 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Eric Singer" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Eric Singer | |
|---|---|
 Singer in 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Eric Doyle Mensinger |
| Born | (1958-05-12)May 12, 1958 (age 66) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Drummer |
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Member of | ESP, Paul Stanley's Soul Station |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | eric-singer |
Eric Singer (bornEric Doyle Mensinger; May 12, 1958) is an American drummer. Associated with the hard rock bandKiss on and off from 1991 until the band's retirement in 2023, he has also performed with artists such asBlack Sabbath,Alice Cooper,Lita Ford,Badlands,Brian May andGary Moore as well as his own bandESP. In his career, Singer has appeared on over 75 albums and 11 EPs.
.jpg)
Singer was born May 12, 1958, Eric Doyle Mensinger inCleveland, Ohio. He grew up inEuclid, Ohio. He graduated fromEuclid 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 United States to Europe and back.[1][2][3][4] Eric's brother Jon Mensinger was a principal dancer for theMark Morris Dance Group inNew York.[5] Young Eric began playing drums from an early age, and was inspired by bands such asHumble Pie,the Who,Led Zeppelin,Black Sabbath,the Beatles andQueen and drummers such asJohn Bonham,Keith Moon,Cozy Powell,Roger Taylor,Bill Ward, andBuddy 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 becameLita Ford's touring drummer in 1984. In 1985 he joinedBlack Sabbath and recorded and toured to support theSeventh Star album. In 1987, during the recordings ofThe Eternal Idol he left the band to tour withGary Moore band in support of his albumWild Frontier. After the tour, he was invited by his Black Sabbath colleagueRay Gillen to joinBadlands. Singer accepted and played on the band's self-titled debut album. Singer left the group in 1989 as he would joinPaul Stanley as his touring drummer on his solo tour of the United States and Canada. Singer played withOlivia Newton-John in the music video for "Culture Shock". He later revealed in an interview that he obtained that gig because he was working forLita Ford at the time.[6]
In December 1991, Singer officially became the drummer forKiss after the death ofEric Carr. Singer, who had performed with Paul Stanley on his club tour along withBob Kulick two years earlier, was hired and debuted with the band on the albumRevenge, on which he was originally slated to fill in on some tracks while Eric Carr recuperated fromheart cancer.[7] Singer played onCarnival of Souls: The Final Sessions and toured with Kiss until 1996, when the band reunited with original drummerPeter Criss and guitaristAce Frehley for theAlive/Worldwide Tour.
After five relatively quiet years, during which Singer toured withQueen guitaristBrian 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 afterGene Simmons andPaul 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 guitaristTommy Thayer, played and sang on the Kiss albumSonic 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 albumMonster 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 withAlice Cooper. Singer had been a member of Cooper's band since the release of the albumBrutal Planet in 2000. Singer had already performed with Cooper years earlier, during the tours for the albumTrash andHey Stoopid. Singer has been featured on three Alice Cooper albums to date, namely,Brutal Planet,The Eyes of Alice Cooper, andAlong 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 theEric Singer Project (ESP).
He performed and recorded with his band ESP, featuring, among others, his former Kiss bandmateBruce Kulick and formerMötley Crüe lead singerJohn Corabi. Three releases have resulted from this collaboration: the studio albumLost and Spaced (1998), consisting completely of covers from classic rock songs; the live albumLive in Japan (2006); and the DVDLive at the Marquee (2006).
Singer has also played in the bandAvantasia, replacing drummerAlex Holzwarth after a guest performance in the song "Into the Unknown" from the albumThe Metal Opera Part II. TwoEPs and one full album have been released with Singer's performance on the drums:Lost in Space Part I,Lost in Space Part II, andThe Scarecrow, and on several songs fromThe Wicked Symphony andAngel of Babylon.
In 1989, he made a brief appearance in theWes Craven filmShocker, 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 usedPearl drums, hardware and pedals;Remo and Terry Bozzio Attack signature drumheads;Zildjian cymbals and drumsticks; andddrum 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.
| Preceded by | Drummer for Kiss 1991–1996 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Drummer for Kiss 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Drummer for Kiss 2004–current | Succeeded by Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
