Nugent has attracted attention for his often controversial conservative political views, as well as his strident advocacy of hunting and gun ownership rights.^[6][7] He is a board member of the National Rifle Association and a strong supporter of the Republican Party, and has made a number of controversial and threatening statements against advocates of gun control, in one case having the Secret Service investigate him based on comments about President Barack Obama.

Nugent was born the third of four siblings in Redford, Michigan,^[12][13] and raised in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, the son of Marion Dorothy (née Johnson) and Warren Henry Nugent.^[14][15][16] As a teenager, Nugent attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois,^[17] and for a short time, William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois.^[18] His maternal grandparents were Swedish.^[19]

Draft status

Nugent grew up in a military family; his father was a career Army sergeant. Nugent himself never served in the military, even though he came of age during the height of the Vietnam War. In 1977 and 1990 interviews with High Times magazine and the Detroit Free Press, Nugent claimed he deliberately failed his draft physical by taking drugs, eating nothing but junk food for days beforehand, and defecating and urinating in his pants.^[20][21][22]

Nugent denied his defecation story in a 2018 appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience; he asserted that he invented it for his own amusement. He also stated he was eligible for military service and passed a draft physical in 1969^{[dubious – discuss]} and received a student designation rather than a student deferment^{[clarification needed]} several months later while he was attending Oakland Community College, but was not called to service. Nugent further stated that his 4-F rating on Wikipedia was "made up,"^[23] despite the fact that the article sourced it to snopes.^[20][24]

His Selective Service classification record shows he qualified for student deferments while he attended high school and Oakland Community College. He initially had a draft rating of I-A while not in school, until he failed a draft physical on August 28, 1969. After that physical, he was rated 1-Y ("registrant qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency") until that classification was abolished in 1971. He was subsequently reclassified 4-F, indicating ineligibility for military service under established physical, mental, or moral standards.^[20][24]

Musical career[edit]

In concert with his signature Gibson Byrdland guitar

The Amboy Dukes

The first lineup of the Amboy Dukes played at The Cellar, a teen dance club outside of Chicago in Arlington Heights, Illinois, starting in late 1965, while Nugent was a student at St. Viator High School. The Cellar's "house band" at the time had been the Shadows of Knight, although the Amboy Dukes eventually became a staple until the club's closing.^[25]

The Amboy Dukes' second single was "Journey to the Center of the Mind", which featured lyrics written by the Dukes' second guitarist Steve Farmer. Nugent, an ardent anti-drug campaigner, has always claimed that he had no idea that this song was about drug use.^[26] The Amboy Dukes (1967), Journey to the Center of the Mind (1968), Migration and Rusty Day (1969)—all recorded on the Mainstream label—sold moderately well. On April 5, 1968, Nugent along with a group of musicians paid tribute to Martin Luther King by having a folk, rock and blues jam session. Joni Mitchell played first, followed by Buddy Guy, Cactus, and Jimi Hendrix. Other musicians who participated were BB King and Al Kooper.^[27]

After settling down on a ranch in Michigan in 1973, Nugent signed a record deal with Frank Zappa's DiscReet Records label and recorded Call of the Wild. The following year, Tooth Fang & Claw (which contained the song "Great White Buffalo", arranged with Rob Grange) established a fan base for Nugent and the other Amboy Dukes. Personnel changes nearly wrecked the band, which became known as Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes. Nugent reunited with the other members of the Amboy Dukes at the 2009 Detroit Music Awards, which took place April 17, 2009. The psychedelic band received a distinguished achievement honor at the event. The Dukes also played together at the ceremony, marking their first public performance in more than 30 years.^[26]

Solo career

Nugent dropped the Amboy Dukes band name for good in 1975, and signed to Epic Records. Derek St. Holmes (guitar, vocals), Rob Grange (bass) and Clifford Davies (drums) were the primary additional band members for his 1970s multi-platinum^[28] albums: Ted Nugent (1975), Free-for-All (1976) and Cat Scratch Fever (1977). These albums produced the popular radio anthems "Hey Baby", "Stranglehold", "Dog Eat Dog", and "Cat Scratch Fever". Despite most of the songwriting credits being listed as solely Nugent, St. Holmes claims they were co-written by the whole band, and that Nugent took sole credit as a way to not pay them royalties.^[29]

It was during these three years that Nugent emerged as a guitar hero to hard rock fans, many of whom were unaware of his lengthy apprenticeship with the Amboy Dukes.^[30] This band lineup toured extensively, also releasing the multi-platinum live album Double Live Gonzo! (1978), until its breakup in 1978 when St. Holmes and Grange departed. St. Holmes was replaced by Charlie Huhn and Grange by Dave Kiswiney. Davies left around 1982 after staying on to record Weekend Warriors (1978), State of Shock (1979), Scream Dream (1980) and Intensities in 10 Cities (1981). The "Intensities in 10 Cities" album includes the controversial song "Jailbait."^[31]

On July 8, 1979, Ted was on the rock radio program King Biscuit Flower Hour. This was the original broadcast of Ted's performance of Live at Hammersmith '79 which had been recorded during the second set of a night at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1979. An album of this program was released in 1997.^[32]

Damn Yankee

2007

During the period of 1982–89, Nugent released a series of successful solo albums. In 1989, he joined the supergroup Damn Yankees, with Jack Blades (bass/vocals, of Night Ranger), Tommy Shaw (guitar/vocals, of Styx) and Michael Cartellone (drums). Damn Yankees (1990) was a hit, going double platinum in the U.S.,^[33]thanks to the hit power ballad "High Enough".