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Frederiksen started his musical career at the age of 13, and he played clubs and pubs at the age of 15 with a group called the Common People in Grand Rapids, MI. In 1975, while he was still attending college at Central Michigan, Frederiksen was asked by his friend Tommy Shaw to replace him as the lead vocalist for the band MSFunk, formerly The Smoke Ring, as Shaw was leaving to join Styx. Frederiksen was with MSFunk for a year before disbanding in 1976. While living in Chicago, he joined another local band called Trillion, which included keyboardist Patrick Leonard. Trillion's debut album was released in 1978 and was produced by Gary Lyons (co-producer of Foreigner's debut album). The band went on to tour with Styx briefly, and Frederiksen left the band soon after. In later interviews, Frederiksen cited his having to commute back and forth between college and recording as the main reason for the departure.
After completing school, Frederiksen started focusing mainly on session work; primarily movie soundtracks. He sang two tracks - Samantha and Sound Of The City - on the Village People musical Can't Stop The Music. He also recorded a solo album in 1981 with his friend Mark Christian under the alias of David London. The album landed in the hands of Angel keyboardist Greg Giuffria, and Frederiksen became the band's new lead singer. It was in this line-up of Angel where Frederiksen met bassist Ricky Phillips. The two became long-time friends and have collaborated on many projects. This line-up never completed an official album, recording only three songs during band sessions. These tracks can be found on the Angel Rarities collection.
Frederiksen tried out for Kansas auditions in early part of 1982, but John Elefante eventually took over the lead vocal spot. It was around this time that Frederiksen was also considered as the new lead vocalist for the band Survivor by its founder Jim Peterik. Ultimately, the band stuck with original lead vocalist Dave Bickler, and Frederiksen provided background vocals. The band's third album Eye of the Tiger was released in 1982. It jumped to #2 on the Billboard charts and contained the #1 hit title song that was also the theme song to Rocky III. The album's second single "American Heartbeat" also charted in the top 20. Frederiksen did not receive royalties.
Frederiksen eventually received a call from manager Budd Carr, who let Frederiksen know that Jeff Pollard had recently left Le Roux and a lead vocal spot had opened up. Frederiksen became Le Roux's new front-man. "So Fired Up", the band's fifth album (recorded at Studio In The Country in Bogalusa, LA) was released in 1983. It included the hit song "Carrie's Gone", which Frederiksen wrote shortly after breaking up with then girlfriend Carrie Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter). The band was dropped from RCA Records, but are still together and touring, and were recently inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, Frederiksen reuinited with Ricky Phillips to start a brand new band called Abandon Shame. The band worked primarily on unreleased songs written by Greg Giuffria during the Angel sessions.
Phillips, who was friends with Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro, gave him a Frederiksen demo. The band invited Frederiksen to come audition for the lead spot. After edging out Eric Martin, he got the job, and the band recorded and released their fifth album Isolation in 1984. It included the hit song Stranger in Town and went Gold. The music video for Stranger in Town was nominated for an MTV Music Video award for Best Direction. After touring with Toto through 1985, Frederiksen left the band, mainly due to tensions with lead guitarist Steve Lukather.
After 11 years in the music industry, Frederiksen unofficially retired and started focusing on the restaurant business with his father. He returned to music in the mid-90s and released a solo album in 1999,  later explaining, "I tried to do without it but I was miserable." In 2002 he toured with Voices of Classic Rock.
In June 2010, Frederiksen announced he had been diagnosed with inoperable cancer.

Albums (4)
Songs (11)
# Song
Hits 9332
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