One of the most covered bands in history, Cheap Trick survived the ‘70s with hard power chords and a love for pop.Cheap Trick spurred from Fuse, a ‘60s Rockford, IL band formed by Cheap Trick guitarist, Rick Nielsen, and bassist Tom Petersson. When Fuse's debut Epic Records album failed to create typical rock paranoia like their idols the Beatles had, Fuse moved to Philadelphia and changed their name to Sick Man of Europe. After an unsuccessful tour in Europe, the duo returned to the states in 1973, and changed their name for the third and final time to Cheap Trick. With the addition of drummer Bun E. Carlos and vocalist Robin Zander, the rockers finally saw the success they sought. Touring constantly with similar acts like Kiss and AC/DC, 1977 saw their first album as a group as well as a plethora of original back stock songs that would make up their next two albums.Japan loved Cheap Trick, their first two albums going gold upon release in the Asian country, while Americans were a little less impressed with this Epic Records group. Their second album, In Color, topped the US charts as the group reveled in the star power they received in Japan. Their fourth album, At Budokan, was from one of their Japanese concerts and finally gave Cheap Trick the commercial success in the US. The album sold over three million copies and stayed on the charts for over a year.Petersson left the group in 1980 to be replaced by Jon Brant. The group continued to release album after album over the next decade, seeing a quick downhill spiral since their minor success. In 1995 the group left their Warner label and signed with indie Red Ant-Alliance, who went bankrupt seven weeks after their 14th album was released.