In 1976, there was no bigger rock star on the planet than Peter Frampton. His concert album Frampton Comes Alive! spent 10 weeks on top of the Billboard charts that year, and he outsold Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones, Wings, and every other act on the charts.
But it was an impossible act to follow, and in a little over a decade he became a member of David Bowie’s backing band since his recording career had completely flatlined. In the 1990s, however, he established himself as a major live draw, and continues playing to this day, even if he’s been slowed down by the muscle-wasting disease Inclusion Body Myositis.
It’s an astounding rock & roll story of endurance and survival, and the new documentary Frampton – directed by his longtime bandleader Rob Author – tells the entire saga. The film premieres June 4 at the Tribeca Festival and its trailer premieres exclusively on Rolling Stone.
“He was the guy going on the rocket where no other rocket had gone,” Cameron Crowe says in the trailer. “This is the peak of rock, right here.”
The film also features interviews with Tom Morello, Kate Hudson, Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow, Bill Wyman, Tommy Shaw, Alice Cooper, Herb Alpert, Roger Daltrey, Chris Lord-Alge, Mary Lindes, Nancy Wilson, Julian Frampton, Mia Frampton, Jade Frampton, Rob Arthur, and of course, Peter Frampton himself.
In 2019, Frampton spoke to Rolling Stone about the long-term difficulties that Frampton Comes Alive! created for his career. “It’s a phenomenon that if something gets so big, for whatever reason, and it is worldwide, it becomes in your face until you get to the point where you can’t stand to listen to it anymore,” he said. “I truly believe we got to that point. And hey, I was dying to hear myself on the radio and then it got to the point where I thought, ‘I wish they wouldn’t play me so much.’”
Frampton has been off the road since November 2025, and has no shows on his calendar. But he will be on hand at the Tribeca Festival for the premiere of the movie. Tickets to see the doc are available via the fest’s website.
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