Early life

In the Evacuation of East Prussia in early 1945, in harsh winter conditions, his mother first had to flee with the baby boy from the advancing Soviet troops. In 1948, the two also fled from Arnstadt in the East German Soviet occupation zone to resettle in Hanover, West Germany (as recounted in his song "Renegade" on the album Steppenwolf 7). Living in the British occupation zone, the young Joachim, who suffered from eye problems, listened to music broadcast by the British Forces Broadcasting Service, before his family moved to Canada in 1958.

Musical career

Kay joined a blues rock and folk music group known as The Sparrows in 1965, which had moderate success in Canada before moving to California in the USA, augmenting its line-up and changing its name to Steppenwolf in 1967. With music that pioneered hard rock and heavy metal, Kay's Steppenwolf had international success with songs such as "Born to Be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride", "Monster", "The Pusher", and "Rock Me". This was multiplied by the use of "Born to Be Wild" and "The Pusher" in the 1969 movie Easy Rider.

Kay recorded both as a solo artist and with Steppenwolf during the late 1970s, and wrapped up Steppenwolf's 40th year of touring with what was to be a final gig in October 2007. However, Kay and Steppenwolf appeared July 24, 2010, at the three-day HullabaLOU music festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

Awards and recognition

In 2004, although never becoming a Canadian citizen, Kay was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in recognition of the beginning of his musical career in Toronto. Kay was present at the induction ceremony in Toronto, and reiterated his strong affection for Canada.

Personal life

Kay was born with a congenital disorder called achromatopsia - complete color blindness - a defect of the cone cells in the eyes which causes him to see only with his rod cells and thus only in black and white and grey shades, and causes increased sensitivity to light, so he wears sunglasses regardless of time of day, and during his concerts. (He was seen without sunglasses on the PBS show "The Best of the 60's (My Music Archives).) His eye condition qualified him as legally blind. Despite this condition, he is an avid videographer.

Discography

Main article: Steppenwolf discography

Studio albums (Steppenwolf and solo)

Year	Album	Chart positions
1968	Steppenwolf	1	6
1968	The Second	2	3
1969	At Your Birthday Party	12	7
1969	Monster	11	17
1970	Steppenwolf 7	14	19
1971	For Ladies Only	—	54
1972	Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes (Solo debut)	50	113
1973	My Sportin' Life (2nd Solo album)	—	200
1974	Slow Flux	—	47
1975	Hour of the Wolf	—	155
1976	Skullduggery	—	—
1978	All in Good Time (3rd solo album)	—	—
1980	Live In London (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—
1982	Wolftracks (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—
1984	Paradox (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—
1987	Rock & Roll Rebels (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	171
1987	Lone Steppenwolf (4th Solo Album)	—	—
1990	Rise & Shine (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—
1996	Feed the Fire (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—
1997	The Lost Heritage Tapes (5th solo album)	—	—
2001	Heretics and Privateers (6th solo album)	—	—
2004	Live in Louisville (John Kay and Steppenwolf album)	—	—

Solo singles

Year	Single	Chart positions				Album
1972	"I'm Movin' On"	45	—	—	52	Forgotten Songs and Unsung Heroes
1973	"Moonshine (Friend of Mine)"	26	19	44	105	My Sportin' Life
	"Easy Evil"	82	—	—	102

[ Source: Wikipedia ]