Eric Singer | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Eric Doyle Mensinger |
Born | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | May 12, 1958
Genres | |
Occupation | Drummer |
Instruments |
|
Years active | 1984–present |
Member of | ESP, Paul Stanley's Soul Station |
Formerly of | |
Website | eric-singer |
Eric Singer (born Eric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock band Kiss on and off from 1991 until the band's retirement in 2023, he has also performed with artists such as Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford, Badlands, Brian May and Gary Moore as well as his own band ESP. In his career, Singer has appeared on over 75 albums and 11 EPs.
Singer was born May 12, 1958, Eric Doyle Mensinger in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up in Euclid, Ohio. He graduated from Euclid High School in 1976. His father, Johnny Mensinger, was of Jewish German descent and was a local big band leader who played around the area as well as on cruise ships from the States to Europe and back. [1] [2] [3] [4] Eric's brother Jon Mensinger was a principal dancer for the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York. [5] Young Eric began playing drums from an early age, and was inspired by bands such as Humble Pie, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Beatles and Queen and drummers such as John Bonham, Keith Moon, Cozy Powell, Roger Taylor, Bill Ward, and Buddy Rich.
Singer worked at King Musical instruments before becoming a professional drummer.
Singer's first professional drumming job was in the Cleveland band Beau Coup. He then became Lita Ford's touring drummer in 1984. In 1985 he joined Black Sabbath and recorded and toured to support the Seventh Star album. In 1987, during the recordings of The Eternal Idol he left the band to tour with Gary Moore band in support of his album Wild Frontier . After the tour, he was invited by his Black Sabbath colleague Ray Gillen to join Badlands. Singer accepted and played on the band's self-titled debut album. Singer left the group in 1989 as he would join Paul Stanley as his touring drummer on his solo tour of the United States and Canada. Singer played with Olivia Newton-John in the music video for "Culture Shock". He later revealed in an interview that he obtained that gig because he was working for Lita Ford at the time. [6]
In December 1991, Singer officially became the drummer for Kiss after the death of Eric Carr. Singer, who had performed with Paul Stanley on his club tour along with Bob Kulick two years earlier, was hired and debuted with the band on the album Revenge , on which he was originally slated to fill in on some tracks while Eric Carr recuperated from heart cancer. [7] Singer played on Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions and toured with Kiss until 1996, when the band reunited with original drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley for the Alive/Worldwide Tour.
After five relatively quiet years, during which Singer toured with Queen guitarist Brian May, Singer was asked to rejoin Kiss in 2001 after Criss' departure shortly before the Australian and Japanese leg of Kiss' Farewell tour. Singer debuted in full "Catman" makeup and costume for the first time on the tour, which caused some controversy as the persona had previously been used only by Criss. [8] Singer was replaced again by Criss in late 2002 but returned to the band in early 2004 after Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley opted not to renew Criss' contract. Since then, Singer has been playing drums in Kiss as their permanent drummer.
In 2009, Singer, along with lead guitarist Tommy Thayer, played and sang on the Kiss album Sonic Boom , the first studio album to feature the new line-up. It included the track "All for the Glory" (written by Stanley and Simmons) with vocals by Singer. In October 2012, Kiss released their 20th studio album Monster which includes a track called "All for the Love of Rock & Roll" sung by Singer (written by Stanley).
In a 2008 interview, Peter Criss stated that he thought Singer was a great drummer, despite being upset about Singer using his image.
When not touring with Kiss, Singer performed with Alice Cooper. Singer had been a member of Cooper's band since the release of the album Brutal Planet in 2000. Singer had already performed with Cooper years earlier, during the tours for the album Trash and Hey Stoopid. Singer has been featured on three Alice Cooper albums to date, namely, Brutal Planet , The Eyes of Alice Cooper , and Along Came a Spider . In 2008, Eric Singer left Cooper's band on Cooper's suggestion that he (Eric) instead focus on his growing commitments with Kiss as well as with the Eric Singer Project (ESP).
He performed and recorded with his band ESP, featuring, among others, his former Kiss bandmate Bruce Kulick and former Mötley Crüe lead singer John Corabi. Three releases have resulted from this collaboration: the studio album Lost and Spaced (1998), consisting completely of covers from classic rock songs; the live album Live in Japan (2006); and the DVD Live at the Marquee (2006).
Singer has also played in the band Avantasia, replacing drummer Alex Holzwarth after a guest performance in the song "Into the Unknown" from the album The Metal Opera Part II . Two EPs and one full album have been released with Singer's performance on the drums: Lost in Space Part I , Lost in Space Part II , and The Scarecrow , and on several songs from The Wicked Symphony and Angel of Babylon .
In 1989, he made a brief appearance in the Wes Craven film Shocker , as a member of a fictional rock band.
In 1998, he toured with Queen guitarist, Brian May, in a solo tour as part of The Brian May Band. [9] He was brought in as a replacement for Cozy Powell who had died earlier that year. [10]
In 2004 Singer was featured on Italian rock singer Chris Catena's debut album, Freak Out. He recorded drums for two tracks, "Sweet Talker" (a Whitesnake cover) and "The Stronger You Are, The Harder You Fall".
In 2015 Singer was elected to the jury of watchmaking's highest awards, the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). He is a well known in collectors circles as a collector of eclectic timepieces from his home town favorite Ball to expensive Glashutte Origina, Zenith, Omega and IWC. His keen eye to mechanics and artistic design encouraged the GPHG to invite him to join the rotating group of 26 jurors in Geneva this November as they select the best watches of 2015.
Eric is also the drummer for Paul Stanley's side project Soul Station, showcasing the best Motown and Soul hits. [11]
Throughout his career, Singer has used Pearl drums, hardware and pedals; Remo and Terry Bozzio Attack signature drumheads; Zildjian cymbals and drumsticks; and ddrum acoustic drum triggers. Singer has his own signature series snare drum and artist series drumsticks by Pearl, and Zildjian also makes its own "Eric Singer Artist Series" drumsticks.
Kiss was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Known for their face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-1970s with shock rock–style live performances which featured fire-breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. The band went through several lineup changes, with Stanley and Simmons remaining the only consistent members. The final lineup consisted of them, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer.
George Peter John Criscuola, better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and an occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established the Catman character for his Kiss persona. In 2014, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Kiss.
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman and played with the group from its inception in 1973 until his departure in 1982. After leaving Kiss, Frehley formed his own band named Frehley's Comet and released two albums with the group. He subsequently embarked on a solo career, which was put on hold when he rejoined Kiss in 1996 for a highly successful reunion tour.
Mark Leslie Norton, better known as Mark St. John, was an American guitarist best known for his brief stint with the hard rock band Kiss from April to November 1984. His work can be heard on the band's 1984 album Animalize and their 2023 live album Off the Soundboard: Poughkeepsie, NY. After leaving Kiss, he co-founded the band White Tiger.
Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist best known as a former guitarist of the band Kiss (1984–1996). He was also a member of Union with John Corabi from 1997–2002, Blackjack from 1979–1980 and Grand Funk Railroad from 2000–2023.
Paul Charles Caravello, better known as Eric Carr, was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Kiss from 1980 until his death in 1991. Caravello was selected as the new Kiss drummer after Peter Criss departed. He created the stage name "Eric Carr" and designed his on-stage Fox persona. He remained a member of Kiss until his death from heart cancer in 1991.
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish musician, best known as the former bassist of Whitesnake, the Brian May Band, Black Sabbath, and Gary Moore.
Badlands was an American heavy metal band founded by former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Jake E. Lee, former Black Sabbath members Ray Gillen (vocals) and Eric Singer (drums), as well as former Surgical Steel bass player Greg Chaisson. After the first Badlands album, Singer was replaced by Jeff Martin. Compared to the sound of the members' former bands, the sound of Badlands was more in a Led Zeppelin-influenced blues/hard rock vein. The group lasted from 1988 to 1993 and released three albums. Badlands (1989) and Voodoo Highway (1991) were released before Gillen left and was briefly replaced by singer John West. Gillen's death in 1993 effectively ended any hopes of reuniting the project. The album Dusk was released in 1998 with then-recently deceased Gillen on vocals.
Kiss is the debut studio album by American rock band Kiss, released on February 18, 1974, by Casablanca Records. Much of the material on the album was written by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, as members of their pre-Kiss band Wicked Lester. Simmons estimated that the entire process of recording and mixing took three weeks, while co-producer Richie Wise has stated it took just 13 days.
Union is an American rock group formed in Los Angeles in 1997 featuring lead vocalist and guitarist John Corabi, guitarist Bruce Kulick (ex-Kiss), bassist James Hunting, and drummer Brent Fitz (Slash).
Ryan Roxie is an American guitarist, singer-songwriter best known as a solo artist and for playing guitar with Alice Cooper, Casablanca, Gilby Clarke, and Slash's Snakepit. Roxie is the primary founder of the System-12 Guitar Method and also hosts the weekly In the Trenches with Ryan Roxie podcast.
Scot Coogan is an American musician known for his accomplished drumming and vocal skills, working as both a session and touring musician. Scot resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he records, performs and has worked as a counselor at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp. Scot is also related to Jackie Coogan who is responsible for the Coogan Act that was put into place in 1939.
Jimmy DeGrasso is an American heavy metal drummer.
Tommy Clufetos is an American session drummer most noted for his work with Black Sabbath during their Black Sabbath Reunion Tour, which highlighted their new album 13. He also toured with them on their final tour. Clufetos is also the drummer for vocalist Ozzy Osbourne as well as the supergroup L.A. Rats.
The Eric Singer Project (ESP) is an American rock band. It was founded in the 1990s by Eric Singer, drummer for rock bands such as Lita Ford, Black Sabbath, Badlands, Alice Cooper, and Kiss, along with Bruce Kulick on guitar, John Corabi on guitar and bass, and Karl Cochran on guitar and bass. Lead vocal duties were shared by Eric, John, and Karl.
Glen "Archie" Gamble is a drummer from London, Ontario, Canada and is best known for his tenure in Helix. He has played with some classic rock bands, both as a side-man and in an opening capacity: Kiss, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil, Paul Rodgers, Robert Plant, as well as some younger bands: Sum 41, KAOS, The Trews, Finger 11 and more.
The Dressed to Kill Tour was the fourth tour of American hard rock band Kiss. The tour was in support of the album Dressed to Kill, and took place in 1975 throughout the United States.
The Kiss Tour was Kiss' first album support tour. Sometimes known as the First Tour, it also encompassed several shows before and after the "official" dates.