Night Ranger

Night Ranger came out of San Francisco with guitars blazing and a knack for a big chorus, and in the '80s they rode it hard. Dawn Patrol in 1982 brought "Don't Tell Me You Love Me", Midnight Madness in 1983 added the fist-pumping "(You Can Still) Rock in America", and then there's "Sister Christian", the power ballad that turned into the band's calling card, a slow-building, heart-on-sleeve thing that ends up hollering at the sky. "When You Close Your Eyes", "Sentimental Street", "Four in the Morning (I Can't Take Any More)" and "Goodbye" also went top 40, and the first five albums moved more than 10 million copies.

The engine room has always been guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy, the only members who never left, with bassist Jack Blades on all but one of their albums and Jeff Watson among the originals. By the end of the decade the magic was wearing thin, and they split in 1989. Gillis and Keagy made an album under the name with bassist Gary Moon in 1995, then Blades, Watson and Fitzgerald came back in 1996 for two more records before the decade ran out. The lineup has shifted since, with Keri Kelli on guitar and Eric Levy on keys, but they're still recording and touring, with 17 million albums sold.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.