Working at a prolific rate, Adams released the classic rock-influenced Rock N Roll (2003), after a planned album, Love Is Hell, was rejected by his label Lost Highway.

After breaking his wrist during a live performance, Ryan Adams took a hiatus and formed a backing band called The Cardinals, who supported him on his next four studio albums.

In addition to his own material, Adams has also produced albums for Willie Nelson, Jesse Malin, Jenny Lewis, and Fall Out Boy, and has collaborated with Counting Crows, Weezer, Norah Jones, America, Minnie Driver, Cowboy Junkies, Leona Naess, Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton and Krista Polvere.

At 14, Adams began learning to play an electric guitar his mother and stepfather had bought him and soon joined a local band named Blank Label.

Following the breakup of his high school band, The Patty Duke Syndrome, Adams helped found Whiskeytown with Caitlin Cary, Eric "Skillet" Gilmore, Steve Grothmann and Phil Wandscher.

Other backing vocals and instruments were provided by Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Pat Sansone, and Kim Richey as Adams embraced a style more reminiscent of folk music.

During the show, John referred to Adams as "fabulous one" and spoke of how Heartbreaker inspired him to record Songs from the West Coast, which at the time was his most successful album in several years.

Two weeks later he returned to Lost Highway with Rock n Roll, which featured guest musicians including Melissa Auf der Maur, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, and Adams's girlfriend at the time, Parker Posey.

[14] Adams' songwriting received additional exposure when Joan Baez included his song "In My Time of Need", from his debut release, on her 2003 album Dark Chords on a Big Guitar.

[16] While on tour to support Love Is Hell in January 2004, Adams fractured his wrist during a performance at the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool.

[17] Adams was featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Trey Anastasio, Gwen Stefani / No Doubt, Ben Harper, Bonnie Raitt, Manu Chao, The Roots, Keith Richards, Toots Hibbert, Paul Douglas, Jackie Jackson, Ken Boothe, and The Skatalites.

[18] The year 2005 saw Adams join with backing band the Cardinals to produce two albums, Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights.

Adams performed at subsequent outings of Phil Lesh and Friends, including a two-night stand at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside of Denver, Colorado and on New Year's Eve 2005 at the Bill Graham Event Center in San Francisco.

He also opened for Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl later that fall, a show that featured Phil Lesh on bass and multiple Grateful Dead songs.

Late in 2006, Adams experimented with hip hop music, adding to his web site 18 albums worth of new recordings under various pseudonyms, featuring humorous and nonsensical lyrics, as well as covers of two Bob Dylan songs ("Isis" and "You're a Big Girl Now").

Adams cited hearing loss due to Ménière's disease as well as disillusionment with the music industry, the media and audience behavior as reasons for his decision.

[35] In September 2009, Adams debuted a new song online, entitled "Happy Birthday",[36] and began releasing singles, featuring previously unreleased material, from his new record label, PAX AM.

In the September 2011 issue of Q Magazine, Ryan revealed details of his first solo release since leaving The Cardinals, entitled Ashes & Fire.

[40] On April 21, 2013, Adams released an EP, 7 Minutes in Heaven, with his newly formed punk rock band Pornography, featuring Make Out vocalist Leah Hennessey and frequent collaborator Johnny T. Yerington.

", while singles in 2015 included "No Shadow" (featuring actor Johnny Depp, who had previously appeared on his self-titled album), "Blue Light", "I Do Not Feel Like Being Good", "Willow Lane", and "Burn in the Night".

[66] On January 1, 2024, Adams surprise-released four more studio albums: Sword & Stone, Star Sign, Heatwave and 1985, as well as a live version of Prisoner.

He beat his addiction with the assistance of his girlfriend at the time, Jessica Joffe, using Valium therapy and occasionally attending twelve-step meetings.

[73] In the following years, he made several statements indicating he was "newly sober"[74] and he told TMZ in June 2022 that he had reached nine months of sobriety.

A flyer advising of Adams' condition is affixed to the first several rows of seats at his concerts, with the admonition for audience members to refrain from taking flash photos or using autofocus assist beams when photographing at his shows.

[77] At a concert in October 2002, at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, someone in the audience yelled out a request for "Summer of '69", a song by the similarly named Bryan Adams.

He eventually found the fan who made the joke-request, paid him $30 cash as a refund for the show, ordered him to leave, and said he would not play another note until he had left.

[82] During filming of the BBC's long-running show Songwriter's Circle, where Adams was joined by American folk-singer Janis Ian and New Zealand's Neil Finn, it was reported that he refused to participate in a number of the songs performed on the night and was generally dismissive of collaborating with the others.

[83] In August 2017, Adams singled out Father John Misty for criticism,[84][85] while a month earlier he made derogatory remarks about the Strokes through social media.

[91][92][93] Adams is recognized for his highly prolific songwriting and a singing style that resembles that of a country rocker, even though he played punk rock in the early part of his career.

[94] His musical style and dynamism has been praised by various artists like Frank Turner,[95] Elton John,[96] Willie Nelson,[97] Taylor Swift,[98] Norah Jones,[99] Wesley Schultz,[100] Jared Followill[101] and Noel Gallagher.