在这里提到 Cinderella（灰姑娘），也许会有人说我在瞎扯，谁会将清纯可人的灰姑娘与穷凶极恶的重金属混在一起，很不幸，在80年代中后期到90年代初期的摇滚乐坛，是有一支名为 Cinderella 的硬摇滚乐队“兴风作浪”了好一阵子。Cinderella 是由费城两位经验丰富的酒吧乐手Tom Keifer 以及 Eric Brittingham 发起成立的。吉他手 Jeff Lebar 因为与他们在同一个酒吧演出，也就自然加入到急需一位吉他手的 Cinderella 乐队中来。他们选用的乐队名Cinderella（灰姑娘）被认为缺少重金属气质，但这正体现了乐队华丽、雌性的风格和打扮。一次偶然的机会，Bon Jovi 乐队的主唱 Jon Bon Jovi 在酒吧里认识了Cinderella，这位歌星事先预感了他们的成功，他向自己的唱片公司 Mercury 强烈推荐，次年 Cinderella 就和 Mercury 公司签约。在增加了鼓手 Fred Coury 后，1986年6月 Cinderella 发表了他们的第一张 Glam Metal 风格的专辑《Night Songs》，专辑销售出了200万张。Cinderella 一夜之间从一个 Club Band 变成 Rock Star。1988年，乐队推出了第二张专辑《Long Cold Winter》，乐队吸取了大量布鲁斯音乐的精髓，并把它加入到他们所擅长的硬摇滚中去，这种音乐风格正好适合 Keifer 的嗓音，乐队受到了一系列的好评，专辑的销量达到600万张，在此以前， Cinderella 一直是为 Bon Jovi, AC/DC, David Lee Roth, Judas Priest 这些的巨星担任暖场演出，现在，他们可以自己独挡一面了。专辑《Long Cold Winter》之后是一系列的巡回演出，1987年 Cinderella 乐队与 Bon Jovi , David Lee Roth , Judas Priest 以及 AC/DC 等重金属乐队参加了据称有十万人到场的 Castle Donnington festival 音乐节。不过乐队的巔峰之作当属在1990年推出的第三张专辑《Heartbreak Station》，每个吹毛求疵的乐评都不得不对它停止了批评，哀怨的布鲁斯与激烈的硬摇滚聚在一起凑成了一锅美味的大餐，加上吹奏乐器的大量使用，弦乐部分由 Led Zeppelin 乐队的元老 John Paul Jones 安排，Cinderella 已成为一支非常优秀的摇滚乐队。1993年，Cinderella 的事业遭到几个严重的打击，首先是主唱 Tom Keifer 患上了声带结节并且日趋严重，精细的手术和禁声的治疗是非常必要的，否则将严重影响歌者的音质（其实你只要听过他的演唱，就会明白他的嗓子为什么会坏了）；然后 Fred Coury 离开了 Cinderella 加入了 Arcade 乐队，Fred Coury 的位置由 Ray Brinker 取代；但更不幸的是 Tom Keifer 的母亲去世，可以想象这对 Tom Keifer 的打击有多大。直到1994年，Cinderell a才出版了第四张专辑《Still Climbing》，然而此时的乐坛已是非主流当道，Cinderella 所擅长的 Pop Metal 已是强弩之末，Cinderella 的复出并未引起人们太大的兴趣，而且这张专辑也不如上张专辑出色，乐队惯有的布鲁斯风格也大大减少了，Mercury 公司并没有对这张专辑进行必要的宣传，《Still Climbing》没有得到预期的成功，销量远未达到白金数字（100万张），成了80年代重金属衰落的标志1995年，Cinderella 匆匆结束了一次短暂的巡演便在人们的猜疑中解散了，不是乐队成员之间的矛盾或是不公的命运将他瓦解，而是唱片公司人为地因素将他掷入低谷，乐队各成员开始自己独立的活动。1997年，80年代金属热潮在次席卷全美，在唱片公司热心支持下 Cinderella 推出了一张名为《Once Upon A...》的精选专辑，里面收录两首新歌：“War Stories” 和翻唱 Janis Joplin 的 “Move Over ”。随着重金属音乐开始复苏，Cinderella 又开始活跃起来，乐队成员又重新聚在了一起。1998年 Cinderella 展开名为 "Unfinished Business" 的巡回演出，收到了很好的效果；2000年夏季，Cinderella 与 Poison, Slaughter 和 Dokken 等团体共同举行巡演，场面依然火爆，看来，Cinderella 的第二个春天又来到了。目前 Cinderella 正与词曲作者 Desmond Child（他曾与Bon Jovi, Kiss等团体共同创作了许多热门歌曲）合作，新专辑《Down Street》将在2001年推出。 Hard rock band Cinderella gained success in the mid-'80s, turning out a series of million-selling albums and hit singles while placing music videos in heavy rotation on MTV. By the mid-'90s, the group's mass popularity had subsided due to professional setbacks and perceived changes in taste. But they continued to tour regularly well into the 21st century.Cinderella was founded in Philadelphia, PA, in 1983 by singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Tom Keifer (born January 26, 1961) and bassist Eric Brittingham (born May 8, 1960), who quickly added lead guitarist Jeff LaBar (born March 18, 1963). Guitarist Michael Kelly Smith and drummer Tony Destra were also early members of the band, but they left in 1985 to form Britny Fox. Cinderella then added drummer Jody Cortez and continued as a four-piece. Insisting on playing original material, they performed in clubs and bars in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and in 1985 Jon Bon Jovi caught one of their shows. He was sufficiently impressed to alert his record company, Mercury, which signed the band. Their debut album, Night Songs, was released in June 1986. Shortly after its completion, Cortez left the band and was replaced by Fred Coury (born October 20, 1964). The LP was not an immediate success, but it gained momentum gradually while the band toured extensively as an opening act to promote it. It broke into the Billboard chart in July, and the track "Shake Me," although it failed to chart as a single, got enough radio attention to turn up on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart in August. On October 1, the album was certified gold. That month, Mercury released a second single, "Nobody's Fool," accompanied by a music video that earned play on MTV; it broke into the charts in November and peaked at number 13 in February 1987. Its success further stimulated sales of the album, which was certified platinum in December 1986 and broke into the Top Ten by the end of the year; it peaked at number 3 in February 1987, and that same month was certified double platinum. In April, Mercury released a third single, "Somebody Save Me," which peaked at number 66 in May. (The album was certified triple platinum in May 1991.)Having broken through to popular success with Night Songs, Cinderella returned with their second album, Long Cold Winter, in July 1988. Radio initially focused on the track "Gypsy Road," giving it a Top 20 ranking in the Album Rock Tracks chart, but Mercury did not release it as a single at first (although in the U.K., where it was released as a single, it charted). Instead the power ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" was released as a single in August, and it peaked at number 12 in November. The album reached number ten in September, the same month it was certified gold and platinum simultaneously, with a double-platinum certification following in November. (It was certified triple platinum in January 1997.) As the group continued to tour relentlessly through 1988 and 1989, Mercury broke more singles from the LP. "The Last Mile," released in December, peaked at number 36 in March 1989; "Coming Home," released in March, hit number 20 in June; and "Gypsy Road," finally put on 45 a year after the release of Long Cold Winter in July 1989, and backed by a live version of the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash," got to number 51 in September.Again, Cinderella came off the road and spent a year crafting its third album, Heartbreak Station, which appeared in November 1990. Although it was a hit out of the box, going gold in January 1991 and platinum in February, the album encountered more resistance than the band's previous efforts, peaking at number 19, with no multi-platinum certifications forthcoming. Leadoff single "Shelter Me" peaked at number 36 in February, and the title song reached number 44 in April. More disturbing than this mild commercial disappointment, however, were problems within the band. Coury departed, and Cinderella initially replaced him with Kevin Valentine, then hired noted session drummer Kenny Aronoff temporarily before bringing in Kevin Conway. Then, after the U.S. leg of the Heartbreak Station tour had ended and the band was gearing up to go to Japan in 1991, Keifer woke up one morning and found he couldn't sing. Doctors initially were unable to figure out what was wrong, but a specialist finally diagnosed paresis of the laryngeal nerve controlling the left vocal cord. Keifer was forced to undergo two throat operations, followed by extensive therapy. Cinderella managed to put a track, "Hot and Bothered," on the chart-topping Wayne's World soundtrack, released in February 1992, but otherwise the band was out of commission for an extended period of time.In the meanwhile, fashions changed. Cinderella had been part of a "pop-metal" movement including Bon Jovi, Great White, and Ratt, who preceded them, as well as Poison, the enormously popular Guns N' Roses, and L.A. Guns, who followed them. But when "grunge" rockers Nirvana, boasting a neo-punk style, broke through to success in the fall of 1991 with their album Nevermind and single "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the record labels suddenly became enamored of their stripped-down approach. Suddenly, instead of the teased and blown-dry coiffures and skin-tight stage costumes of the pop-metal bands, it was the dirty-hair-falling-in-the-face, flannel-shirt-and-jeans look of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain that was all the rage. Soon, the pop-metal groups were written off with a new epithet, dismissed as "hair metal" bands. By the time Keifer & Co. finally emerged with the fourth Cinderella album, Still Climbing, in November 1994, it could only manage to spend one week at number 178 before disappearing. Mercury promptly dropped the band.Cinderella's touring opportunities also dried up, and while the group did not formally disband in 1995, it became inactive for lack of offers. Keifer moved to Nashville in 1997 and worked on his songwriting, eventually getting cuts on albums by Andy Griggs and Lynyrd Skynyrd. By 1998, there was enough interest by promoters for Cinderella to reunite (with Coury rejoining) for a tour. On October 2 and 3, they appeared at the Key Club in Hollywood, CA, and recorded the show for an album, Live at the Key Club, released on Cleopatra's Dead Line label in July 1999. Unfortunately, the disc was also licensed out to other labels over the years and has confused consumers by also appearing under the titles In Concert and Live From the Gypsy Road. Meanwhile, Cinderella had been signed to Sony's Portrait label by famed record executive John David Kalodner, who was also signing other hard rock bands of the '80s. But initial Portrait releases were not successful, and Cinderella's contract was canceled. Nevertheless, a faithful fan base supported continuing road work by the band, which reunited in the summer of 2000 for a tour with Poison, followed by a second outing by the two groups in 2002. In 2005, VH1 sponsored the Rock Never Stops package tour, which Cinderella headlined, supported by Ratt, Quiet Riot, and Firehouse, with dates extending through the summer.