Cheap Trick is a pop-metal-punk fusion band that has endured a great legacy from the 1970s to the present day, having sold over 20 million records. Despite the lineup changing several times over the decades, Cheap Trick has developed a cult following.

Primarily a pop band with a real 1960s and '70s spirit, Cheap Trick also conveyed elements of rock and embraced elements of philosophic absurdism in their lyrics while their instrumentation blended power chords with pop-fused beats.

When Cheap Trick first started in 1967 by Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson, it was called “Fuse,” but in 1972, the band assumed a new name: “Sick Man of Europe.” On August 15, 1973, the band changed its name a third time to “Cheap Trick,” performing their first concert with the new name in Wisconsin in 1974.

The following year, Cheap Trick recorded its first demo and began performing at small venues in the Midwest, gaining the attention of Epic Records, which signed Cheap Trick in 1976. Cheap Trick released its self-titled debut album with Epic on February 3, 1977 followed by In Color just seven months later.

The original members of Cheap Trick who are credited on their 1977 debut album are:

• Frontman Robin Zander on lead vocals and rhythm guitar
• Rick Nielsen on lead guitar, mandocello, and backing vocals
• Tom Petersson on bass guitar and backing vocal
• Bun E. Carlos on drums

Bun E. Carlos left Cheap Trick in 2010 after 37 years with the band. Though there were several reasons for his departure, it primarily came down to a dispute between Carlos and Zander about the number of shows the band would perform in Las Vegas, which led to Carlos’s dismissal from the band. On March 9, 2010, the band issued a statement to the effect that Carlos was no longer recording, touring, or acting as a member of the band in any capacity.

That might have been the end of it, but in 2012, Cheap Trick stopped paying Carlos and refused to include him in any further business decisions, so Carlos sued the band for $600,000. On February 26, 2015, the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum with Zander announcing that Carlos was now a non-touring member of the band who would be involved in business decisions going forward.

"Surrender" is about the intergenerational relationship between Baby Boomers and Gen. X. Released in 1978 on the album Heaven Tonight, it's a song engaging the adolescents of the 1970s and how they begin to question the generation that raised them. It contains themes about sex, coming-of-age, drugs, and most of all, a "surrender" to loosening inhibitions and garnering a kind of youthful, zestful freedom.

On July 13, 1956, Elvis Presley released the single “Don’t Cruel,” a B-side track that managed to defy the norm and become one of the biggest and most influential rock songs of history. The song would be covered by many artists over the next few decades including Cheap Trick, whose version of the song peaked at number four on the Hot 100 chart in the US in 1988.

Cheap Trick has had 2,657 concerts.

Cheap Trick is most often considered to be Rock, Pop Rock, Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Album Oriented Rock (AOR), Mellow Gold, Art Rock, Power Pop, New Wave Pop, Glam Metal, Glam Rock, and Beatlesque.

The next Cheap Trick concert is on May 01, 2024 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The bands performing are: Heart / Cheap Trick.

The last Cheap Trick concert was on April 26, 2024 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, United States. The bands that performed were: Heart / Cheap Trick.

The songs that Cheap Trick performs live vary, but here's the latest setlist that we have from the April 26, 2024 concert at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, United States:

1. Dream Police
2. Big Eyes
3. He's a Whore
4. Ain't That a Shame
5. Downed
6. Stop This Game
7. Bass Solo
8. I Know What I Want
9. It All Comes Back to You
10. The Flame
11. I Want You to Want Me
12. Surrender
13. Goodnight