Bryan Guy Adams was born on 5 November 1959 in Kingston, Ontario, Canada to parents from the United Kingdom: Elizabeth Jane (née Watson) and Captain Conrad J. Adams, who emigrated to Canada from Plymouth, England in the 1950s. Adams' father, a Sandhurst officer in the British Army, joined the Canadian Army and later spent time as a United Nations peacekeeping observer for Canada, which led to him becoming a Canadian foreign service diplomat. Adams travelled with his parents to diplomatic postings in Lisbon, Portugal (where he attended the American School of Lisbon) and Vienna, Austria (where he attended the American International School of Vienna), during the 1960s, and to Tel Aviv, Israel during the early 1970s. Raised in Ottawa, Adams attended Colonel By Secondary School in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood of East Ottawa. In 1974, Adams, his mother, and younger brother Bruce moved to North Vancouver while his father was posted abroad. Adams started working in the Vancouver music scene with bands and as a studio session singer, which paid the rent. At the age of 15, he became the vocalist for a pub band Sweeney Todd. An earlier incarnation of the band had a number one hit on the Canadian charts with a song called "Roxy Roller". Adams recorded a re-make of the song for the US which came in at No. 99 on the US charts. This new incarnation of the band also released an album "If Wishes Were Horses" (1977) with Adams billed as "Bryan Guy Adams" on vocals. Adams left the band at age 16. In 1978, at age 18, Adams met Jim Vallance through a mutual friend in a Vancouver music store. Vallance was the former drummer and principal songwriter for Vancouver-based rock band Prism, and had recently quit that band to focus on a career as a studio musician and songwriter. They agreed to meet at Vallance's home studio a few days later. This proved to be the beginning of a partnership which, , is still in existence. Later in 1978, Adams signed to A&M records for one dollar. A&M remixed one of Adams' demos as a disco song "Let Me Take You Dancing", featuring Adams' vocals sped up to meet the 122 BPM dance tempo. The song made the Canadian "RPM" chart in March 1979 along with its B-side, "Don't Turn Me Away". Adams's self-titled debut album, mostly co-written with Jim Vallance, was released in February 1980.