After cleaning himself up in 1986, Welch turned away from performing and recording and focused his attention on songwriting for others. Welch released solo albums into the early 1980s (The Other One, Man Overboard, Bob Welch, and Eye Contact) with decreasing success, during which time he also developed a heroin addiction. Another million-seller, it spawned the top 20 hit "Precious Love," while the follow-up single "Church" also charted. Welch followed up French Kiss with 1979's Three Hearts, an album that replicated the rock/disco fusion of French Kiss. This release brought Welch his greatest success, selling two million copies and yielding three hit singles: a revamped version of "Sentimental Lady," the rocker "Ebony Eyes" and "Hot Love, Cold World." In September 1977, Welch released his first solo album, French Kiss, a mainstream pop collection featuring contributions from former band mates Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie. Welch was not included when Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Mick Fleetwood credited Welch with keeping Fleetwood Mac afloat during some lean years. In 1975, Welch formed the short-lived hard rock power trio with Jethro Tull bassist Glenn Cornick and Todd Rundgren's Runt drummer Hunt Sales, called Paris, which released two albums, Paris and Big Towne 2061. In December 1974, Welch departed the band, citing exhaustion. These Welch-era Fleetwood Mac albums sold moderately well, though Bare Trees included the first recorded version of Welch's song "Sentimental Lady," and Mystery to Me featured the Welch composition "Hypnotized", both of which received some radio airplay. He wrote songs for and played on several Fleetwood Mac albums, including Bare Trees (1972) and Mystery To Me (1973) and Heroes are Hard to Find (1974). Along with fellow newcomer Christine McVie, Bob helped to steer the band in a more melodic direction, as heard on 1971's Future Games.
Welch struggled with a variety of marginal bands until 1971, when he was invited to join Fleetwood Mac, then an erstwhile English blues band that had lost two of its three frontline members, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, within a few months.
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In the late 1960s, he moved to Paris in order to attend the Sorbonne, but soon dropped out so he could pursue music full time. He developed an interest in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock music. As a youngster, Welch learned clarinet, switching to guitar in his early teens. His mother, Templeton, had been a singer and actress who worked with Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Robert Welch, was a producer on many hit films for Paramount Pictures in the 1940s and 1950s. Welch was born into a show business family. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World," "Ebony Eyes," "Precious Love," and "Sentimental Lady." "Danchiva" is a club favorite. Bob Welch (born Jin Los Angeles, California) is a former member of Fleetwood Mac, who had a briefly successful solo career in the late 1970s.