Peter Frampton Says He Was 'Scared to Death' by “Frampton Comes Alive!” Success as He Was Seen as the 'Golden Goose' (Exclusive)
Peter Frampton Says He Was 'Scared to Death' by “Frampton Comes Alive!” Success as He Was Seen as the 'Golden Goose' (Exclusive)
Rachel DeSantisWed, June 3, 2026 at 11:30 PM UTC
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Peter FramptonCredit: Neal Preston/Courtesy of 10 Lives Studios -
Peter Frampton reflects on the pressures of fame after his 1976 album Frampton Comes Alive! became a massive success
His new documentary Frampton, premiering at Tribeca Festival, explores his career highs, struggles, and personal challenges
Frampton recently released his first album of new material in 16 years
Superstardom came quickly for Peter Frampton — and brought with it a set of anxieties he'd hardly anticipated.
Frampton, 76, was already a respected musician thanks to his work with Humble Pie and The Herd when he released the live album Frampton Comes Alive! in 1976. But the album's runaway success opened the star up to a darker side of fame.
"I've never been driven by money, only by music and the playing of it. Unfortunately, there was at least one, maybe more, that saw me as the golden goose and stopped caring about me and treated me more like a commodity," he tells PEOPLE. "'He'll do this, he'll do that.' I was scared to death with the situation I was in."
Frampton's rise to fame and career ups and downs are covered extensively in the new documentary Frampton, premiering June 4 at Tribeca Festival. The Frampton Comes Alive! era is covered in the film, including its critical acclaim and commercial success.
Peter FramptonCredit: Clive Frampton/Courtesy of 10 Lives Studios
But Frampton, who was just 27 when the album came out, says the highs were difficult to enjoy, as they only meant increased pressure to follow the record with something even greater.
"When we became the biggest album of all time in America and Canada, that was the scariest thing for me, because it took me six years to write those songs," he says. "I'm a perfectionist, and that's why I wasn't thrilled with following up the live album at all. I didn't want to make that album then… [but] I thought, 'Well, all these people that are advising me, they know much more. They've all had big acts.' And then I suddenly thought, 'Not as big as me.' So that's when I started taking control."
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Frampton's follow-up, I'm in You, was a success upon its release in 1977, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. He also starred in the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band around that time, though the film was a critical bomb. The pressures of fame led to struggles with addiction, and his career never again reached the peaks it did in the mid-1970s.
Peter FramptonCredit: Neal Preston/Courtesy of 10 Lives Studios
He calls his near-fatal car accident in the Bahamas in 1978 — in which he wrapped his car around a tree, breaking a number of bones — a "tipping point."
"I'm definitely a survivor. And I've got more to come, so that's the beauty of it," he says.
Frampton is fresh off the May release of his album Carry the Light, his first album of all-new material in 16 years. In 2024, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Now, he's focused on showing fans the real him through his documentary, which is directed by his longtime bandleader Rob Arthur.
"Everything's in there. The things that people don't know about me," he says. "I want them to see what I've been through. I think I just want them to see the whole picture, finally. I think this is a perfect thing to show people right now."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
