Sure, Bryan Adams is the raspy-voiced singer behind huge ’80s hits including “Cuts Like a Knife,” “Summer of ’69” and “Heaven.” And, yeah, the guy who is known for his everyguy attire of jeans and T-shirts penned the ridiculously huge 1991 hit “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” for the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack. The song stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks and earned Adams two Grammy Awards. But the Canadian is not a one-trick, superpopular pony – he’s also a world-renowned photographer, a social activist and the author of songs done by an unexpectedly wide variety of other pop music acts.

In 1978, Adams started a successful songwriting partnership with Jim Vallance of the Canadian rock band Prism. The duo wrote Adams’ early hits “Run to You,” “Straight From the Heart” and “This Time” in addition to songs recorded by Kiss, Roger Daltrey, Bonnie Raitt, Joe Cocker, Neil Diamond, Carly Simon and Tina Turner.

In a 2005 article within Songwriter Universe Magazine, Adams describes his early fruitful collaboration with Vallance.

“With Jim we crawled from nothing, in a basement full of cat piss, to write a collection of classic pop songs,” Adams says. “It was the best ride of my life. We sat together for days and years until we had written a song. Jim is a fabulous musician, drummer, bass, guitar, keyboards and an excellent songwriter on top of that. He basically taught me how to work out all the ideas I had collected and was writing, but the thing was we complemented each other somehow and it was like lighting a bonfire, because we wrote something practically every time we got together. Some of it was forgettable… but like mining, every now and then we’d find a gem, and what a gem it would be.”

While a fair number of musicians have sold their songs to other acts, Adams stands out for also excelling in another artistic field: photography. The rocker’s photos have appeared in Vanity Fair and Esquire and have been exhibited in London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts. He has also released three books of his photography: 1999’s Made in Canada, 2000’s Haven and 2005’s American Women. The latter includes Adams’ shots of notable women including Hillary Clinton, Katie Couric, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson.

Adams has also been known for taking nude photos of female celebrities including the rocker Pink and model Kate Moss. In an interview with Classic Rock magazine earlier this year, Adams reveals that he just asked Moss, and she complied.

“All you can look forward to is a ‘yes,’” he says. “And, you know, Kate Moss has always been cooperative when it comes to rock ‘n’ rollers.”

All of the money raised from Adams’ photography books has gone to organizations related to breast cancer.

BRYAN ADAMS performs a solo acoustic show at 8pm Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $30; $45; $70. 372-4555, www.goldenstatetheatre.com.