Solo
In September 1977, Welch released his first solo album, French Kiss (originally to have been called Paris 3), a mainstream pop collection featuring contributions from former band mates Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. This release brought Welch his greatest success, selling one million copies being certified by the RIAA on 5/1/78. It yielded three hit singles: a revamped version of "Sentimental Lady", which hit Billboard's Top 10, the rocker "Ebony Eyes" and "Hot Love, Cold World".
Welch followed up French Kiss with 1979's Three Hearts, an album that replicated the rock/disco fusion of French Kiss. It was certified Gold by the RIAA on 2/23/1979, and spawned the top 20 hit "Precious Love", while the follow-up single "Church" also charted. He also hosted a music video program, Hollywood Heartbeat.
Welch released solo albums into the early 1980s (The Other One, Man Overboard, Bob Welch, and Eye Contact) with decreasing success, during which time he also developed a short lived cocaine and heroin addiction for less than a year and a hospitalization scared him into stopping in the Spring of 1985. The day he got out of detox he met his wife to be Wendy Armistead at the Central (now the Viper Room) where they were introduced by Taryn Powers (Tyrone Powers daughter) and Tony Sales (Soupy Sales son). Wendy had been employed for 7 years by Michael Viner and Deborah Raffin,who were a producer/manager and actress, out of their home office. They were married in December 1985, and remained together as husband and wife and business partners until his death. Wendy moved Bob to Phoenix Arizona to keep him away from all the drug dealers in LA in 1986 and he never did drugs again, not even marijuana.. After cleaning himself up in 1986, Welch turned away from performing and recording and focused his attention on songwriting for others. In Phoenix, Bob and Wendy put together a short-lived group called Avenue M, who went on tour and recorded one song for a greatest hits compilation. He later moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1999, Welch released an experimental jazz/loop based album, Bob Welch Looks at Bop. He followed this up in 2003, with His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, which contained new recordings of songs he originally recorded with Fleetwood Mac, as well as some solo hits. In 2006, he released His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond 2, which mixed a half-dozen new compositions, along with a similar number of his Mac/solo remakes. He released more CD's with Fuel Records in 2008, 2010, and 2011.
Welch appeared as an avatar named BobWelch Magic in 2008 performing solo acoustic favorites and hits live for 30 minutes, in a show with Von Johin (musician/publisher Mike Lawson) and Cypress Rosewood (musician Tony Gerber) in the virtual world of Second Life streaming live over the internet into the Gibson Island virtual stage from Lawson's studio
He had been married since 1985 to Wendy Armistead Welch of Memphis, Tennessee. The couple resided in Nashville.
Read more about this topic: Bob Welch (musician)
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