1989–1991: Early years and debut studio album On 1 January 1989, at the group's annual New Year's Day meeting,
Terraplane was disbanded by vocalist
Danny Bowes and guitarist
Luke Morley, who decided to form a new band under the name Thunder. Later in the month, the pair recorded a number of
demos at
Great Linford Manor Studios in
Milton Keynes with producer
Andy Taylor and engineer
Ben Matthews, as well as Terraplane drummer
Gary "Harry" James, who was brought in after the initially planned drummer failed to attend. According to Morley, the band name was chosen as a combination of two elements: a song he had written called "Distant Thunder", and Taylor's
debut solo album. Mark "Snake" Luckhurst joined Thunder as the group's original bassist on 2 May 1989, having been recommended by James after the two had performed together in Hellfire Corner. The band's lineup was completed with the addition of Matthews, who had earlier played keyboards for Terraplane's last two shows and engineered Thunder's January demos. Thunder played their first live show on 13 July 1989 at the Reid's Club in
Southend-on-Sea, the first date in a short run of seven UK dates dubbed "The Toilet Tour". In August the band returned to the Great Linford Manor to record their debut studio album, again working with Taylor as producer. The album was mixed at London's
AIR Studios by
Mike Fraser, who also engineered the record. "She's So Fine" was released as the first
single from the upcoming album on 30 October, The band's debut album
Backstreet Symphony was released on 5 March and entered the
UK Albums Chart at its peak position of number 21. Four more tracks from
Backstreet Symphony were later issued as singles – the title track, "
Gimme Some Lovin'", a reissue of "She's So Fine", and "
Love Walked In" – all of which reached the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.
AllMusic's Alex Henderson, however, proposed that while the record "wasn't lacking when it came to spirit and enthusiasm", it displayed Thunder as "[not] the most original or groundbreaking band in the world".
Backstreet Symphony was featured at number 7 on the
Kerrang! "Albums of the Year" feature for 1990, and in 2008 was voted by the magazine's readers to be the 84th best British rock album of all time.
Backstreet Symphony was promoted on a UK tour running from late February through until the end of March, According to journalist
Mick Wall, who had been travelling with Thunder for a number of months, "Capitol in America were notorious at the time for not supporting acts signed to EMI in the UK", which resulted in the band splitting with the label shortly after their meeting. After splitting with Capitol earlier in the year, the band signed a US deal with
Geffen Records in September, who reissued
Backstreet Symphony with a new cover the following April. Singles "Dirty Love" and "Love Walked In" reached number 10 and number 31, respectively, on the
Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
1991–1996: UK chart success and bassist change After continuing to promote their debut album
Backstreet Symphony in various regions around the world throughout 1991, In July 1992, the band supported
Iron Maiden on a tour of South America which visited Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, before they performed at Monsters of Rock for the second time the following month, which was also headlined by Iron Maiden. Also in August, "Low Life in High Places" was released as the first single from the band's second album, reaching number 22 on the UK Singles Chart, before
Laughing on Judgement Day itself was released and debuted at number 2 on the
UK Albums Chart – the band's highest album chart position to date. The band continued touring throughout the rest of 1993, including a number of festival appearances in the summer, and later toured as their
alter egos "Danny & the Doo Wops". Mike Fraser, who had previously engineered and mixed
Backstreet Symphony, produced the album alongside Morley. Later that month, the band released their first
compilation album,
The Best of Thunder: Their Finest Hour (And a Bit), promoted by the new song "In a Broken Dream" which reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart and topped the
UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart. The album reached number 22 on the UK Albums Chart, and was certified silver by the BPI. Some UK dates were pushed back due to Bowes suffering
pneumonia and
laryngitis, and in July he underwent surgery on his knee which signalled a short break for the group, during which time Childs and James featured in the rock musical
Carnaby Street, while Morley toured with Taylor's band
The Power Station. The band also returned to the studio in April 1998 to record their fifth studio album
Giving the Game Away. The final show was recorded for the live album ''
They Think It's All Over... It Is Now, which was released in July 2000; the acoustic set was also later issued as They Think It's All Acoustic... It Is Now'' in May 2001. The band also began recording a new studio album in October, and in December formed their own record label,
STC Recordings. The album did not register on the UK Albums Chart, but did spawn the UK Singles Chart top 50 single "Loser". Thunder recorded their seventh studio album between June and August 2004, as well as playing a number of European festivals in July. In November the band supported
Deep Purple alongside
Peter Frampton on a tour of the UK, before "I Love You More Than Rock 'n' Roll" was released as a single and reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was released a month later in Japan, and in mid-April internationally on
iTunes. The band's eighth studio album, ''
Robert Johnson's Tombstone, followed in October 2006, peaking at number 56 on the UK Albums Chart. In October 2007, the band released the first in a series of extended plays (EPs) – Six of One...
– which featured three previously unreleased studio tracks and three live recordings from the UK tour the previous November. The follow-up, ...Half a Dozen of the Other'', was issued in April 2008 and also featured three studio tracks and three live recordings. it was announced that Thunder were due to split up again. The band released a statement which explained that "we've found ourselves becoming increasingly busy with our various activities outside of the band, and we've come to the conclusion that there are simply not enough hours in the day to fit it all in", adding that they would complete scheduled tours in Europe in February and Japan in April, as well as adding a final run of UK shows in July. The final show of the UK tour, at the
Hammersmith Apollo in London, was documented on the live video album
At the End of the Road: Live in London, 11 July 2009 released later in the year. The band's final shows took place at Rock of Ages and
Sonisphere Festival on 31 July and 1 August, respectively. The band released their
self-titled debut album in August 2010, which debuted at number 77 on the UK Albums Chart. Subsequent albums ''
Siren's Song (2011) and The World Is Yours (2013) each charted in the UK top 100. James also continued to record and tour with Magnum, who released the studio album The Visitation'' in 2011 which reached number 55 on the UK Albums Chart. In February 2011, it was announced that Thunder would reunite for a performance at the
High Voltage Festival on 24 July, although Bowes made it clear that "there's no plan to do any other recording going forwards", while Morley reiterated that it was a "one-off reunion". Following the festival, however, the band announced that they would perform another show on 21 December at
Rock City in
Nottingham, while Bowes and Matthews would also perform a short run of six "intimate sit down shows" the following February. A second show at Rock City was later added the day after the first. Both shows were documented on the live albums
Rock City 12: The Baubles Are Back in Town and
The Xmas Show 2011, released in 2012. Another pair of shows in December followed a year later, this time at the
Manchester Academy, with the band committing to annual Christmas shows in the future. The band supported
Journey and
Whitesnake on tour in May 2013, as well as performing at a number of summer festivals. In May 2014, Thunder announced that they were due to record their first studio album since 2008. A statement released by a spokesperson for the band stated that "after what has been a rather silly amount of knob-twiddling and string-pulling, I'm happy to report that they've decided to record a new studio album". Responding to the question over the band's "change of heart" regarding the possibility of new material, Bowes commented that they decided to record a new album after receiving an "overwhelming response" from fans when they supported Journey and Whitesnake the previous year. Sessions for the album took place at Rockfield Studios in Wales, with Morley producing the record. Much of the album was recorded without the involvement of Matthews, who was going through treatment for
throat cancer at the time.
Wonder Days was released in February 2015, and became the first Thunder album to reach the UK Albums Chart top ten since 1995's
Behind Closed Doors, when it peaked at number 9. while the publication ranked the title track as the fifth best song of the year. Thunder were also named Best British Band at
Planet Rock's end-of-year awards. The band toured extensively in promotion of
Wonder Days, including three UK arena shows in March alongside
Reef and Tax the Heat, numerous festival appearances in the summer, a run of European shows in November (including one of the first in Paris, France following the
November 2015 attacks), and five arena shows with
Terrorvision and King King in February 2016. Later in the year, the group released their first career-retrospective book
Giving the Game Away: The Thunder Story, written by
Joel McIver. The book was launched at the Louder Than Words Festival in Manchester on 12 November 2016, where the band performed a short acoustic set and spoke with McIver live. The follow-up to
Wonder Days was announced in December to be
Rip It Up, which would be released the following February and supported by a UK tour starting in March. The album reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, marking the highest position achieved by the band since
Laughing on Judgement Day reached number 2 in 1992. before returning to Europe in April for a string of dates. On 1 December 2017 the band released the single "Christmas Day", including a re-recorded version of "Love Walked In" and acoustic recordings of "Low Life in High Places" and "Heartbreak Hurricane". In October 2018, the band announced a new album with UK tour dates scheduled for February. on 18 January 2019, with "twelve radically reworked re-recordings of songs from their 30 year career" and has been described as "a more quiet album, taking in influences from rock, blues, country, jazz and soul". The related
music video, which focuses on
motorcycle touring among various isolated landscapes, made its
YouTube debut on 17 February 2022.
2022–present: Bowes' illness, temporary hiatus, solo projects 2022 Luke Morley confirmed in an interview in November 2023 that Thunder were currently on a break, following Bowes' illness, and released a solo album,
Songs from the Blue Room. He also confirmed that he had recorded an album and would tour with
the Quireboys, led by singer
Spike, who he had known since the 1980s. Morley continued to tour and play with the Quireboys in 2024, as well as producing their album,
Wardour Street, and also announcing in October that he had completed work on his third solo album. The album, entitled
Walking on Water, was officially announced on 21 February 2025, coinciding with the release of a single of the same name. The album was released on 1 August 2025 and Morley toured in September 2025 to support the album, his solo band also featuring Chris Childs on bass. Bowes meanwhile undertook a spoken word tour in June 2025, but confirmed he remained unable to sing. Chris Childs continued to tour with Tyketto, and in 2025 recorded an album which he co-produced with Danny Vaughan. He also continued to play in the band Guitar Heads with Harry James. ==Band members==