Billy Sheehan Biography

Billy Sheehan (born 1953) is one of rock music's most talented bass players, winning "Best Rock Bass Player" 5 times in Guitar Player magazine's Readers' Poll. Sheehan erased conventional boundaries by demonstrating that the bass could be a lead instrument, thus earning him comparisons to history's greatest electric guitarists. Guitar Player magazine likened Sheehan's bass solos to "the same way that Eddie Van Halen's 'Eruption' defined state-of-the-art for thousands of guitarists," and Guitar World magazine wrote that Sheehan gets "unheard-of sounds out of the bass in much the manner as Jimi Hendrix did with his guitar.
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Sheehan's innovative repertoire includes the use of two-handed tapping, controlled feedback, and sophisticated harmonic structures ― in combination with a futuristic use of effects.

Yet for all the razzle-dazzle, Sheehan is a master technician, possessing a control of his instrument and gear that was honed over decades of playing some 6,000 live shows.

Early Years

Sheehan grew up in Buffalo, New York. His first instrument was an acoustic guitar that he borrowed incessantly from his sister. Legend has it that Sheehan wanted an electric guitar, but his grandmother said: "Over my dead body!" She died soon after, and some of the life insurance money was used to buy him an electric guitar.

However, once Sheehan saw an electric bass in action, he was sold for life.

Sheehan's first professional bass was a Fender P-bass, which he heavily modified to achieve his trademark sound. From his first gig in 1971 until the late 1980s, Sheehan played this same bass exclusively, night after night. (He affectionately refers to it as his "wife.")

Sheehan cites a variety of influences, from Tim Bogert to Bach. But it may be Jimi Hendrix who most paved the way for Sheehan's groundbreaking style: Hendrix was the first live concert that Sheehan attended as a teenager, and the 'experience' opened up new vistas of creativity and expression.

Sheehan’s first serious band was Talas, a three-piece power trio with Dave Constantino on guitar and Paul Varga on drums. Talas played a mixture of hard rock and metal, with instrumental duels, stunning three-part harmonies (listen to “Hick Town”), and lead vocals from all three. With guitar and bass alternating as rhythm and lead instruments, Talas had broken prior assumptions of what constitutes a hard rock band.

On stage, Sheehan was totally electric, playing with his teeth and behind his back, while bounding and rolling across the stage. He was described by one music critic as "like a marionette hooked to an outboard motor."

Talas led the Buffalo bar scene for over a decade, and achieved cult status with legions of "Talas Believers" spread throughout the Northeast and Canada. In 1978, Talas released its debut album, which generated a regional hit single, "See Saw."

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 frenetic parts for all three instruments.

In 1980, Talas got their first national exposure as the opening act for 30 dates on the Van Halen tour. Yet Talas’ big break was elusive, and even as heavy metal was rising to its height of popularity in the early '80s, the band remained unsigned, earning the title of "hard rock’s best-kept secret." Talas would release two more albums, “Sink Your Teeth into That” and, with a four-man lineup, "Live Speed on Ice."

Going Global

In 1985, when David Lee Roth left Van Halen, Sheehan was recruited to play in the DLR band alongside Steve Vai. In this capacity, Sheehan recorded two platinum-selling albums ("Eat 'Em and Smile" and "Skyscraper") and played to sold-out arena crowds across the world.

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Billy Sheehan's hands work their magic.In 1988, Sheehan formed his own band, Mr. Big, along with Paul Gilbert on guitar. Their second album, "Lean into It," sold over 5 million copies, and spawned a Billboard #1 single with the ballad, "To Be with You." All told, Mr. Big released six albums before disbanding in 2001.

Over the years, Sheehan has toured Poland with UFO, and backed Steve Vai's band in the highly-touted G3 tour. In 1999, he helped to record the widely acclaimed album "Brotherhood", with the multi-platinum Japanese band, B'z, and subsequently played with the band live for their 2002 "Green" Tour.

In 2001, Sheehan released a long-awaited solo album, entitled "Compression." His 2005 solo effort, "Cosmic Troubadour," features Sheehan singing and playing guitar in addition to his usual bass acrobatics.

Sheehan's pet project is Niacin, a three-piece jazz-rock fusion band with Dennis Chambers on drums and Tom Novello on the B3 Organ. (The band's name, Niacin, is the word for vitamin B3.)

Sheehan is also the author of a popular series of instructional books and videos, and travels around the world performing bass clinics. He has also created his own line of bass guitars, produced by Yamaha.

BILLY SHEEHAN PICTURES

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BILLY SHEEHAN BIOGRAPHY