George Thorogood felt destined for rock stardom

By Eric Seiverling

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

For veteran blues rocker George Thorogood, it wasn’t a question of if he’d ever become a rock star, but a matter of when.

“When I was 19 or 20, my parents shook me out of a monster hangover and they said ‘George, you talk like a rock star and live like a rock star, but when are you actually going to be a rock star?’” Thorogood said during a rare night off from gigging. “I had been acting like a rock star my whole life. I had no choice. My parents acknowledged it long before I put my nose to the grindstone. They realized this wasn’t a hobby. This is a passion.”

Thorogood will bring his famous guitar growl and signature swagger to Rostraver Township’s Vinoski Winery Aug. 19 during a stop on his “Good to be Bad” 45-year anniversary tour.

During his more than 40 decades as a classic rock radio staple, Thorogood has released such popular party anthems as “I Drink Alone,” “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer,” “Move it on Over,” and “Bad to the Bone.”

Thorogood grew up in Delaware, and was bit by the music bug at the age of 13 when he first heard the Rolling Stones. 

“The Stones did something to me, they put a hook in me,” he said. “For the first time going onto the school bus, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”

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