Introduction
On a chilly Dublin night in mid-November 2015, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams armed himself with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a lifetime of hits to deliver a medley on RTÉ One’s flagship chat show. Clocking in at just over five minutes and watched more than 5 million times, this intimate yet rousing set wove together his signature riffs—from the yearning chords of “Run to You” to the nostalgic refrain of “Summer of ’69”—and turned a television studio into a sing-along pub hardcore fans and newcomers alike still talk about.
Armed only with his weathered nylon-string and that trademark rasp, Adams kicked off by slipping into “Run to You,” his 1984 Reckless anthem about longing and loyalty. Even in acoustic form, the song’s urgency remained palpable as the studio audience chimed in on every “you”… “you”… “you.” From there, he blended seamlessly into “Somebody” and “Heaven,” two ballads that first proved his knack for melody back in the early ’80s on that same album.
No Bryan Adams medley would feel complete without that immortal chorus—“Got my first real six-string / Bought it at the five-and-dime”—and Adams savored every note as the crowd closed their eyes and sang along. “Summer of ’69,” originally penned with Jim Vallance about the pull between settling down or chasing rock-and-roll dreams, remains one of his most enduring classics.
There’s something about hearing an artist boil their arena anthems down to a single guitar that feels profoundly human. Adams’s voice cracks just enough on the high notes, and you sense each lyric is freshly wrung from genuine emotion, not studio gloss. When he pauses between songs, you hear the gear shifts, the quick breaths—little reminders that rock ’n’ roll at its core is just one person, one guitar, and a story to tell.