Dubbed "The Face of 1968" by a British teen magazine, Frampton became a star in his homeland - first with psychedelic pop group the Herd, then with the rock band Humble Pie, which he cofounded at age 18 with Small Faces' Steve Marriott.
Frampton's solo career, launched in 1971, got off to a steady start, but the superstardom that accompanied Frampton Comes Alive! five years later backfired on the famed guitarist. There was a near-fatal car accident in the summer of 1978, followed by a clunker of a film with the Bee Gees, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, that did little to build his credibility.
Worse, there was continual disinterest in his new music, with Frampton hitting what he calls "the bottom" just around the time childhood friend David Bowie recruited him to play guitar on his 1987 album, Never Let Me Down, and on the subsequent Glass Spider world tour.
"David actually reintroduced me to my fans," said Frampton, whose father was Bowie's high school art teacher. "He always saw beyond the image of the teeny-bopper thing to the musician. And that was the beginning of my rebuilding the career."
Frampton, who lives in Cincinnati and became a U.S. citizen after 9/11, continued to diligently tour and record, winning his first Grammy Award in 2007 for his instrumental album, Fingertips.
"Making that record certainly wasn't a career move; it was a total labor of love," he said. "And winning the Grammy was a wonderful validation for me from my peers that I've always been, first and foremost, a musician."
The last decade has been a joyful one for Frampton, who credits his peaceful state of mind to maturity, faith in himself, and hard-won sobriety.
