Eric Martin

Early years

Eric Martin was born on October 10, 1960, to Frederick Lee "Pepper" Martin and Iris Martin. His father was from Cincinnati, Ohio, having been a drummer and was stationed in the military. As such, his family often moved where he was stationed, including to Germany and Italy. As a child, he had plenty of records and listened to albums to musicals such as South Pacific and Hair. They eventually moved to Sacramento, California.

The Martin family finally settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in about 1972. Martin met up with some of the band members who would join him in his first successful venture: Kid Courage. Kid Courage opened for AC/DC for two shows in the Bay Area, which were AC/DC's first shows in America.

Martin was a drummer for a short while. Realizing it fit his personality better, he opted for frontman/lead vocalist in the next bands he joined. He played in a handful of teen rock groups with Randy Richardson, Fil Pearl and Ric Walz-Smith, such as S.F. Bloodshy and Backhome while attending Foothill High School in Sacramento, California. He performed in a punk band in the mid-1970s called The Innocents with Walz-Smith and Connie Champagne. In 1974 Eric played college clubs with Jim Preston in The J.C. Michaels Band.

Also in 1974, during the summer break, Martin joined a musical comedy workshop held at Mira Loma High School in Sacramento. He auditioned for the part of Judas; although he ultimately did not get the role, he did become the understudy. Martin credits the honing of his voice to his teacher, Judy Davis. She taught him diction, stamina, and breath-control.

Eric started to make it big when he joined Stark Raving Mad (which also included future Winger guitarist/keyboardist Paul Taylor) in Santa Rosa, California. Stark Raving Mad, which also included Donavan Stark and Brian Stark, cut a demo with Bearsville Records that was produced by Chris Nicks, brother of Stevie Nicks.

Musical influences

Martin grew up listening to both soul and rock icons in the 1970s, such as Otis Redding, Paul Rodgers, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Edgar Winter, Free, and Humble Pie. When he was about 13 to 15 years old, while living in Italy, he was introduced musically to different artists under Motown Records and Stax/Volt Records.

Career

415 / Eric Martin Band (1978–1985)

Martin had decided to live independently by the age of 18. His first job was selling ice-cream. Later, John Nymann, guitarist for the band Mile Hi, gave him a call and asked if he would want to form a new band together. The two had known each other since their former bands (Mile Hi and Kid Courage) had played together at the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway in San Francisco. In agreement, Nymann and Martin got people together from both their previous bands, and formed a new group named 415 – which was the telephone area code for the San Francisco Bay Area, since every person in the band was from there.

415 was formed in late 1979. It marked the start of Martin's career as lead vocalist. He stated, "415 played hundreds of shows at area nightclubs, beer parties, even high school and college dances, before eventually headlining San Francisco's premiere night club – the Old Waldorf. Selling out in advance, word quickly spread about our dynamic live shows and soon we were opening for established acts like Billy Squier, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, Molly Hatchet, the Marshall Tucker Band, and Foreigner, to name a few. Eventually, without yet being signed to a recording contract, we played in front of 60,000 fans at Oakland Stadium at Bill Graham's Days on the Green Concert." The band became a popular local draw, all the while still being an unsigned act.

415 was later signed on to Elektra/Asylum Records under the management of Walter "Herbie" Herbert, Ron Chiarottino, and Sandy Einstein. These three persons managed and worked for the band Journey. The management decided to change the name of the band to the Eric Martin Band (EMB), as singer-named bands were popular during that time. EMB debuted their first album in 1983, entitled Sucker for a Pretty Face. The LP received a gold disc (certification?), and consequently led to the band's appearance on American Bandstand and in various arena tours as the opening act for ZZ Top, Night Ranger, and Journey. In one interview, Eric mentions that they "worked thousands of shows, from clubs, to frat house parties, Bill Graham concerts, opening for anybody and everybody." One of the most acclaimed performances of the band was a solo tour in 1983 held at Honolulu, Hawaii. But despite continuing to land high-profile gigs as support for some of the most popular acts at the time, the band decided to split up in 1985 after returning from the ZZ Top tour.

During this period, Eric was considered for the position of lead singer for the band Toto on two occasions (replacing Bobby Kimball following his vocal issues) and then to replace David Lee Roth following his departure from Van Halen. Eric had an audition with Toto but following a "liquid lunch", the session didn't result in all members agreeing to him joining, though Steve Lukather was a strong advocate. In 1985, Eddie Van Halen heard a tape of Eric and invited him to audition. At San Francisco airport on the way to Los Angeles to meet with Van Halen, Eric met Sammy Hagar in the departure lounge who told him that he was on his way down to LA as he had already been told he was the new vocalist, so Eric did not take the flight so did not have the audition. Hagar indeed did become the new lead singer.

Mr. Big (1988–2002, 2009–present)

In 1988, Martin teamed up with Billy Sheehan, Pat Torpey, and Paul Gilbert to form Los Angeles supergroup Mr. Big. The band combined "shredding" musicianship with melodic vocal harmonies. The reputations of the players generated immediate interest in fellow musicians, and the band was signed to Atlantic Records in 1989. That year, the band released their eponymous debut, which received critical and commercial success in the US and Japan. In June 1990, the group toured America with the Canadian band Rush.

The group's 1991 release, Lean into It, featured two ballads that established them as a commercial success: "To Be with You" (number one song in 15 countries) and "Just Take My Heart". The album was followed by a British tour in April and May of the same year, supported by bands The Throbs and Heartland.

After another British tour, the band released the Mr. Big Live album in 1992. Mr. Big continued work on a third album as they headlined shows across the U.K. in 1993. In December, the band broke away from this run to play as support act for Aerosmith's three-night, sold-out stand at London's Wembley Arena.

In 1993, another ballad from Mr. Big's new album Bump Ahead rose to the top 10 of the charts – a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World". Although the band was unable to sustain commercial success in the US, their popularity in Japan continued to soar, leading to several Japan-only live albums as Raw Like Sushi I, Raw Like Sushi II, Japandemonium, and Mr. Big in Japan In 1996, Mr. Big released Hey Man, which sold strongly in the Far East. In 1997, the band released the album Live At Budokan before taking a break from recording and touring.

While recording their fifth studio album, Paul Gilbert announced his decision to leave the band, and new guitarist Richie Kotzen was added to the lineup. The new line-up of Mr. Big released Get Over It in September 1999 in Japan. Get Over It yielded "Superfantastic", a number one hit in Japan that went multi-platinum. Mr. Big put in a 20-date tour of Japan followed by a New Year's Eve 1999 show with Aerosmith at the Osaka Dome in Osaka. Get Over It was released in the U.S. on March 21, 2000, followed by a short club stint at The Roxy Theater in West Hollywood.

Solo projects (1998–present)

While in Mr. Big, Martin was also involved in other projects on the side. In 1995, Martin was the vocalist in The Power Rangers Orchestra, which also featured Guns N' Roses member Matt Sorum. Their version of "Go Go Power Rangers" was featured in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Martin's third solo album, Somewhere in the Middle, was written during the two-year hiatus from Mr. Big. The CD was completed in 1998 and released in Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Strong Japanese sales prompted a 1998 tour.

In between promoting and preparing for Mr. Big's 2002 "Farewell Tour", Martin continued to record songs for his fourth solo album. He promised a return to his "rawk roots" and he definitely did so with "I'm Goin' Sane" which was released in Asia, Europe, and the US in late 2002. After the success of a Japan tour, an appearance at the European "Gods Festival", and a 23-city US tour, Martin decided to go back to the studio to record Pure, an EP that covers his hits in an unplugged and stripped-down acoustic form. In 2003, Martin contributed his version of "Cheer Up" to the Japanese release Sincerely 2 – Mariya Takeuchi Song Book album. He also came to attention outside of his priority solo activities, portraying the character "Mr. Niko" for a 2004 "Genius" outing In Search of The Little Prince.

Martin later recorded another album entitled Destroy All Monsters, which would then be released in Japan, Europe, the US, and South America in 2004. The album's sound is something Eric calls "distorted pop" with a focus on his rock roots.

Later in 2002, Martin was contacted by Tak Matsumoto. Tak's band, B'z, has sold over 80 million records and held onto success for over 20 years in Japan. Tak decided to put together a rock band called Tak Matsumoto Group, or TMG, with his favorite players; this would include Martin on vocals, Jack Blades (Night Ranger/Damn Yankees) on bass, and himself on guitar. They spent four months writing and recording an album in Los Angeles, did a 10-day promotional tour in Japan, quickly followed by a Platinum album, and a 20-city sold-out tour from July to September, ending at the Budokan. The Japanese tour for TMG saw the inclusion of Mr. Big's "To Be with You" in the setlist.

TMG was among the top five bands on melodicrock.com during that time, but the band no longer pursued tours beyond Japan.

Discography

Solo albums

Eric Martin (1985)

I'm Only Fooling Myself (1987)

Somewhere in the Middle (1998)

I'm Goin' Sane (2002)

Destroy All Monsters (2004)

Mr. Vocalist (2008)

Mr. Vocalist 2 / Timeless (2009)

Mr. Vocalist X'Mas (2009)

Mr. Vocalist 3 (2010)

Mr. Rock Vocalist (2012) *Open Your Heart (2026

Compilation albums

Soul Sessions: The Capitol Years (1996)

Love Is Alive: Works of 1985–2010 (2010)

Mr. Vocalist Best (2011)

Extended plays

Pure (2003)

Eric Martin Band

Sucker for a Pretty Face (1983)

Tak Matsumoto Group

TMG I (2004)

TMG II (2024)

Guest appearances

Big Trouble – Big Trouble (1987; duet on the track "What About You And Me)

Michael Bolton – The Hunger (1987)

Signal – Loud & Clear (1989)

Todd Rundgren – Nearly Human (1989)

Europe – Prisoners in Paradise (1991; co-writer of "All or Nothing")

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 (1991)

Laura Branigan – Over My Heart (1993; co-writer of "Over My Heart")

Sammy Hagar – Marching to Mars (1997; vocals on "Who Has The Right?")

Mogg/Way – Edge of the World (1997)

Lebocat – Flo's Barbershop (2002)

Harry Hess – Just Another Day (2003)

Mariya Takeuchi – Sincerely, Vol. 2: Mariya Takeuchi Song Book (2003)

Various artists – Genius: A Rock Opera, Episode 2: In Search of the Little Prince (2004; as "Mr. Niko")

Richie Zito's Avalon – Avalon (2006)

Various artists – Genius: A Rock Opera, Episode 3: The Final Surprise (2007; as "Mr. Niko")

Ted Nugent – Love Grenade (2007)

T-Square – 33 (2007)

Jun Senoue – The Works (2009)

Tribute album appearances

Working Man – A Tribute to Rush (1996)

Siam Shade Tribute (2010)

Mister Bolin's Late Night Revival (2011)

Sin-Atra (2011)

Working Class Dogs: A Tribute to Rick Springfield (2012)

L'Arc-en-Ciel Tribute (2012)

Soundtrack appearances

Teachers soundtrack (1984) ("I Can't Stop the Fire")

Iron Eagle soundtrack (1986) ("These Are the Good Times" and "Eyes of the World")

The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (1993) ("Swing Time")

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers soundtrack (1995)

Mad About You - Music from the Television Series (1997) ("I Love The Way You Love Me")

Daytona USA Circuit Edition soundtrack (1997)

Pride Fighting Championships theme song "Last Man Standing" (2006)