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| Height = 6'4
| Height = 6'4
| Eye Color = Hazel
| Eye Color = Hazel
| Born = {{birth date and age|1962|4|3|df=y}} </br> [[Freeport, Bahamas]]
| Born = {{birth date and age|1968|4|3|df=y}} </br> [[Freeport, Bahamas]]
| Died =
| Died =
| Instrument = [[Singer|Vocals]]
| Instrument = [[Singer|Vocals]]

Revision as of 21:40, 18 August 2010

Not to be confused with Johann Sebastian Bach.
Sebastian Bach

Sebastian Bach (born April 3, 1968) is a Canadian Hard rock singer, best known as ex-frontman of Skid Row.

Early life

Bach was born Sebastian Philip Bierk on April 3, 1968 in Freeport, Bahamas, and raised in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, he attended nearby Lakefield College School. He is of Norwegian, French Canadian, and Native American descent. Bach's father was the visual artist David Bierk. He is the brother of retired NHL goaltender Zac Bierk, model/actress Heather Dylan Bierk and Toronto based artists Jeff, Nick Alex and Charles Bierk.

Career

Skid Row

At the time Skid Row did not have a singer, but guitarist Dave Sabo was childhood friends with Jon Bon Jovi who had an agreement that if one of them made it big that they would bring the other one up with them. Bon Jovi made it big and still had full intentions of coming through on his promise. One day after one of Bon Jovi's shows, he went to a bar in Toronto where Bach happened to be singing live. After the show Bon Jovi pulled Bach off to the side and told him about Skid Row and their singer issues, and even invited Bach to stay with him at his home in New Jersey so he could audition to be the new singer of Skid Row. As soon as Sabo heard Bach sing, he gave him the job.

In 1989, Bach was heavily criticized for wearing a t-shirt on stage that a fan had thrown to him before he could read it, with the slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead" emblazoned on it, (a parody of the insecticide ad slogan, "Raid: Kills Bugs Dead") after realizing what was on the shirt he reportedly took it off and threw it away. Although he made light of the incident in his original apology (stating that he would've been offended by someone mocking his grandmothers' then-recent death with a "Cancer Kills Grandmas Dead" shirt) Bach has since repeatedly apologized for and disavowed the statement, "That was really stupid and wrong for me to wear that for one half-hour in my life. What nobody brings up is in 2000, when I was in Jekyll & Hyde, and at an auction for Broadway Cares, I donated $12,000 of my own money to fight AIDS."[1]

In 1990, Bach performed with Guns N' Roses and Metallica, on the same stage, at a party held by RIP Magazine, the improvised name for the band was: The Gak.

Bach was eventually fired when he booked a show where Skid Row would have opened for KISS. Other band members told Bach that Skid Row was too big to be a opening act and that they weren´t going to do the show. Bach then left a message on a bandmate´s answering machine telling him that you´re never too big to open up for KISS, and subsequently left the band.

Post-Skid Row

In 1993, Bach provided vocals for Triumph's "Rock N' Roll Machine" during the Q107 Hall of Fame broadcast.

In 1996, Bach formed a rock band called The Last Hard Men, with Frogs guitarist Jimmy Flemion, The Breeders lead guitarist Kelley Deal, and Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The group recorded a full-length, self-titled album for Atlantic Records, who then opted not to release it. In 1998 it was released on Kelley Deal's label, Nice Records, with no fanfare and a very limited pressing of 1000 CDs. This run may have been sold via mail order only. The album has since been rereleased and can be purchased commercially.

In 2000, Bach began performing in Broadway productions. He made his Broadway debut with the title role in Jekyll & Hyde in April 2000. Although originally only contracted through early September, Bach received good reviews and was asked to extend until October 15. Replacing him was David Hasselhoff, whom Bach mentored slightly during rehearsals. He also appeared as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show in 2001. On November 28, 2001 Bach appeared at New York Steel, a benefit concert held in response to 9/11. He appeared early in the show, left to perform on Broadway, and returned at the end when all performers gathered for a final song.

In early 2002, he became the host of VH1's Forever Wild. In October that same year, Bach was signed to perform in the national touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar, playing the title role alongside JCS veteran Carl Anderson (who reprised his familiar role from Broadway and film of Judas Iscariot). On April 2003, following a disagreement with the director, Bach was fired for alleged diva-like behavior. He has said if he ever did the show again, he would like to try the role of Judas next time. A DVD video of live performances called Forever Wild was released in June 2004. That same year, he reprised the title role(s) in another showing of Jekyll and Hyde.

Sometime in 2003, Bach tried out for Velvet Revolver before the band found Scott Weiland, but was turned down because, according to Slash, "We sounded like Skid Roses!"

From 2004 to 2007, Bach had a recurring role on the WB television show Gilmore Girls as "Gil", the lead guitarist in Lane Kim's band, Hep Alien.

In 2005, Bach cooperated with Henning Pauly to be the singer on the Frameshift album called An Absence of Empathy, which was released in April 2005.

He still performs with his band, Sebastian Bach (formerly noted as Bach Tight Five and Sebastian Bach and Friends). Members of Bach Tight Five lived with him and his family as recently documented on VH1's "I Married ...Sebastian Bach", one of the "I Married ..." series. Stars also included Dee Snider, of the rock band, Twisted Sister.

On May 12 and May 14, 2006 at the Guns N' Roses' warmup show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, Bach joined Axl Rose on stage for the song "My Michelle"..... He joined Rose and gang for a third time the following night (May 15) to sing "My Michelle" once again. He also joined them for their Pre-Download Festival show in the Apollo Hammersmith, London, singing My Michelle. Rose introduced Bach by saying that the two had rekindled their friendship in the previous week after 13 years of not speaking. On June 4, 9 & 11 he again joined Rose on stage at the 2006 Gods of Metal Festival (Milan), Download Festival in RDS Dublin and in Donington, respectively. He also appeared on several other tour dates during GN'R's European tour. On September 23, 2006, he joined Axl on stage once again at KROQ's Inland Invasion festival in California for a rendition of "My Michelle". On July 30, 2006, Bach filled in for an ailing Axl Rose for “Nightrain” and the encore “Paradise City". He has also recently performed backing vocals on the song "Sorry", from Guns N' Roses new 2008 album Chinese Democracy.

Bach is currently touring as an opening act for GNR's Chinese Democracy tour 2009-2010, and still performs "My Michelle" with Axl Rose on some nights (at least in Quebec City on February 1).

SuperGroup And Relaunch Into The Rock Scene

Bach starred with Ted Nugent, Evan Seinfeld, Jason Bonham and Scott Ian on the VH1 show SuperGroup as of May 2006. The musicians formed a band called Damnocracy for the reality show, during which they lived in a mansion in Las Vegas for twelve days and created music. On the show Bach was very much the centerpiece of the conflict throughout,[original research?] with publicists[who?] citing his closed mindedness and inability to compromise (he would often turn down press obligations to 'work out' or 'go running') as reasons for him being difficult to work with. His bandmates, particularly Evan Seinfeld, had major issues with his drinking problems which became more obvious as the show progressed. Seinfeld, a recovering alcoholic himself, was roughousing with Bach on a night when he was drunk when Bach slammed his head into the floor. Seinfeld proceeded to snap at him and nearly hit him. The next day Bach apologized to Seinfeld but disobeyed Seinfeld's orders to stop drinking. Eventually Seinfeld came to Ted Nugent to get Bach to stop drinking, and although it was difficult for him, Bach had gained sobriety by the end of the show.[citation needed]

The most well known moment from Supergroup was in the show's 4th episode, in which, after the rest of the band agrees on the name "Godwar", Bach suddenly conceives the name "Savage Animal", which he becomes obsessed with, and continues to insist to his band mates and other officials that "rolls off his tongue" and that "Rock N' Roll is a Savage Animal". It is not until the band's final meeting where Bach himself comes up with the name "Damnocracy" that "Savage Animal" is forgotten. It has been parodied on websites including YTMND and Blabbermouth and there are even T-Shirts for sale which parody the instance. Despite this leading to Bach's public portrayal as sort of a dopey musician, he took the fanfare following the name very lightly and even performed a concert with Scott Ian and other members of Anthrax, performing Damnocracy music, under the name "Savage Animal" and has since dubbed his own backing band "Savage Animal".

Bach had by far more turbulent relationships than anyone else on the show. He had a very mixed relationship with the bands publicists and manager Doc McGhee. He for the most part got along very well with Evan Seinfeld (who had been his friend previously) despite quite a few rocky turns involving Bach's alcohol problems. He appeared to be friendly with Scott Ian and Jason Bonham, although Bonham in particular expressed distaste with his sometimes erratic behavior. Despite this, Bach became very close to Ted Nugent, who he had listened to since childhood and looked up to as a father figure, going as far as to put Nugent in the role of his deceased father. However, at a November 5, 2006 Guns N' Roses concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Bach referred to a SuperGroup episode where he promised Ted he would quit drinking, and claimed that he had lied. Bach had previously said that he had taken offense at disparaging comments Nugent had made about Dimebag Darrell. In 2008 Bach and Nugent reconciled their relationship, and Bach regained his sobriety.[2]

On September 13, 2006, during a show at Selinas in Sydney, Bach stormed off stage during the encore. After two earlier similar incidents, Bach had warned the crowd that the throwing of any more plastic bottles and/or cans onto the stage would lead to him walking off. As the encore began (Youth Gone Wild), Bach was hit by a plastic cup, threw down the mic and left the stage.

Bach during the tour with Guns N' Roses, at Wembley Arena, London in 2006.

On September 28, 2006, he appeared on Celebrity Duets singing with Hal Sparks. Bach later was on the road with Guns N' Roses, touring around the world until late 2006.

In 2007, on an episode of the Trailer Park Boys season seven titled Friends of the Road, Bach played himself as a celebrity guest hosting a model train convention. He later meets Ricky and Julian in a parking lot to smoke marijuana. In episode "Going Off the Rails On the Swayze Train" in the same season, Bach returns as the accomplice on the American side of the border helping to facilitate a drug deal over the border.

During beginning of June 2007 Bach headlined a tour of Japan, playing to Japanese fans in Nagoya, Osaka and 2 nights in Tokyo. His touring band consisted of "Metal" Mike Chlasciak on guitar, Johnny Chromatic on guitar, Rob De Luca on bass and Jason West on drums filling in for the injured Bobby Jarzombek. After the Japanese tour, his band supported the Australian & New Zealand Guns N' Roses 'Chinese Democracy' tour.

Bach announced a partnership record label with EMI to jointly create a label owned by Bach, including his album Angel Down, which was released on November 20, 2007. Bach also recorded backing vocals for a track on Guns N' Roses' long-delayed album, Chinese Democracy, which was released on November 23, 2008.

Bach appeared on an MTV television show, Celebrity Rap Superstar. Celebrity Rap Superstar involves eight celebrities, one being Bach, hailing from the worlds of music, TV, film, sports and more to compete in a winner-takes-all rap contest. The show began on August 30, 2007 with Bach performing "Mama said Knock You Out" with coaching help from rapper Kurupt. Soon after this appearance, a remix was posted on YouTube that brought a possible rap career-move into question. During the third episode of the show, Bach worked an announcement of the upcoming "Angel Down" CD into his original composed rap, and also mentioned his team-up with Axl Rose. He managed to finish in third place losing to runner up Playboy model and The Girls Next Door star Kendra Wilkinson and to Shar Jackson, who was crowned the first Celebrity Rap Superstar on the show.

Sebastian Bach spent the summer of 2008 playing with Poison and Dokken. He also did a solo Australian tour in May & has been working on new songs with Jamey Jasta from HATEBREED, for the follow up to his Angel Down CD.

Sebastian Bach was also the winner of the second season of the CMT reality show, Gone Country."[3]

On May 6, 2008, Sebastian Bach was interviewed on The Buckethead Show on Tampa's 98 Rock radio station about the rumors concering him being considered for the position of lead singer in Velvet Revolver, after the split from Scott Weiland. He said that he actually spoke to Slash recently, but also that joining Velvet Revolver will be very awkward for him and unlikely, stating he prefers his latest solo record Angel Down material to the songs on all of Velvet Revolver's records, and that since he is very good friends with Axl Rose, he said he would feel uncomfortable to sing Axl's songs (referring to Guns N' Roses covers that the band performs on live shows), although he finished off with saying:

"I love Guns N' Roses material, but I've got my own old songs — Skid Row — so for me, it would all depend on music. I wouldn't just join the band just to join the band. If we came up with some incredible new songs, then maybe I'd think about it."[4]

Bach confirmed in an interview with the band that he does not want the Velvet Revolver gig due to his close relationship with Axl Rose."[5]

In an interview published on July 23, when asked about the future, Bach said "I've got four songs that I'm working on with Jamey; who knows what will happen with that, but I make whatever music I want to make, and when you ask what's in the future, I don't look at other bands for inspiration or whatever. I don't follow trends, I'm not a trendy guy, but the biggest bands right now in 2008 have been doing it their whole lives, like the Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, Heaven and Hell, Ozzy, Van Halen is the biggest band in America now, the Police, Genesis, Aerosmith, Mötley Crüe for that matter. They've all been doing it way longer than me, and if all those bands I've just mentioned are still rockin', I'm just getting warmed up compared to them (laughs)."[6]

Sebastian Bach live at Norway Rock Festival in 2010

Bach released his first single to the airwaves of "Battle With The Bottle", which is now airing across America on CMT and Country Radio Stations everywhere.[citation needed]

Bach was set to open up for Guns N' Roses along with Danko Jones on the Canadian dates of their upcoming tour.[7]

Sebastian Bach is featured in the latest season of Celebrity Fit Club that premiered on February 15, 2010. Bach joins the cast which includes Kevin Federline, Bobby Brown, and others.

Personal life

Bach and his wife, Maria Bierk, have three children, 2 sons, and 1 daughter. Their names are: Paris, London, and Sebastiana. His daughter, Sebastiana, was born in 2007. They currently resides in Lincroft, New Jersey, United States.

His son Paris was formerly the drummer of Thrash Metal band Severed Hand, who opened up for him on occasion and were also featured on the VH1 special I Married Sebastian Bach.

Discography

With Kid Wikkid

1985 Kid Wikkid / "Maple Metal" / LP & cassette / Attic Records / "Take A Look At Me"/ Canada

With Skid Row

With The Last Hard Men

Solo

With Frameshift

Guest appearances

Twisted Forever - A Tribute To The Legendary Twisted Sister(2001)

Videos

Stage work

  • Jekyll & Hyde – Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde (2000)
  • The Rocky Horror Show – Riff Raff (2001)
  • Jesus Christ Superstar – Jesus of Nazareth (2002–2003)
  • Jekyll & Hyde – Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde (2004) Raleigh Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, North Carolina

Filmography

VH1's STRANGE FREQUENCY

References

  1. ^ Orlando Weekly - Columns Story - Rockin' out with Jesus
  2. ^ "2 Music Geeks' Podcast 10: Metal--Featuring Sebastian Bach". 2musicgeeks.com. 2008-03-18.
  3. ^ CMT : News : Cast Announced for Season Two of Gone Country
  4. ^ Joining Velvet Revolver Would Be Awkward For Bach | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com
  5. ^ Bach Doesn't Want Velvet Revolver Gig - A Top Story This Week - antiMUSIC News
  6. ^ Komodo Rock Talks With Sebastian Bach
  7. ^ http://www.livenation.com/artist/sebastian-bach-tickets
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