Who is Suzi Quatro?

If you watched "Happy Days" in 1977 or caught episode eight of that season in reruns, you might remember The Suedes, the band that auditions for a gig at Arnold's diner. Their lead singer, Leather Tuscadero, is a reformed thief and the sister of Fonzie's lost love, Pinky. But before her acting debut in Happy Days, Susan Kay 'Suzi' Quatro was a singer, bass guitarist, and songwriter who influenced future stars like Joan Jett and Tina Weymouth.

Suzi Quatro was born on June 3, 1950, in Detroit Michigan. Her father, Art, was a semiprofessional jazz musician who worked at General Motors, while her mother, Helen, was a housewife who passed away in 1992. Suzi has three sisters, a half-sister, and one brother. Following their father's love of music, Suzi and her siblings, including her brother Michael, embraced the musical path.

In 1964, her sister Patti formed the garage band The Pleasure Seekers, with Suzi playing bass and singing. They later added their sister Arlene to the group. The Pleasure Seekers released two singles, 'What a Way to Die' and 'Light of Love,' before incorporating a third sister, Nancy, and renaming the band to Cradle. Cradle transitioned into a harder metal band, performing with MC5 and The Stooges, and self-released one album, The History.

Suzi moved to England in 1971. At the time, her brother Michael, who managed Cradle, introduced her to Mickie Most, the producer and founder of Rak Records. Elektra Records had expressed interest in Suzi as "the new Janis Joplin," but Suzi recalled, "Mickie Most offered to take me to England and make me the first Suzi Quatro--I didn't want to be the new anybody."

Suzi's first single, 'Rolling Stone' reached number one on the charts in Portugal. In 1972, she toured the UK opening for Thin Lizzy and Slade. In May 1973, her second single, 'Can The Can,' hit number one in parts of Europe and Australia. Although she had three more hits that earned Gold Disks, they had little success in the United States, even as she toured the US, opening for Alice Cooper.

After 1973, Suzi experienced less chart success, except in Australia. She had moderate UK success in 1975 with 'Your Mama Won't Like Me,' but other singles that year did not break the UK Top 50. In 1977, Suzi reached the UK Top 30 with "Tear Me Apart" from her 1976 album Aggro-Phobia. She didn't chart again until 1978 when the slightly mellow 'If You Can't Give Me Love' became a hit in Australia and the UK. Additionally, 'Stumblin' In,' a duet with Chris Norman of the band Smokie, reached number four in the U.S.

Suzi's success continued with several hits in the UK until her contact with Mickie Most expired in 1980, leading her to sign with Mike Chapman's Dreamland Records. That year, she released Rock Hard. The album and its eponymous single went platinum in Australia. The single, featured on the Times Square motion picture soundtrack, reached number 11 in Australia but only climbed to 68 in the UK due to distribution issues. When Dreamland Records ceased operations in 1981, Suzi found herself without a record label.

Suzi's career took many turns after her 1982 hit 'Heart of Stone,' which peaked at 60 on the UK charts. In 1983, 'Main Attraction' didn't chart but received moderate airplay. In a 1983 article, she mentioned that she wasn't concerned about chart success and preferred releasing music she loved. She released a few singles, collaborated with several artists on a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" for the 1986 BBC Children in Need single, and released a (very 1980s) cover of 'Wild Thing' in 1986. Her last hit was 'Baby You're a Star' in 1989, which failed to chart.

Although her hitmaking days seemed over, she continued releasing music. 'Back to the Drive' in 2006 marking her return to the worldwide charts. In 2011, she released the album In the Spotlight, and in 2014, she celebrated her 50th anniversary in the music industry with the anthology Girl from Detroit. In 2023, she and K.T. Tunstall released an album of duets, Face To Face.

Suzi's other projects included the unreleased documentary Naked Under Leather and her autobiography Unzipped, published in 2007.

Still performing at almost 75, Suzi Quatro has sold over 50 million records.

Suzi married her long-time guitarist, Len Tuckey, in 1976. They had two children together and divorced in 1992. In 1993, she married German concert promoter Rainer Haas.