Power Ballad were the architects of arena-rock heartbreak, a six-piece force of excess, emotion and electric spectacle who dominated the airwaves from 1979 until their mysterious end in 1991.

Fronted by magnetic vocalist Cade Maverick, the band featured Jax Fury on guitar, Ace Sterling on bass, Rex Blade on synths, Rage Storm on drums and the unmistakable Slick Ricky Alto on saxophone.

First discovered through the mysterious 1979 white-label release D.E.M.O., Power Ballad broke into the mainstream with 1981's Amplify. They turned stadium ambition into global domination with 1983's Electric Empire, then reached their impossible peak with 1985's monster album Hearts of Fire.

At the centre of that era was "Power Love," Maverick's duet with Chloe Love. The song spent an extraordinary 43 weeks at number one worldwide and became so overwhelming that Maverick eventually pulled it from shelves in an act of defiance against the hit that had come to define him.

Then, in 1991, everything ended. After a wild Caribbean yacht party, Maverick vanished and was presumed lost at sea. Whether he drowned or disappeared to escape fame remains one of rock's greatest mysteries.

The band kept moving right up until the end—1987's Love Is A Loaded Gun saw Astrid Caldera join Maverick on three tracks, and 1989's All The Way Alive would prove to be their final studio album, released just two years before Maverick disappeared.

The full story of Power Ballad, from white-label beginnings to stadium glory and disappearance, will be told in POWER BALLAD: The Band That Rocked the World, coming soon from Outrun Books.