Nazareth

Like so many bands, the roots of Nazareth can be traced back to the early 1960s. The Scottish band originally formed at the start of that decade as the Shadettes, trading in pop sounds of the day. It wasn't until 1968, that singer Dan McCafferty, guitarist Manny Charlton, drummer Darrell Sweet and bassist Pete Agnew would regroup as Nazareth.

After 45 years of fronting U.K. rock stalwarts Nazareth, singer Dan McCafferty has been forced to retire.

Nazareth singer Dan McCafferty, who went through some scary medical drama earlier this summer when he collapsed on stage, has ended up back in the hospital after being forced to cut another concert short.

Dan McCafferty, frontman for Scottish rockers Nazareth, collapsed onstage in Canada Tuesday night (July 9), according to The Cranbrook Daily Townsman. The band had just started its set when McCafferty collapsed 30 seconds into the first song.

After five years of serious dues-paying on the competitive U.K. music scene, Scottish rockers Nazareth were still looking for their big break when they unleashed their third album, ‘Razamanaz,’ in May of 1973. They finally found it.

At 45 years and counting -- and a fair bit of the original lineup still intact -- Nazareth is one of the longest-tenured rock bands currently working. And despite rumors to the contrary, they don't seem to have any plans to hang it up anytime soon.

Nazareth's version of 'Love Hurts' has been picked up by Visa for use in a commercial aimed at NHL hockey fans. The ballad captures the emotion of one pitiful supporter of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who watches his team get eliminated from the playoffs.

If the band had their way, the title of Nazareth's entry on our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list might not be quite as subtle as it is now.

Nazareth vocalist Dan McCafferty reveals that it wasn't a lack of new material that kept the band from making new albums in recent years, but instead, age discrimination from the record labels that had previously been prime targets to put out new music from the group.