Cinderella is an American blues based hard rock and glam metal band most known during the 1980s and early 1990s. The band has sold over 18 million albums to date worldwide.

History

Cinderella was formed in Philadelphia in 1982 by singer-songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Tom Keifer and bassist Eric Brittingham. The initial lineup also included guitarist Michael Smerick and drummer Tony Destra, who eventually left to form Britny Fox in 1985, a Philadelphia-based band that later relocated to Los Angeles. The band got its big break when Jon Bon Jovi saw them perform at the Empire Rock Club in Philadelphia and recommended that his A&R rep see them as well.[1] In 1985, with a recording contract with Mercury/Polygram Records in the works, guitarist Jeff LaBar and drummer Jim Drnec joined the band.
During the recording of the band's 1986 debut album, Night Songs, studio session drummer Jody Cortez[2] was brought in when producer Andy Johns found drummer Drnec difficult to work with. While finishing the recording, Drnec was replaced by former London drummer Fred Coury, who joined in time to make the album's cover and play on upcoming tours. Night Songs was released on August 2, 1986, the same day as Poison's Look What the Cat Dragged In, and eventually achieved triple platinum status, selling 50,000 copies per week at one point.
Cinderella's first tour was in 1986 with Poison, opening for Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. Further tours from 1986 into 1987 were spent playing to large arena audiences: five months opening for former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, and seven months with Bon Jovi, taking the opening slot for their Slippery When Wet tour. In 1987, the band went overseas, appearing in Japan & Scandinavia and at the Monsters of Rock festivals in England and Germany.
Cinderella's second album, Long Cold Winter, was released in 1988. A 254-show tour to support it lasted over 14 months and included dates on the Moscow Music Peace Festival along side other metal acts, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, and Skid Row. The tour's stage show included Keifer being lowered to the stage while playing a white piano during their radio hit "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)".
Their third album, Heartbreak Station, was released in 1990 and featured songs more influenced by Keifer's love of the blues. Following the accompanying tour, Fred Coury left the band and joined former Ratt vocalist Stephen Pearcy in the band Arcade.
In 1991, Keifer completely lost his voice due to a paresis of his vocal cord. He also underwent several surgeries to repair a vocal cyst and hemorrhage.[3] This added to delays in recording of their fourth album. In 1994, they finally released Still Climbing with Kenny Aronoff on drums, but with little support from their label and none from MTV, the album quickly disappeared from the charts. The band broke up in 1995.
Cinderella reunited in 1997 and toured the United States in the following year. That same year, Mercury Records released a greatest hits compilation titled Once Upon a.... In 1999, Live at the Key Club was released through Cleopatra records. Around this time they were signed by John Kalodner to Portrait/(Sony) Records. Unfortunately, they were dropped by the label before a new album could be released. They toured again in 2000 and 2002.
Currently, Eric Brittingham is working with his wife's band, Naked Beggars. Jeff LaBar has an internet radio show with his wife, Debby, Late Night with the LaBars on www.realityradio.biz. Fred Coury is working with numerous bands in the studio and film, and Tom Keifer is working on a solo album. Cinderella headlined the VH1 Classic Rock Never Stops 2005 summer tour.
In 2005 Mercury Records released the compilation Rocked, Wired & Bluesed: The Greatest Hits on CD and DVD.
Cinderella completed a tour in the summer of 2006 with fellow glam metal rockers Poison. Both bands celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut albums, Night Songs and Look What the Cat Dragged In. The tour was a rousing success and became one of the most successful tours of 2006, averaging about 20 thousand people in attendance per night.
Cinderella plans to tour in 2008. The bands have not been announced.