Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1968. From left to right: Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, Stu Cook and John Fogerty
Background information
Also known as	The Blue Velvets, Tommy Fogerty and the Blue Velvets (1959–1964); Vision, the Golliwogs (1964–1967)
Origin	El Cerrito, California, U.S.
Genres	Swamp rock roots rock blues rock country rock Southern rock folk rock
Discography	Creedence Clearwater Revival discography
Years active	1959–1972[nb 1]
Labels	Fantasy
Spinoffs	Creedence Clearwater Revisited
Past members	Doug Clifford Stu Cook John Fogerty Tom Fogerty

Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, his brother, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty, bassist Stu Cook, and drummer Doug Clifford. These members had played together since 1959, first as the Blue Velvets and later as the Golliwogs, before settling on Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967.^[1] The band's most prolific and successful period between 1969 and 1971 produced fourteen consecutive Top 10 singles (many of which were double A-sides) and five consecutive Top 10 albums in the United States, two of which – Green River (1969) and Cosmo's Factory (1970) — topped the Billboard 200 chart. The band performed at the 1969 Woodstock festival in Upstate New York, and was the first major act signed to appear there.^[2]

CCR disbanded acrimoniously in late 1972 after four years of chart-topping success. Tom Fogerty had quit the band the year before, and John was at odds with the remaining members over matters of business and artistic control, all of which resulted in lawsuits among the former bandmates. John's disagreements with Fantasy Records owner Saul Zaentz led to more court cases and John refused to perform with the two other surviving members of the band — Tom had died in 1990 — at Creedence's 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[3][4] Though the band has never publicly reunited, John continues to perform CCR songs as part of his solo act, while Cook and Clifford performed as Creedence Clearwater Revisited from 1995 to 2020.

CCR's music remains popular and is a staple of U.S. classic rock radio airplay;^[5] 45 million CCR records have been sold in the U.S. alone.^[6] The compilation album Chronicle: The 20 Greatest Hits, originally released in 1976, is still on the Billboard 200 and reached the 600-week mark in August 2022. It has been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for at least 12 million copies sold in the U.S.^[7]

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