Peter Frampton, 76: ‘I’m Very Grateful for a Second Chance’

You first collaborated with Julian on the song “Road to the Sun” from 2010’s Thank You Mr. Churchill. How did you wind up partnering for a full album?

He and his wife, Annie, and my second granddaughter, Rain, were here for a visit. I got stuck on one song and said, “I need some help.” We wrapped that up in half an hour, and I thought, Oh, this is going to speed things up a little. It was so easy to work with Julian because there’s a shared DNA. I told him, “You have to come back. I want to finish all of them with you.”

Was this a democratic arrangement?

There was an equal give and take, but in the final analysis, I get the veto. The teamwork was so great. He started offering these production ideas, and they worked. That night I was asleep and sat bolt upright and said, “I’m going to have Julian coproduce with me.” Then, bingo, it was a phenomenal relationship for the whole record. Julian and I did it for us. For us, it’s already successful.

In what ways are you different from Julian and your daughters, Mia and Jade?

I panic at little things. The big things, there’s nothing you can do about. My kids are the other way. The little things don’t bother them at all. They always say, “Why don’t you get as bothered by the big things as you do about why someone spilled something on the carpet?” Stupid things. I say, “Because I can clean the carpet.” There’s nothing I can do about a big, momentous thing. You live with it.

You’ve been coping with inclusion body myositis since 2015, yet your guitar skills seem undiminished. How has this disease impacted your work and daily life?

It’s an issue, but it’s not something that I let rule my life. It has affected my playing. Thank goodness for digital, and being able to do it over and over again. Technically I’m not as proficient as I once was due to IBM. I use the degradation, the progression of the disease as a challenge to find how I can play what I played yesterday today.

Is playing therapeutic?

I play every day. It keeps me active, keeps my fingers going. My doctor, Lisa Christopher-Stine, who is the head of myositis at Johns Hopkins, maintains that I have dexterity left in my hands because of playing. She now asks patients if they play an instrument. If they do, she says, “Play every day. If you always wanted to play piano, start.”

Are there treatments on the horizon that give you hope?

There are various trials that I’m involved in through my fund at Johns Hopkins. I’ve been in one. There are three drugs that have the potential for doing some good. I’m waiting for final tests to start one of them. It’s not going to reverse it, but just stop the progress.

Bill Evans, the saxophonist who played with Miles Davis for a spell, is on “Tinderbox” and “Can You Take Me There.” You’re not only a jazz fan; there’s also a streak of jazz in your approach.

The first few times my dad played Django Reinhardt on the record player, I made a beeline to the door. A couple of months into this, I stayed in the room and listened. It dawned on me that Django really was technically and soulfully one of the best guitarists ever. I got my love of jazz from that. I’ve always been of the moment, and never worked out a guitar solo in my life. There was a Humble Pie session for the Rock On album when we were recording “Stone Cold Fever.” At the end of the recording, I could just stretch out and play. When I listened to it in the control room, I thought all my influences – jazz, rock, blues – came together. I realized it was Peter Frampton’s style. I had listened to all those people, but I wasn’t quoting them anymore. I was quoting me.

Frampton performs before a huge crowd in Oakland, California, in 1977, at the height of his post-"Frampton Comes Alive" popularity. "I'm very proud of that record," he says of the mega-selling live double album, which marks its 50th anniversary in 2026.

Courtesy Neal Preston/Sacks & Co

You’ve been working for 60 years. Are you starting to slow down and relax?

Obviously, family has become exceedingly important with the two grandchildren. Elle lives around the corner, so she’s here all the time. I have this incredible music room, and I love to play. That’s what I do during the day. After my workout, I feed the dog, feed me, play some guitar till lunchtime, go outside, lay by the pool, throw the ball for the dog, and then it’s back inside for more guitar.

You were close to David Bowie, who died in 2016. What did you admire about him?

What a clever guy, the all-knowing and all-being David. We became friends when I was 13 and he was 15. My father was his art teacher. I was always "the young Frampton." Even when I toured with him on his Glass Spider Tour, he looked after me. He was a super man. Very caring, very generous, to a fault sometimes. I wish I’d learned to reinvent myself earlier. Every 18 months, you need to kind of renew yourself, because that’s a new generation to listen to your music. A pop star’s career is 18 months. But a musician’s career, David Bowie’s career, is a lifetime.

Frampton Comes Alive! turned 50 this year. It was a massive breakthrough and the biggest release of your career. Do you have mixed feelings about an album that made you a global superstar but also cast a large shadow?

I’m thrilled to say it’s still as big today as it was back then. I’m very proud of that record. It’s other things that cast a darkness during the success of that record. I was taking advice from people who had their agenda, and their agenda was money. The biggest mistake I made was agreeing to record I’m in You when I did. Comes Alive was still in the top 10, and they wanted me to rush back in. I didn’t have six years’ worth of material like I had on Comes Alive. The second biggest mistake was the damn Sgt. Pepper movie.

Was that experience deflating or motivating?

When I started my journey back up the ladder, it was with renewed vigor and wisdom. I’m very grateful for a second chance, at people accepting my music again. If you had a huge success, you’re almost starting below ground, not at the first rung of the ladder, because you have people who really don’t like you. I had to dig myself to the surface before I could even see the ladder. Now it’s all water under the bridge. So much great stuff has happened since then. I couldn’t be happier. This is the best time of my life.