Beth Hart

Beth Hart was almost an almost was. A flirtation with success in the ’90s came and went and could have been the end of the story, were it not for her impressive determination, leading to a resurgence in 2011.

Hart’s stints on Star Search and later on the Lollapalooza tour looked like the brief highpoints of a career that would never match her talent. Her band signed to Atlantic’s subsidiary Lava (at the time, home to Matchbox 20 and The Corrs) in the mid ’90s, but their one and only album, 1996’s Immortal, failed to have the desired impact.

The band split and Hart pressed ahead as a solo act, scoring a minor success with her 1999 solo debut Screamin’ For My Supper. But addiction issues intervened and subsequent albums failed to significantly build on its promise, despite no shortage of effusive reviews for 2003’s Leave The Light On.

Throughout the ’00s

Hart was far from done. She forged bonds with significant allies throughout the ’00s, including Slash (whose album she played on), Jeff Beck and, most notably, Joe Bonamassa. Don’t Explain, her 2011 album with the blues guitarist, had the quite the impact, establishing a formidable reputation in the blues community.

This time, Hart seized her opportunity with both hands, going on to release the highly regarded Bang Bang Boom Boom the following year and teaming up with Bonamassa once more for Seesaw in 2013, her first No.1 on the Billboard Blues Album charts. Hart would repeat the feat five more times with her solo albums Better Than Home, Fire On The Floor and War In My Mind and with Bonamassa on 2018’s Black Coffee.

In late 2020, Hart announced 2021 UK tour dates, including two nights at the London Palladium – plus in July 2021, she expanded that tour by adding five more shows.