Ted Nugent Photography

Long before he was nicknamed “The Nuge,” “Motor City Madman” and “Uncle Ted,” Ted Nugent was the lead guitarist for the Amboy Dukes from the late 1960s through the early ’70s. Come 1975, this guitar god enlisted Derek St. Holmes as his lead vocalist and launched a solo career, cranking out an abundance of riff-driven hard-rock classics.

Though the remainder of the decade, Nugent and company were virtually unstoppable, becoming one of the most ferocious live bands in the business. “Stranglehold,” “Cat Scratch Fever” and “Wango Tango” weren’t “Just What the Doctor Ordered” back then—selling out arenas coast-to-coast—but continue to be some of the most frequently played guitar-driven classics even today.

In 1990, Nugent recorded the monster ballad “High Enough,” with the supergroup Damn Yankees (alongside Night Ranger’s Jack Blades and Styx’s Tommy Shaw). Following a return to solo life in 1995, Nugent continues to perform and often makes headlines with his controversial conservative political opinions and staunch support of gun rights.