[11] Their success and longevity as well, in part, as their connections to the British Royal Family, including philanthropic work with the Prince's Trust, have seen them frequently described as a "national institution" by the media.

[2] After changing their name, Lancaster's father arranged for the group to perform weekly at a venue called the Samuel Jones Sports Club, where they were noticed by Pat Barlow, a gasfitter and budding pop music manager.

Barlow became the group's manager and secured them spots at venues around London, such as El Partido in Lewisham and Café des Artistes in Chelsea.

[20] The band secured an appearance on BBC Radio's Saturday Club, but in June their next single, "Almost But Not Quite There" (an original song by Francis Rossi), underperformed.

[2] Though the follow-up was the unsuccessful single "Black Veils of Melancholy", they had a hit again the same year with a pop song penned by Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott, "Ice in the Sun", which climbed to number eight.

Over the years Young became one of the most important songwriting partners for Status Quo, in addition to occasionally playing harmonica with them on stage and on record.

After their second album, 1969's Spare Parts, failed commercially, the band's musical direction moved away from psychedelia towards a more hard rock/boogie rock sound.

The title track of Rockin' All Over the World, a minor hit for its writer John Fogerty (formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival), became one of Status Quo's most enduring anthems.

[27] Status Quo's final appearance with the Kircher line-up opened the Live Aid charity event at Wembley Stadium in July 1985.

Lancaster had co-written "Ol' Rag Blues", but was angered when the producers chose to release a version with Rossi singing the lead vocal instead of one sung by himself.

An out-of-court settlement was made in January 1986, giving Rossi and Parfitt the rights to the band's name,[29] enabling the new Status Quo line-up to continue recording In The Army Now,[30] for which "Naughty Girl" was reworked as "Dreamin'".

To promote the release of the Rock 'til You Drop album (1991), Quo performed four arena gigs in Sheffield, Glasgow, Birmingham and London in the space of 12 hours, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The next studio album, 1994's Thirsty Work, included a cover of the Jennifer Warnes song "I'm Restless" revealing an alternative and lighter sound to the band.

Parfitt underwent quadruple by-pass surgery in 1997, but was able to make a full recovery and returned with a performance at the Norwich City Football Club ground Carrow Road three months later.

In 2005 Rossi and Parfitt made cameo appearances in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street in a storyline which involved them being sued by the notorious layabout Les Battersby, and performing live at his wedding as compensation.

They also appeared on the TV programme Tiswas Reunited, in which the band got the usual greeting of custard pies and buckets of water whilst playing the song, "Gerdundula".

On 15 September 2007, Rossi and Parfitt appeared on ITV programme Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and won £50,000 for their 2 charities Ebbisham Association and Nordoff Robbins.

[37] On 20 September 2010, Status Quo was honoured with a PRS for Music plaque commemorating their first gig at the Welcome Inn in Well Hall Road, Eltham, where the band first performed in 1967.

The band's first cinematic documentary, Hello Quo!, was filmed in 2011 with director Alan G. Parker;[43] it screened in cinemas on 22 October 2012, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD the following week.

A 90-minute action comedy, entitled Bula Quo!, taking its name from the islanders' traditional Fijian greeting, and also referencing the title of the band's best-selling album, Hello!

In November 2012, Coles continued their association with Status Quo, producing a series of television adverts with the band appearing and performing "It's Christmas Time".

The 1970–81 line-up (Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan) reunited as "The Frantic Four" in March 2013 for a series of dates in Manchester, Wolverhampton, Glasgow and London.

In January 2014, Wychwood Brewery announced they would be releasing a Status Quo brand of beer, named after their 1972 album Piledriver, exclusively in JD Wetherspoon pubs across the UK in February, before going on general sale in April.

March 2014 saw the second 'Frantic Four' reunion tour featuring Rossi and Parfitt with original members Lancaster and Coghlan with their last gig being at The O2 in Dublin, which was recorded and filmed for album and DVD release, both titled The Frantic Four's Final Fling.

[51] On 8 March 2014, Rossi and Parfitt appeared on ITV show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway performing "Rockin' All Over the World" with McBusted.

On 5 June 2015, Status Quo were the headline act at Palmerston Park in Dumfries, at the stadium of Queen of the South and were supported by Reef and Big Country, in the first ever live concert at the venue.

[59] On 1 February 2016, it was announced that Status Quo, in addition to the spring and summer dates already scheduled, would tour Europe starting in October.

[74] In August 2020, Status Quo cancelled their forty-date Backbone UK and European tour because of the COVID-19 pandemic; various commitments for the following year meant the band were unable to reschedule the shows in 2021.

[78][79][80] After the addition of early undocumented gigs and various lost performances, the concert total is likely to be higher and is estimated by the band to be over 6,000, with an audience in excess of 25 million people.

[81] The band have performed over a hundred gigs in a single year several times, with the recorded peak of 144 (1971), averaging a live show every 2.5 days.