Brenda and Eddie grew up together in Manchester, UK. The childhood best friends, always with Eddie's English Bulldog Buster following closely behind, were so inseparable that people often mistook them for brother and sister.
As loyal Brits, they came of age
loving football (US soccer), and listening to the music of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who and Queen.
Inspired by these ground breaking bands, they spent hours in Brenda's father's
garage turning the sentimental poetry that Brenda liked to write into lyrics
for the music Eddie put together on his guitar. They both had good voices, and
it wasn't long before they were performing "unplugged" for family and
friends. Music became their passion. Brenda loved the ability to express
through song, the deep emotions and observations that she was too reserved to
ever voice in conversation. And Eddie, a natural born rebel, loved building a
melody to match Brenda's soft lyrics then letting it rip with the guts and grit
of his rock n roll riffs.
To earn pocket money, Eddie
bussed tables at his cousin's pub, a small, local watering hole called The Old
Nags Head, known for its good food, strong drinks, and live music. Brenda would
often be found at a corner table, writing or sketching in her journal, waiting
for Eddie to finish his shift. On one such night, Eddie's cousin
approached them and asked if they could fill in for the band, who were running
late. They turned to each other, said "why not?", took the stage, and
the rest is history. Part of that history, which may be fact or may be myth, is
that in the crowd that very night was a famous British rock star wearing shades
and enjoying a few pints. He loved what he heard so much that he had his
manager, Keith, contact them the next day. To protect his privacy, he had Keith
claim that he, instead of the rock star, had been in the pub and heard them
play.
Brenda and Eddie officially
formed their band and began playing gigs throughout Britain in early 1992.
Despite their closeness, and the obvious chemistry they had onstage, nothing
ever happened between them romantically. Many would say that they shared a
dynamic similar to Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, but in
the case of Brenda and Eddie, they had lots of sparks but never caught
fire.
With Keith's help, they achieved
success and developed a loyal following. They continued touring and had some
hits, but were never able to break into the top ten. Finally, in 1998,
frustrated by their inability to quickly achieve superstar status, and tired of
life on the road, they decided to call it quits.
Over the ensuing years, Brenda
and Eddie kept in touch sporadically, sometimes running into each other at
industry events, often hearing news of the other through mutual friends, but
both had moved on, and their relationship as best friends would never be the
same. During that time, Brenda had gone on to divorce twice, while Eddie
remained single. In her efforts to keep calm, Brenda took up yoga and became
interested in Eastern philosophy, Eddie spent his free time restoring and
customizing old cars and motorcycles. Neither, apparently, was able to find
their life's mate.
Fast forward to November 17,
2013. Eddie, now living part time in America at a beach house he bought
in Sag Harbor, was in NYC with Keith for a book party at The Bowery Hotel. By
this time, Keith had shared with Eddie everything about the true story of who
had heard them play all those years ago at The Old Nags Head Inn, except for
the name of the British Rock star. But Eddie had his suspicions about the rock
star's identity, and it was this same British rock star who was going to be
guest of honor at the book party. Eddie was looking forward to meeting him and
finally confirming that he was the one. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be,
at least not that night, for by the time Eddie and Keith made their way through
the crowded room, the famous and elusive Brit, in typical rock star fashion,
had quietly slipped out the back.
After the party, Keith and Eddie
walked a bit along the streets of Soho and stopped in at a small vintage record
shop. And there, thumbing through stacks of old vinyl was a beautiful girl in a Union
Jack t-shirt, who, just by the way she stood and flipped her hair, even
before she turned to look up at them, Eddie recognized immediately as Brenda.
Some people say there are no
coincidences in life, some say that sometimes the universe aligns things
exactly right for us at a given moment, and others believe, with a little help
from our friends, we make our own luck. Whichever this was, ( and Keith's not
telling) Keith took this opportunity to let them both know about how many of
their old songs were getting attention from the millennials and how
he'd recently had an inquiry about including those songs on the soundtrack of a
new web series. Brenda admitted that she'd overheard requests at the shop for
their old records but had never let on that she was the real Brenda.
After a long night talking, that
stretched easily into the next day, Brenda and a Eddie agreed to go back into
the studio and re-mix some of their old songs and try out some new ones. Keith
promised to start them out playing in small venues across the US, which would
be a nice change and wouldn't overwhelm them.
And so begins the new adventures
of Brenda and Eddie, as they share their love of Great Britain, pride in the
Union Jack flag, and of course, their passion for rock n roll as they make
music together and work to help others through their Inspiration Nation philanthropy.
For news about Brenda and Eddie,
follow us:
Stay tuned and RockOurTshirts!
*please note some names and
places may have been changed to protect the innocent and possibly the guilty.
