Late Show With Stephen Colbert baseball cap, he looks fit and happy.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s surrounded by guitars of all shapes and sizes and framed family photos, and on a couch just behind him is his beloved black goldendoodle named Bigsby. He\u2019s a service dog who has helped Frampton navigate his inclusion body myositis, a degenerative muscle disorder he\u2019s been living with for the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

Defying the odds \u2013 and diagnosis \u2013 Frampton has continued to tour, and this spring he returned with the aptly titled Carry The Light<\/a>, his first album of new material in more than a decade. \u201cCarry the light means learning from our elders and learning from our own past,\u201d Frampton says. Which is an ideal segue into him joining Classic Rock to reflect on various pieces of wisdom he\u2019s picked up over the decades.<\/p>\n

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\"Lightning\n<\/p>\n

A medical diagnosis doesn\u2019t necessarily seal your fate<\/p>\n

A few years ago, I had a progression in my IBM that was making me feel as if I might not be able to physically play any more. After the finale tour in 2024, we went straight into the studio and recorded three albums – two blues albums and an instrumental album. Because I wanted to keep playing as much as I could. But then I realised that if we went out for shorter times, I could actually do some touring again. And it was, and still is, okay! I fully believe that playing music, writing music, loving music, all the joy that comes from that, has helped keep me young. I\u2019m very lucky to have been born this way, with a lust for music that never ends.<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

A dog is man\u2019s best friend \u2013 and teacher <\/p>\n

There are all these clips online of Tibetan monks sitting with their dogs. In one, the monk says: \u201cIn the west, you call dogs your pets. We call dogs our teachers.\u201d Dogs live in the present moment. They don\u2019t dwell in the past or worry about the future. They offer gratitude and unconditional love without expectation. Good lessons to learn.<\/p>\n

It takes time to admit father knows best<\/p>\n

My dad was a stickler for good posture. He always used to say to me: \u201cIf you hunch over your guitar, you\u2019re going to get stuck like that. Sit upright, son!\u201d He\u2019d been a lieutenant in the army, so posture was important. I would look at him and roll my eyes. Then when I was in my early forties, and I\u2019m starting to notice I\u2019m slightly bent over, I thought: \u201cDad, I hate you, you were right [laughs].\u201d So I started working out and paying attention to my posture.<\/p>\n

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\"Peter\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith)Self-belief and self-doubt are two sides of the same coin<\/p>\n

I never think I\u2019m good enough, and that\u2019s why I push myself to become better all the time. But I also know how good I am, in that same regard. I\u2019ve been knocked down so many times it\u2019s ridiculous. But I believe in the old saying: \u2018What doesn\u2019t kill you only makes you stronger.\u2019 That\u2019s my nature, my makeup. I\u2019m pugnacious. I don\u2019t care what they say about me. I get up, move on and get back into my own thing. I\u2019ve always been a believer that I can write a better song, play a better solo. But I never thought I was as good as I should be, in the same breath.<\/p>\n

Imitate your heroes<\/p>\n

When I was eight, I wanted to be Hank Marvin. I got some horn-rimmed sunglasses and knocked the glass out. I wore them everywhere, just like Hank. I don\u2019t know what it was, but he had this incredible sound on his Stratocaster through his Vox AC-30 amp, and it was just the right thing at the right time for an eight-year-old. It absolutely set me on my path. Years later, Hank and I recorded together. We\u2019re still great email buddies to this day. And I can still play every song by The Shadows note for note!<\/p>\n

Be careful what you wish for<\/p>\n

Being chased and having your clothes ripped off by girls is all very exciting, but it gets old pretty quickly. All that \u2018Face of 1968\u2019 stuff felt terrible, because in The Herd we\u2019d been playing blues and jazzy stuff and had a serious following. And, as I was to experience later in life, a teenybopper vibe in the band can rid you of your credibility. My guitar was now slung behind my back most of the time. I probably was enjoying it at the time, but being screamed at by girls didn\u2019t mean anything once I realised that they weren\u2019t even listening to the music.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

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\"Peter\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Fletcher Moore)Keep moving forward<\/p>\n

If I had stayed in Humble Pie<\/a>, various things could\u2019ve happened. I could have become very ill, for one. Honestly, I\u2019m not sure how I would have been able to handle it going forward. I don\u2019t know how long it would have lasted, even if I\u2019d have stayed, because unfortunately drugs and drink were playing a much bigger part than I had seen before. That was one reason why I left. But it was more motivated by musical differences, and me wanting to pursue other directions and sounds.<\/p>\n

Being an opening act teaches you how to be a headliner<\/p>\n

As a solo act, I opened for everybody. I\u2019d play my twenty minutes, go back to the dressing room, have a quick sip of something, then stand on the side of the stage and watch every move all these other bands did \u2013 what they played, what they said, what worked, what didn\u2019t work. I learned how to steal the best stuff from the best bands [laughs]. Peter Wolf of the J Geils Band<\/a>, Ozzy, Ray Davies\u2026 they all taught me so much in how to deal with an audience, how to build a set-list. When you start, you have your music. But there\u2019s so much else involved in building a career and touring. For me, being an opener was like going to college.<\/p>\n

Good input, good output<\/p>\n

The song Buried Treasure<\/a> on the new album is a tribute to Tom Petty<\/a>. It was named after his Sirius XM radio show. Once a week, Tom would go to this tiny studio and bring an hour\u2019s worth of music from his personal collection of albums, CDs, singles, this rare and out-of-print stuff. I went to class every day listening to this station, because his musical library up here, mentally, is off the charts! The amount of different music he loved is still with me every time I play.<\/p>\n

‘Carry The Light’ Album Breakdown with Peter & Julian Frampton – YouTube
\n\"'Carry<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

People didn\u2019t upset other people so readily back then, because normally they were either talking to each other on the phone, or over the fence in the backyard. Now they\u2019re behind a keyboard being rude, and trolling each other. I remember when the internet first started, David Bowie<\/a> was asked what he thought about it, and he said: \u201cIt will have a lot of good. But there\u2019s going to be so much bad, and it\u2019s only going to get worse.\u201d He was right.<\/p>\n

Too much advice can be a bad thing<\/p>\n

I absolutely did not want to record I\u2019m In You [fifth album, in 1977]. I knew that you\u2019re only as good as your last record. I wish I had taken my time. But I had to sift through everyone\u2019s agenda. I was twenty-six years old. My brain hadn\u2019t finished growing. And I started making bad decisions, by going along with what everybody thought. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the biggest album ever, so you want to follow it up as quickly as you can, otherwise people will forget you!\u201d I could\u2019ve waited three or four years. Other artists have.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t underestimate the power of a good curry<\/p>\n

I love a good Indian. It always makes me feel better. I don\u2019t know why exactly. But a good curry really does appeal to me. And obviously, being born in England, I\u2019ve had my fair share of ultimate Indian meals.<\/p>\n

Don’t overthink guitar solos<\/p>\n

Some of my favourite solos have been because I didn\u2019t think about them at all. My mind wasn\u2019t working, but my heart and soul were. You get to the end of the solo and say: \u201cLet me listen to that. What did I just play?\u201d And that\u2019s when I know I\u2019ve done a good solo – when I get to the end of something, and I feel really good, but I can\u2019t remember what I just played.<\/p>\n

Many times people come up to me after a show and say: \u201cOn Do You Feel Like We Do, you didn\u2019t play the same talkbox solo as on the record.\u201d And I say: \u201cWell, the day before we recorded the live album, I didn\u2019t play the same solo. And the day after, I didn\u2019t play it either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironing clothes used to help me relax before a show<\/p>\n

I think it was that zen thing of a repetitive activity relaxing your mind. Also, I had read that Eric Clapton<\/a> would iron before a show, so I thought I\u2019d try it. I\u2019m fairly fastidious about having no wrinkles in shirts, so it would always be the shirt I was ironing. Later on I graduated to a steamer [laughs].<\/p>\n

Stand up for what you believe in politically<\/p>\n

It\u2019s your responsibility, as a human being. It just happens that when musicians take a stand, other people get jealous of the reach we might have and how our words might affect more people than theirs. And that\u2019s when they say: \u201cShut up and play.\u201d But in our current situation in America, I feel the obligation to speak out. I want to help, for my granddaughter\u2019s sake. I think if we stay silent, democracy will die in that silence. But we\u2019re starting to make a lot of noise, thank God.<\/p>\n

The best advice I never understood<\/p>\n

My mum used to say: \u201cWhat is to be, will be sure to come true.\u201d I don\u2019t know what it means, but I\u2019ve always lived by that [laughs].<\/p>\n

Carry The Light is out now via UMC<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Peter Frampton: Carry The Light – Today’s Best Prices<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My doctor calls me a young seventy-five,\u201d Peter Frampton says with a smile. \u201cWhich is better than an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":738338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-738337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/738338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}