America
America is a rock band that was formed in London in 1970 by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley. The trio met as sons of US Air Force personnel stationed in London, where they began performing live.
Achieving significant popularity in the 1970s, the trio was famous for its close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk-rock sound. The band released a string of hit albums and singles, many of which found airplay on pop/soft rock stations.
The band came together shortly after the members’ graduation from high school in the late 1960s. In 1970 Peek joined the band, and a record deal with Warner Bros followed. In 1972 America released their debut album, America. The album included the transatlantic hits “A Horse with No Name” and “I Need You”. Their follow-up album, Homecoming (1972) included the single “Ventura Highway”.
Over the next several years the band continued to release hit songs, including “Muskrat Love” on Hat Trick (1973), “Tin Man” and “Lonely People” on Holiday (1974), and “Sister Golden Hair” and “Daisy Jane” on their 1975 record Hearts. In 1975 America released History: America’s Greatest Hits, a compilation of hit singles, which was certified multiplatinum in the United States and Australia.
Peek left the group in 1977 and their commercial fortunes declined, though they returned to the top 10 in 1982 with the single “You Can Do Magic”.
The band’s final Top 40 hit was “The Border”, which reached no. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1983. The group continues to record material and tour regularly. Its 2007 album Here & Now was a collaboration with a new generation of musicians who have credited the band as an influence.
America won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and were nominated for Best Pop Vocal Group at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards in 1973. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.
