Quote of the Day: John Fogerty, 81, Says Hard Times Can Lead to Our Greatest Blessings

John Fogerty’s life is a story of triumph, loss, legal battles and hard-won redemption. Born on May 28, 1945, in Berkeley, California, and raised in El Cerrito, Fogerty grew up in a working-class family with four brothers. He discovered gospel, blues and country music at a young age and soon turned to guitar, forming early bands with his brother Tom and classmates Stu Cook and Doug Clifford. After first performing as The Blue Velvets and then The Golliwogs, the group adopted the name Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1967.

With Fogerty as lead singer, guitarist and chief songwriter, CCR became one of the defining bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s. From 1969 to 1971, the group dominated the charts with a string of enduring hits including “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” and “Fortunate Son.” Their raw sound, driven by Fogerty’s raspy vocals and swamp-rock style, made them a cultural force whose music remains widely recognized decades later.

Behind the success, however, tensions were building. As Fogerty took control of the band’s creative direction, disagreements over songwriting and artistic control strained relationships, including with his brother Tom. Tom left the group in 1971, and CCR continued briefly as a trio before releasing Mardi Gras in 1972, an album that was poorly received by critics. Later that year, Fogerty officially ended Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The band’s breakup was only part of Fogerty’s struggle. Early in his career, he had signed a contract with Fantasy Records that later left him without ownership of the copyrights to his own songs. That decision haunted him for years, especially as CCR’s music continued generating revenue for others while Fogerty himself saw little return. In 1985, that conflict escalated into a highly unusual lawsuit when Fantasy Records founder Saul Zaentz sued him, claiming Fogerty’s solo song “The Old Man Down the Road” copied an earlier CCR track. Fogerty defended himself in court by playing both songs on guitar, and the jury ruled in his favor. He later took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued a unanimous decision in 1994 that helped shape copyright law and attorney-fee rules for future cases.

Fogerty’s comeback arrived in 1985 with Centerfield, a successful solo album that restored him to the Top 10 and produced another iconic song in “The Old Man Down the Road.” Over time, he rebuilt both his career and his personal life. In 1986, he met Julie Lebiedzinski, whom he married in 1991. She became his wife, manager and partner, and together they raised three children. She also helped reunite him with a beloved 1969 Rickenbacker guitar he thought was lost forever.

In 2023, Fogerty regained a majority stake in his global publishing rights, giving him long-awaited control over much of his own work. Two years later, he released Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years (John’s Version), a collection of re-recorded CCR classics made with his family. His journey stands as a powerful example of endurance, artistic integrity and eventual reclamation.