John Fogerty facts: Age, songs, children of the Creedence Clearwater Revival singer and guitarist

26 June 2025, 09:55 | Updated: 28 June 2025, 12:11

John Fogerty founded the band that would become Creedence Clearwater Revival before the 1960s, but it was in the five years between 1968 and 1972 that the foursome changed the world of music.

After their acrimonious split, Fogerty established himself as a solo star, albeit with some stopping and starting.

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These days, Fogerty keeps the Creedence flame alive, breaking his "no CCR rule" and playing his former band's songs as well as his solo material at massive live shows around the world.

But do you know what his biggest hits are, why he deleted a complete solo album without releasing it, and what his relationship is with Status Quo and their Live Aid set?

Read on for all the essential fast facts about John Fogerty.

How old is John Fogerty and where did he grow up?

John Fogerty was born on May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, California. He celebrated his 80th birthday in 2025.

He was the third of five sons of Linotype operator dad Galen Robert and second grade teacher mum Edith Lucile Fogerty,

John grew up in El Cerrito to the Catholic School of the Madeleine, before attending Harding Grammar School, the St Mary's High School, and El Ceritto High School.

How did John Fogerty get into music and form Creedence Clearwater Revival?

John's older brother Tom was a guitarist, and it was when he was at El Cerrito High that John took guitar lessons from Berkeley Folk Festival founder Barry Oliver, and also met his future bandmates.

It was as early as 1959 that John joined up with bass player Stu Cook and drummer Doug Clifford to form a rock 'n roll covers group called The Blue Velvets. John's brother Tom joined the group, who even released a few singles on Orchestra Records.

They then scored a record deal with Fantasy Records, who changed their name to The Golliwogs. They released a string of singles between 1964 and 1967 but, thankfully perhaps given their name, they weren't a success.

Fantasy Records was bought by Saul Zaentz in 1967, and as well as letting the band record an album he also let them change their terrible name.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Suzie Q.

By 1968 they were Creedence Clearwater Revival. You might think that, although it's better than The Golliwogs, it's still an awful name. Bear in mind they had apparently considered "Muddy Rabbit", "Gossamer Wump" and "Creedence Nuball and the Ruby", so CCR seems pretty tame by comparison.

With their new name and new energy, they became a fixture at the big San Francisco clubs of the time, before touring around the US.

Their debut single 'Porterville' didn't do much, but follow-up 'Suzie Q', a cover of the Dale Hawkins hit from 1957, stormed all the way to number 11 in the charts.

The Creedence Clearwater Revival album got to number 52 in the charts and also featured a swampy cover of "Screaming' Jay" Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You', and CCR were well on their way to success.

What are John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival's biggest hits?

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Rising (Official Lyric Video)

Creedence Clearwater Revival eventually went platinum, and the four-piece followed it up with five more platinum-sellers, all of which went top ten, with two going to number one.

Incredibly, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo's Factory and Pendulum were released in the two-year period between January 1969 and December 1970.

CCR released one more album after that, but it was without Tom Fogerty, who was apparently sick of his brother's bossy ways.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Proud Mary (Official Lyric Video)

For their final album Mardi Gras, CCR changed up their working practices. Fogerty and Cook wrote three songs each. Clifford wrote a couple and co-wrote a third with Cook. Fogerty also sung Gene Pitney cover 'Hello Mary Lou'.

Apparently apart from recording his guitar parts, Fogerty declined to work on Clifford and Cook's songs. The resulting album still went Gold, but stalled at number 12 in the charts and was savaged by the critics. Its standouts were naturally Fogerty's own 'Sweet Hitch-Hiker' and 'Someday Never Comes'.

Creedence Clearwater Revival's biggest songs are:

• Suzie Q
• I Put A Spell on You
• Proud Mary
• Born on the Bayou
• Bad Moon Rising
• Lodi
• Green River
• Commotion
• Down on the Corner
• Fortunate Son
• Travelin' Band
• Who'll Stop the Rain
• Up Around the Bend
• Run Through the Jungle
• Lookin' Out My Bak Door
• Long as I Can See The Light
• Have You Ever Seen the Rain
• Sweet Hitch-Hiker
• Someday Never Comes

After Creedence Clearwater Revival split up (more on that shortly), John Fogerty launched a solo career.

He kicked off with The Blue Ridge Rangers album in 1973, following it up with the self titled John Fogerty album two years later. He even completed a third album Hoodoo, but binned it when he decided it simply wasn't good enough. He apparently even told the label to destroy the master tapes.

John Fogerty - Rockin' All Over The World (Premonition)

Fogerty stepped away from music for a little while, but he returned in 1985 with the triumphant number one album Centerfield and the following year's Eye of the Zombie.

Then came another decade-long break before his comeback with Blue Moon Swamp in 1997. He's released five albums since then, the most recent being 2020's Fogerty's Factory.

John Fogerty's biggest solo songs include:

• Jambalaya (On the Bayou)
• Hearts of Stone
• Back in the Hills
• Rockin' All Over The World
• Almost Saturday Night
• You Got The Magic
• The Old Man Down the Road
• Rock and Roll Girls
• Centerfield
• Eye of the Zombie
• Walking in a Hurricane
• Southern Streamline
• Blueboy
• Premonition
• Creedence Song
• When Will I Be Loved (with Bruce Springsteen)
• The Holy Grail (featuring Billy Gibbons)
• Weeping in the Promised Land

When and why did John Fogerty leave Creedence Clearwater Revival and did the band ever have a reunion?

Members of Creedence Clearwater Revival Accept Hall of Fame Awards

Creedence Clearwater Revival have never had a full, proper, public reunion.

They did get together for a performance once: for Tom's wedding on October 19, 1980 behind close doors.

While all four had featured on Tom's solo track 'Mystic Aisle Avalon', they weren't really together because John had recorded his parts separately.

There was another trio reunion in 1983, when John Fogerty, Cook and Clifford played at their 20th El Cerrito High School reunion, but not only was Tom not present, they didn't even bill themselves as CCR, but instead as their previous name The Blue Velvets.

Lawsuits and quibbling stopped any further reunions, and Tom Fogerty died in 1990 of tuberculosis, aged just 48.

John Fogerty with Bruce Springsteen & Robbie Robertson - "Born On The Bayou" | 1993 Inductions

When Creedence Clearwater Revival were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, there were hopes of a final farewell from the surviving members. Tom's widow Tricia had even brought along her late husband's ashes.

But John instead enlisted an all-star band featuring the likes of friend Bruce Springsteen and The Band's Robbie Robertson, much to the annoyance of Cook and Clifford.

More recently, John has quietly entertained the possibility. "Even though I have no idea how such a series of events would come to pass, I can tell that there isn't the bombast in my voice, in the denial, in the refusal, he told the Calgary Herald in 2011. "It's more like, 'Well, I dunno.' Never say never is I guess is what people tell you."

But Cook and Clifford were no longer interested. "Leopards don't change their spots," Cook said "This is just an image-polishing exercise by John."

How did John Fogerty have a massive impact on Status Quo and Live Aid?

Status Quo - Rockin' All Over The World (Live Aid 1985)

As The Blue Velvets, the band that became Creedence Clearwater Revival were a covers group.

Even as CCR, they had early hits with covers like 'Susie Q' and 'I Put A Spell on You'.

But as John Fogerty established himself as a songwriter, he was the one providing hits for others.

Not only did Creedence hit 'Proud Mary' gain even more prominence when Tina Turner put her spin on it, but Fogerty's not-quite-a-hit 'Rockin' All Over The World' was taken around the globe by Brit rockers Status Quo.

Fogerty's version got to number 27 in the US, but the Quo's take not only went to number 3 in the UK in 1977, but they even opened their Live Aid set with the track, making it the first song played at Wembley Stadium (If you don't include the 'Royal Salute' and 'God Save the Queen') that day.

Fogerty doesn't mind that the Status Quo version has a bigger footprint than his own version

"it's wonderful to have a cover that's much better known than the original," he said, magnanimously.

Is John Fogerty married and does he have any children?

John Fogerty has been married a couple of times.

He married Martha Paiz in 1965 and they had three kids together before divorcing in the late 1980s.

John then married Julie Kramer in 1991, and they had three children together. He even plays live with his sons Shane and Tyler.