Marco Mendoza | |
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Background information | |
Born | [1] San Diego, California, U.S. | May 3, 1963
Genres | |
Occupation | Musician |
Instruments |
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Years active | 1989–present |
Member of | Iconic [2] |
Formerly of | |
Website | marcomendoza |
Marco Mendoza (born 3 May 1963) [1] is an American bass guitarist who has worked in diverse genres. He became a professional rock musician in 1989 and debuted on Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's solo album Along the Way . He has performed on a number of notable releases throughout his career, including Live... in the Still of the Night by Whitesnake, One Night Only by Thin Lizzy and Live in Concert at Lollapalooza by Journey.
Marco Mendoza started his professional career in 1989, playing bass for former Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward's solo album Along the Way , which was released in January 1990. In 1991, he replaced former Heart bassist Steve Fossen in the band Alias in 1991. Mendoza played on the band's second album Never Say Never , but Alias was dropped by Capitol Records in 1992 and the album was shelved. He played in John Sykes' band Blue Murder, from 1992 until 1993. In 1994, he was recruited into a reformed lineup of Thin Lizzy, also featuring Sykes, with guitarist Scott Gorham, keyboard player Darren Wharton and drummer Brian Downey. After some preliminary one-off concerts, the band toured more consistently from 1996 until 2000, replacing the departing Downey with Tommy Aldridge and releasing the live album One Night Only . [3]
From 2000 to 2003, Mendoza recorded and toured with Ted Nugent, and in 2004 he toured with Whitesnake, another band that once featured Sykes and Aldridge, and appeared on their DVD Live... in the Still of the Night . Also in 2004, Mendoza guested on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Mythology . However, he returned to Thin Lizzy in 2005, replacing Randy Gregg. He left the band in 2007, and subsequently toured with ex-Dokken guitarist George Lynch in his band Lynch Mob.
After Sykes left Thin Lizzy in 2009, Mendoza rejoined the band for a third stint, this time with Gorham, Wharton, Downey, singer Ricky Warwick and guitarist Vivian Campbell. This lineup of Thin Lizzy toured Europe throughout 2011, before a US tour at the end of the year, and a further tour of Europe in early 2012.
On July 6, 2007, Mendoza released his first solo album Live for Tomorrow , through Frontiers Records in Europe. The record was produced and co-written by Richie Kotzen and features guest performances by Steve Lukather, Ted Nugent, Doug Aldrich, Tommy Aldridge, Brian Tichy, Marco Rentería of Jaguares, and others.
Mendoza has also played for the band Soul SirkUS and with many other artists from different musical backgrounds including: Bill Ward, Right Said Fred, Robert Williams, Roch Voisine, Dolores O'Riordan, Tim "Ripper" Owens, and Tommy Shaw.
When not touring, Mendoza has played with his band Mendoza Heredia Neto, featuring drummer Joey Heredia and keyboard player Renato Neto, on Tuesday nights at La Ve Lee Jazz Club in Studio City. The band has recorded a live CD, Live in L.A.
In December 2012, Mendoza co-founded the Thin Lizzy spin-off band, Black Star Riders. [4] Black Star Riders' first album All Hell Breaks Loose was released in May 2013. [5]
On May 30, 2014, it was announced that Mendoza was leaving Black Star Riders at the end of the contemporaneous US tour to work on other projects. [6]
Mendoza joined Neal Schon's side project, Neal Schon's Journey Through Time, along with fellow The Dead Daisies member Deen Castronovo. [7]
In April 2022, Mendoza was announced as the bassist for the supergroup Iconic, featuring Michael Sweet, Joel Hoekstra, Tommy Aldridge, and Nathan James. [8] The band's debut album is called Second Skin. They released a lead single, entitled "Nowhere to Run".
In 2022, Marco was announced as the bassist and vocalist for russian iconic hairmetal band Gorky Park produced by Stas Namin.
Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Thin Lizzy initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon, although Wrixon left after a few months. Bell left at the end of 1973 and was briefly replaced by Gary Moore, who himself was replaced in mid-1974 by twin lead guitarists: Scott Gorham, who remained with the band until their break-up in 1983, and Brian Robertson, who remained with the band until 1978 when Moore re-joined. Moore left a second time and was replaced by Snowy White in 1980, who was himself replaced by John Sykes in 1982. The line-up was augmented by keyboardist Darren Wharton in 1980. The singles "Whiskey in the Jar" (1972), "The Boys Are Back in Town" (1976) and "Waiting for an Alibi" (1979) were international hits, and several Thin Lizzy albums reached the top ten in the UK. The band's music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or sometimes heavy metal.
David Coverdale is an English singer and songwriter best known as the founder and lead singer of the hard rock band Whitesnake. He was also the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after which he released two solo studio albums, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978), before forming Whitesnake in 1978.
William Scott Gorham is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after passing an audition in 1974, joining the band at a time when the band's future was in doubt after the departures of original guitarist Eric Bell and his brief replacement Gary Moore. Gorham remained with Thin Lizzy until the band's breakup in 1983. He and guitarist Brian Robertson, both hired at the same time, marked the beginning of the band's most critically successful period, and together developed Thin Lizzy's twin lead guitar style while contributing dual backing vocals as well. Gorham is the band member with the longest membership after founders Brian Downey (drummer) and frontman and bass guitarist, Phil Lynott.
One Night Only is a live album by rock band Thin Lizzy, released in 2000. Thin Lizzy had reformed in 1994 for a series of gigs marking ten years since the band split in 1984. Latter-day Lizzy guitarist John Sykes now took the lead vocal while Marco Mendoza was recruited on bass. The venture was popular enough to be repeated but by the time this album came out, original drummer Brian Downey had decided the affair was too disorganised and retired from the group leaving none of the original trio remaining. Keyboardist Darren Wharton also quit around the time of this album's release. The band, led by Sykes and Scott Gorham, subsequently continued performing with various lineups. This album features ex-Ozzy, Whitesnake, and Black Oak Arkansas drummer Tommy Aldridge.
John James Sykes is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy and Tygers of Pan Tang. He has also fronted the hard rock group Blue Murder and released several solo albums.
Tommy Aldridge is an American heavy metal and hard rock drummer. He is noted for his work with numerous bands and artists since the 1970s, such as Black Oak Arkansas, Pat Travers Band, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Thin Lizzy, Vinnie Moore and Yngwie Malmsteen.
Deen Joseph Castronovo is an American drummer and singer best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Journey, Generation Radio, and Revolution Saints. He has been a touring and studio player for Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai, Paul Rodgers, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's GZR.
Soul SirkUS was a band that initially featured singer Jeff Scott Soto, guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Marco Mendoza, and drummer Deen Castronovo, later replaced by Virgil Donati.
Brian Michael Downey is an Irish drummer. He was a founding member of the rock band Thin Lizzy and the only other constant in the band aside from leader Phil Lynott until their disbandment in 1983. Downey also co-wrote several Thin Lizzy songs. Allmusic critic Eduardo Rivadavia has argued that Downey is "certainly one of the most underrated [rock drummers] of his generation".
Darren Leigh Wharton is a British keyboardist, singer and songwriter. He has fronted his own band, Dare, since 1985, but first came to attention as a member of Thin Lizzy. In 2023, Wharton launched a second band alongside Dare, Darren Wharton's Renegade. His son, Paris, is also a musician.
Damon Rogers Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter, currently a solo artist, a member of Brother Cane and guitarist in Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the 1990s he co-founded Brother Cane, and later joined Alice Cooper's band as lead guitarist. He became a member of Thin Lizzy in 2011 and was also the lead guitarist and co-songwriter for hard rock group Black Star Riders from 2012 to 2018. Johnson has also released several solo albums and his songs have been recorded by many artists including Stevie Nicks and Carlos Santana.
Live for Tomorrow is the first solo album by American hard rock bassist Marco Mendoza. It was produced and co-written by Richie Kotzen, who also recorded most of the guitar tracks and made several vocal appearances. The album also features many other famous rock musicians, such as Steve Lukather of Toto, Doug Aldrich and Tommy Aldridge of Whitesnake, Ted Nugent, Brian Tichy and others.
Francesco DiCosmo is an Italian-American rock musician, best known for his work with Evanescence, Thin Lizzy, and Chris Poland of Megadeth, and is an experienced live bassist and singer, and session musician playing bass guitar, keyboards, and guitar. He has also recently formed his AllStar Band with drummer/vocalist Chad Cancino and guitarist/keyboardist Torbjorn Andersson, and also works as a composer for film and TV.
Black Star Riders is a hard rock band formed in December 2012. The band began when members of the 2011–2012 line-up of Thin Lizzy decided to record new material, but chose not to release it under the Thin Lizzy name. While Thin Lizzy continues on an occasional basis, Black Star Riders is a full-time band, described as "the next step in the evolution of the Thin Lizzy story". The band's first album, All Hell Breaks Loose, was released on May 21, 2013, and the follow-up album, The Killer Instinct was released on February 20, 2015. The band's third album, Heavy Fire, was released on February 3, 2017, and reached number six on the UK Albums Chart.
Live... In the Still of the Night is a live concert DVD by the band Whitesnake. The concert was filmed on 20 October 2004 at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. It was released regularly on 5 May 2006 featuring the recording of the live performance, behind-the-scene documentary and a photobook. The limited "special collector's" edition which was previously released on 7 February 2006 includes a bonus live album CD with ten selected songs from the same show.
All Hell Breaks Loose is the debut studio album by hard rock band Black Star Riders, released in May 2013. Black Star Riders evolved from the touring version of Thin Lizzy, assembled by guitarist Scott Gorham after the death of Thin Lizzy's leader Phil Lynott.
The Dead Daisies are an Australian-American hard rock band. Since their formation in 2012, they’ve assembled a rotating lineup of musicians who have played with bands including Whitesnake, Guns N' Roses, Black Sabbath, and Motley Crue, among others.