Billy Sheehan

Billy Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is a Rock and fusion bass player in the Geddy Lee mold. Sheehan has recorded with David Lee Roth, Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio and Dennis Chambers as well as being the co-founder of the rock group Mr. Big featuring Paul Gilbert.

Related Topics:
March 19 - 1953 - Geddy Lee - David Lee Roth - Steve Vai - Terry Bozzio - Dennis Chambers - Mr. Big - Paul Gilbert

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Sheehan was born on March 19th 1953, in Buffalo, New York, USA. Living with a single mother, two sisters and a brother was not the easiest of childhoods, but he still managed to get a Fender Telecaster guitar, Hagstrom bass, a Gretsch bass amp and a Fender Deluxe reverb as some of his starting kit. Dedicating hours of his time to music lead him to join an 11-piece horn band called Opus One. Later came Opus Two, a smaller jazz band.

Related Topics:
Buffalo, New York - Fender

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After selecting a Fender P-bass (more on this later), Sheehan formed the three-piece bar band Talas. Splitting the vocals between himself, Paul Varga (drums), and Dave Constantino (Guitar) saved them money - if they took $100 home, they got $33 and change, but with a vocalist they'd only get $25 each that night. Talas played a mixture of hard rock and metal, with solos from all three instruments, as well as trade off battles between Sheehan and Constantino. It was during this time that Sheehan wrote some of his most famous songs, namely 'Shy Boy' (later recorded with DLR) and 'Addicted to that Rush' (later recorded with Mr. Big, which feature complex and fast paced parts for all three instruments. With their high-energy performances Talas quickly reached cult status within Buffalo, and when it came time for a reunion concert in 1997, the Mayor himself declared it 'Talas Reunion Day'.

Related Topics:
Fender - Mr. Big

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With Talas dying down, Sheehan went to Poland in 1983 with the band UFO - Phil Mogg, Neil Carter, and Paul Chapman. In retrospect, this tour was not one of the best, as Poland was under martial law, and soldiers surrounded the crowd, and the band was put under a lot of pressure not to let things get out of control.

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After UFO, Sheehan moved on to team up with former Van Halen singer to form the band David Lee Roth. With Greg Bissonette set for drummer, Sheehan picked Steve Vai to play guitar for the band. Vai, previously known to the public having his first big break playing with Frank Zappa and later Alcatrazz, and DLR was his jump to stardom. The 1986 release of 'Eat 'Em and Smile' was hugely successful, and DLR got to travel on a huge tour because of it. Sheehan was also there to record 1988's 'Skyscraper', but much to the dissapointment was unable to tour with the band.

Related Topics:
Steve Vai - Frank Zappa - Alcatrazz - Eat 'Em and Smile - Skyscraper

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After leaving The David Lee Roth Band, Sheehan started work on a project called 'Mr. Big', featuring Paul Gilbert on guitar, Pat Torpey on drums, and Eric Martin on vocals. The opening track of their debut self-titled album, 'Addicted to that Rush', features strong lyrics, guitar and bass trade-offs, and multiple solos. Other tracks on this release include the rock ballad 'Had Enough' as well as hard rock songs such as 'Blame it on my Youth'.

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It wasn't until their second release, 'Lean Into It' (1991), that Mr. Big truly went big. Big was indeed the word to describe it, as this album sold over 5 million copies, and featured the hit ballad 'To Be With You', which came 1st on the charts in multiple countries. Although Mr. Big never hit it so large again, that didn't stop them from releasing a further 4 albums, after switching Paul Gilbert (who rejoined the speed band Racer-X) for Richie Kotzen. The newer albums took the direction of their hit single, with a more pop/soul sound, blending bluesy guitar parts with ballad-like vocals.

Related Topics:
Mr. Big

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Heading back to his roots, he formed a three piece band called Niacin. Featuring Dennis Chambers on drums and Tom Novello on the B3 Organ, Sheehan created a jazz-rock fusion band, with the aim being to feature the B3 Organ. It is also no coincidence that the band's name, Niacin, is the word used for vitamin B3.

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Aside from touring the world with Mr. Big and DLR, making fusion with Niacin, and rocking out in Buffalo, Sheehan has been able to add numerous side-projects and smaller roles to his career. Sheehan backs Vai's band in numerous concerts, and was playing with him in the 2004 G3 tour of Europe this summer. Sheehan has also recorded one solo CD (and is rumoured to be making another), entitled 'Compression', for which he played 6 and 12-string baritone guitar (Sheehan is a formidable guitarist as well), as well as bass, vocals, and drum programming. Terry Bozzio joined Sheehan and recorded the drums for 2 tracks, and Steve Vai recorded a solo for the track Chameleon. All the recording for Sheehan's solo CD was done at his home studio, and the CD was released under Steve Vai's Favored Nations label.

Related Topics:
Mr. Big - Steve Vai

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In 2002, Sheehan landed a role playing bass for the Japanese band, B'z, and performed in a tour of Japan. The B'z were already a multi-platinum band from Japanese sales alone, and with Sheehan, they managed to sell out a concert at Osaka Dome, with 750,000 tickets sold for one night.

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Sheehan has been involved with several huge bands, as well as numerous side projects, and has performed over 4,000 gigs in his 38 years of bass playing. This tremendous amount of experience is not only reflected in his playing, but also by the devotion of his fans. He has won the Best Bassist poll in Japan's 'Player Magazine' 3 times in a row, and 'Burrn!' magazine's poll 5 times. He has also been placed into 'Guitar Magazines' Gallery of Greats, and his handprints can be found on the Hollywood Rockwall.

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Not only has Sheehan sold out large numbers of gigs (including Budokan Arena, 3 nights in a row, with Mr. Big), but he also travels around the world performing instructional bass clinics. These clinics are sponsored by Yamaha, as they are seen as a good means for promoting their instruments. The clinics are largely Q&A, as Sheehan wants the audience to learn what they want to know, and he also plays any requests.

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Sheehan's first professional bass was a Fender P-bass, which he heavily modified (mostly in his living room). Modifications include the installation of a new neck pickup, changes in preamps, a new neck, fret scalloping, new bridge, HipShot D-Tuner, and new strings. Perhaps his most innovative modification is multiple output jacks, which help him to separate the frequencies into separate amplifiers. This helps him achieve a distinctive and clear sound that few other bass players have been able to come close to. Because of all the time Sheehan has spent with this bass, he now refers to it as 'The Wife'.

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