Frankie Miller

Scottish rock singer-songwriter Frankie Miller was born Francis John Miller on November 2, 1949 in Bridgeton, an impoverished district of Glasgow. His education in music came via the rhythm-and-blues classics in his mother’s record collection. After stints with various local groups, and a brief spell in a band named Jude that also included guitarist Robin Trower, Miller struck out as a solo artist in 1972, and over the course of that decade he made his reputation as one of the finest singers and songwriters of his generation. The only major hit he ever had was Darlin’ in 1978, and, to his chagrin, it was a song he didn’t write. But over the years his songs would be recorded by an array of famous artists, including Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, Miller’s friends in the Eagles and many others. On August 25, 1994, Frankie Miller suffered a massive, near-fatal brain aneurysm (also reported as a brain haemorrhage) in New York. He was in the city writing new material for a project with Joe Walsh of the Eagles and Nicky Hopkins. Miller was in a coma for five months, with his survival considered unlikely at the time. He spent 15 months in the hospital and underwent extensive rehabilitation to re-learn how to walk and talk. The incident left him unable to sing or perform, effectively ending his active music career. But Frankie Miller always considered himself lucky to have survived it, and what remains is a rich legacy in the albums he made in the 70s and early 80s.