America consists of Dewey Bunnell (vocalists, guitarist), Gerry Beckley (vocalists, guitarist).
America is a light rock and roll band, most popular in the early and mid 1970s and now best known for their #1 hits "A Horse With No Name" and "Sister Golden Hair." Although they were seldom a favourite with critics the band were exceptionally successful commercially selling both singles and albums. Despite the presence of other heavyweight acts like James Taylor and Rod Stewart on their roster Warner Brothers Records biggest selling act of the 1970s was America.
Members include: Gerry Beckley (1970-present) – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, harmonica Dewey Bunnell (1970-present) – lead and backing vocals, guitars Dan Peek (1970-1977) – lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica
Sons of American military personel stationed in England, all three attended London Central High in the mid- sixties where they met and eventually formed the rock band America. Their first LP was produced by Ian "Sammy" Samwell, who was known for the hits he had written for Cliff Richard, with the assistance of Jeff Dexter.
The album was intially released in Europe with only moderate success and without the breakout hit "A Horse With No Name." Samwell helped the group to record and persuaded the Warner Brothers label to release the new song on an EP which was highly popular in the United States as well as in Europe.
America the album was re-released with "Horse", and quickly went platinum with the other favorites "I Need You," "Sandman," and "Riverside." Their second album, appropriately named Homecoming, saw the band moving back to the United States to record. The most notable song was "Ventura Highway."
