Mr. Big - What Happened to the Band Behind 'To Be With You'?

Mr. Big - What happened to the band behind songs like to be with you and wild world
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I’ve had a lot of requests for this band, so let’s talk about the history of the group Mr. Big.
Mr. Big would sometimes be lumped in with the glam metal bands of the sunset strip and just seen as yet another LA band. They would sprout up at the tail end of the whole glam metal scene in the late 80’s and The history of the band began with bassist Billy Sheehan.
Sheehan’s start in music began in his hometown of buffalo where he started playing guitar before trading it in for a bass and forming a band a band called Talas in 1972.. They had some regional success, putting out three records and even toured with van halen in 1984. Sheehan even played briefly with English band UFO in the early 80’s after Talas had opened for them. It was during that tour Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth took notice of the young bassist.. It was following David Lee Roth leaving Van Halen in 1985 that he enlisted Sheehan to be his band.. Also playing with Roth was guitarist Steve Via and Sheehan thought the band was going to have significant potential. The band collectively recorded Roth’s Debut LP 1986’s Eat Em and Smile. But when it came time to record Roth’s follow up record, 1988 Skyscraper, that collaborative relationship changed int he studio. Sheehan would tell the record newspaper “compare the first two albums and you can hear how manufactured skyscraper sounds. We recorded all our parts separately and i never even heard the complete album until it was released.” He would tell the valley advocate springfield that the album had too many synthesizers on it and he felt too constricted trying to write his parts for the album. It was this experience that gave him an outline of what he wanted to do with his next band, which would be Mr. Big he would add “From my stint as a sideman, I learned that democracy works best.”
There were rumors following Sheehan’s exit, that the bassist was going to be joining ex-billy idol guitarist Steve Stevens at the time. Sheehan was also getting offered solo deals by record labels including Mr. Big’s future home Atlantic Records. It would be mike varney of guitar player magazine who ended up connecting Sheehan with vocalists. Sheehan would reach out to Van Halen producer Ted templeman when it came to finding out the hottest guitar player was at the time. He pointed Sheehan in the direction of Paul Gilbert who the bassist already knew. It turned out Gilbert had played in a band that opened for Talas a number of times in Pittsburgh. Funny enough years later in 1985 in LA, Sheehan was a judge at a guitar wars contest revealing to the buffalo news, one of the contestants was Gilbert, who won the contest. Add to that Sheehan had seen a number of Racer X shows and it was destiny that these two guys were going to play together.
Sheehan would tell the buffalo news When i found out he wasn’t as stably in racer x as i had thought, i called him up and said listen I’ve got Eric Martin to start a band with and he goes Eric Martin you’re kidding. I’ve been listening to him for the last 3 or 4 weeks trying to find out a way to get in touch with him myself. So ironically that’s how it went down.” Drummer Pat Torpey (Tore -pee) would enter the picture when Sheehan met him during as they sang backup vocals for David Lee Roth’s planned tour for Skyscraper and the plan was for the backup vocals to be sampled. Pat also did background vocals on the last motley crue record as well. Torpey, had already amassed an impressive resume touring with Robert Plant, Belinda Carlisle, The Knack and Ted Nugent rounded out the lineup. Within 16 months they got a record deal and released their first album.
It was in April of 1988 of that Sheehan began assembling the components of another band telling the LA Times “The plan was to have a band like the British bands of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s-like Humble Pie and Bad Company that had a bluesy, wailing R&B; singer fronting a heavy-rock band,” Calling themselves Mr. Big, the band would take their name of a song by british group free. The band soon had a big time manager herbie herbert who had managed Journey.
The word that’s continually brought up in Mr. Big’s early days was

[@rnrtruestories]

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[@djpalac]

Loved that in the mid 90s all the little girls in my high school bought their album for 'To Be With You' and then were upset the rest of the album was some pretty serious hard rock.

[@noahh2338]

They were listening to me big in high school, in 1995?? That's weird, by that time grunge and hip hop were all the rage at my school..

[@tarriklecha5553]

I loved the rest of the album. It surprised me, but I loved it.

[@fuzzmangr]

Saw them live last Saturday and Sunday. They kick ass.

[@sergioromanomunoz8155]

You forgot to tell that they had another Top 40 hit in the spring of 1994 with a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World".

[@ThisIsMeOnYoutube]

Today is Paul's 57th birthday, so happy birthday, Paul. I saw them today, in 1989, in a small club on their first tour. Being a bass player, Billy had been on my radar for years, and I got to see him on the Eat 'Em and Smile tour with DLR, and I knew Paul from Racer X. It was Paul's 23rd birthday, and during the guitar solo, Billy, Eric, and Pat snuck up behind him, mashed his birthday cake over his head, and sang Happy Birthday. That was about halfway through their set, so he had to play the rest of the show covered in cake. After the show, Eric and Pat partied with us at the bar. I assumed Paul was taking a shower to remove the cake, and Billy was doing something else. Thanks for the good times; you guys had a great run. RIP Pat.

[@ronaldwilson9525]

Just to correct a mistake. Paul Gilbert didn’t write To Be With You. Eric Martin did. But this was a great retrospective on one of my favorite bands.

[@bobthebear1246]

R.I.P. Pat Torpey. 🌹 Absolute beast of a drummer. This band had so much talent in just those four guys, it was unreal. It's good they had some success as fleeting as it was, but it's just too bad that they couldn't really make it on their own typical sound, which by the way was top-notch Metal. They had a great charismatic lead singer, an absolute beast of a drummer, and a Top 5 bassist AND guitarist. I love "Addicted To That Rush" and "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy."

[@RolandDeschain1]

'Green-Tinted Sixties Mind' is a brilliant song. I was so proud when I learned to play it in the bass. It's pretty simple by Billy Sheehan's standards.

[@lorigoshert6667]

I'd forgotten about that song! Now that I remember, it was my favorite song on the album. The whole album was really good.

[@andreveach7520]

"Green-Tinted Sixties Mind" is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE songs!!!!!!!!

[@brandonpage7087]

Wow!!! These guys deserve more respect!!! I had no idea they were a supergroup, with such awesome musical backstories!! Like most everyone else, i've always only known them for "to be with you", & mistook them for just another glam metal band. Also, David Lee Roth had a band that featured both Billy Sheehan & Steve Vai!! How awesome is that???

[@MikeInExile]

I saw Mr. Big open for Rush at Reunion Arena here in Dallas back in the day. I remember saying their lead singer looked like a high school kid! :-)

[@severinlourenco8355]

Mr Big is an amazing band on their albums and live shows, I've seen them many times and always had a great time. 👍

[@khill3524]

One of the best bands ever! I feel their albums are great from start to finish. Thank you guys for all the great music!

[@schmidington]

Billy Sheehan is one of my favorite bassists. That man has phenomenal talent.

[@menom7]

I first started to listen to Mr. Big when they opened for RUSH!!! I have ALWAYS followed RUSH,and listening to them as an opening act,I immediately went out an bought their album and their Debut album and started listening to them all the more!!! As Sheen has said in this video............I liked them because they sounded "Real"!!! There was no OVERDUB,electronic gizmo Bulls**t down in the studio!!! It's a shame that bands like that,didn't sell well.............because they were a great band!!!

[@MrSeanwick1969]

Bump Ahead, the follow up to Lean Into It, was an excellent album. Great covers of Wild World (Cat Stevens) and Mr. Big (Free) as well as a track with one of the most amazing bass/lead guitar melodies in Mr. Gone.

[@silentskystudios]

LOVE LOVE LOVE Mr. Big! One of my all-time favorite bands and all-time favorite drummers (Pat Torpey, R.I.P.) ! They're touring right now with Nick D'Virgilio on drums. I've got my tickets for the Nashville show. Go see them while you still can!

[@vandavis000]

I love erics voice .

[@jeremyz4623]

I would love to see some of these bands sit down with you to talk about the old days!

[@paulwoodcock764]

touring now

[@thiagots85]

I remember starting an intern job and "Greatest hits" being one of the albuns I got with my first pay in 2003. From start to finish that album is perfection.

[@kristalbartmann5504]

I'm a die hard Mr. Big. I own all of their releases except for the imports. And a few of Eric Martin's solo projects

[@mlauri30]

Most people only knew them for their ballads, but they were so much more than that.

[@ninerjamie]

Been following Eric for a long time. Since I lived in Bay Area, got to see his band 415 at least a couple times a month. I was also blessed to have seen a couple of those shows before their first album came out. Looking forward to celebrating the band next month with 2 shows of The Big Finish Tour. And thanking them for 34 years of being the soundtrack to my life. 🤘😎🤘

[@WhoisVinnie]

R.I.P. Pat Torpey

[@seanrichardgreen]

Eric Martin would come into the store I worked at, he’s the nicest guy!

[@stevengoodman3498]

One of the best live acts I've ever seen. Came to our town in the 90s and blew us all away! Amazing hard rock band that always delivers. Thanks for this! 😊

[@Super_Lowcrian]

Hearing that they were worried about people returning the record makes me remember how hard it was to return a CD. Most places wouldn’t let you return it if the cellophane was removed. It also made me think about how many people bought Fear Factory’s Obsolete because of the Gary Numan Cars cover and probably shit their pants when they heard the other tracks.

[@rnrtruestories]

haha yeah. I remember when I did Smash Mouth's career video, apparently Fush Yu Mang was one of the most returned albums in history according to producer Eric Valentine because Walkin' On the Sun was so different from the rest of the record.

[@Arbigale]

MR. BIG = TRUE BIG INSPIRATION. ONE OF THE BEST BANDS ON EARTH

[@shannonaustin9053]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for putting the time into making this ❤

[@vandavis000]

Lovemrbig❤

[@djbone604]

Brilliant information! I find your “bullet-points” only delivery style is fantastic 👍 No filler just killer updates on music of my youth. Well done sir! New sub 🇨🇦

[@rnrtruestories]

thank you! I just try to stick to facts and create somewhat of a narrative the best I can.

[@widowrumstrypze9705]

@@rnrtruestories I concur! No bs, no sappy waxings, just GREAT info!

[@planet6393]

Chocked full of talent!

[@angelinathedrifter]

❤ takes me down memory lane, tis song was te so called Anthem ' of our boarding school tos days 🎉

[@moneyball32]

It’s crazy that this band was formed by literally looking for the best of the best and they wrote some absolute bangers and still only known for To Be With You. One of the best bands of all time in my opinion.

[@buckster2575]

Addicted to that rush loved that song way back in 89🤘.

[@seethroughhead505]

A few friendly corrections: The Talas/VH tour was in 1980 TBWY started to pick up steam in late '91 and had its major success in '92 The song was written by Eric Martin

[@williamyates694]

Was wondering if anyone else was gonna point that out lol...

[@angryagain3801]

I noticed the same mistake plus another one at the end where he eludes to the band losing their record deal after the 3rd album. Not true .

[@seethroughhead505]

@@angryagain3801That's right - they remained with Atlantic for several more years.

[@angryagain3801]

@@seethroughhead505 yes this guy really dropped the ball on researching Mr Big.

[@Camcodrummer]

Was never a huge fan of theirs but the players were all fantastic. I was a Gilbert fan since the late 80s with RacerX.. Pat Torpey was a great drummer and Sheehan is amazing as well.

[@ivi13]

Goin to see them on their farewell tour.

[@luciencavalcante23]

Wild World and To be with You were hits in Brazil

[@juanramirez-wk8ty]

Always loved Paul Gilbert going back to his Racer X days, a beast of a guitar virtuoso.

[@roiben-yehuda5642]

Love this band. Just bought tickets to their final tour (very excited as this is my first time seeing them) .

[@ninerjamie]

Oh wow. I've seen them so many times, I sometimes forget how many have never seen them. I met guy at show who'd flown all the way from Brazil to see them first time. So glad they care about their fans enough to do one last album and tour to celebrate 35 years of love.

[@toothnail605]

Saw em open up for Rush, they were top tier solid!

[@blueworldwoman]

Been listening to Eric for 40 years now. Still has the best voice. Great song writer and has never really stopped working and touring. All just top of the game musicians. So glad they are doing one last tour.

[@ninerjamie]

Me too! Are you from the bay area? I'm sure we must know each other, or at least have crossed paths.

[@Alfredo78666]

Mr. Big IS DA SHIET! My favorite full of virtuosos pop band.

[@vandavis000]

Paul Gilbert is an amazing guitarist. Hes really smart too his slide is magnatized to his guitars. Its a metal slide.

[@BangBang-hk4rg]

“To be with You” was my introduction to Mr. Big and caused me to buy that album. I’m so glad I did, because the whole thing rocks from start to finish. Paul Gilbert is an absolute beast on guitar. 🤘

[@shredacuda]

Currently on a USA tour. Just finished recording a new album too

[@bigpelican7302]

These guys are ridiculously popular in Japan.

[@expat74]

CDFF Lucky this time became my favourite song on the Lean into it album.

[@LuigiRBG]

Thanks amigo, I like your channel

[@ampersandmcvinegar5681]

Dude. PG and Sheehan are legends. Mr. Big is on tour right now! Sheehan and Gilbert both were teachers at GIT. They knew each other way before Mr. Big.

[@paulwoodcock764]

seeing them live at the ritz on march 20th for the first time, not sure how its took that long !!!!!

[@zodi71]

Rock City Angels, The Throbs, The Front (Bakers Pink), Hericane Alice, War Babies, Bang Tango, W.A.S.P., London Quireboys... so many.

[@r.edward5701]

Great vid. Forgot about these guys. Never knew any og their back story before. Really interesting

[@nikkiwild4014]

2004 - I partied with Billy Sheehan he is a great player and cool party animal .Still texting jokes once in a while . 2010 - I opened for Paul Gilbert's band. Great gig, awesome player .Guitar God onstage - Geeky student Offstage.

[@bahardan8544]

Ok but I wasn’t expecting seeing the legendary Nikki Wild in the comments section 🙃😻

[@nikkiwild4014]

I'm everywhere ,every section and position @@bahardan8544

[@TheGuitarFreak22]

My favorite Mr.Big album is their second one. I kinda have something in common with Eric. As he was an army brat; I was a navy brat myself in the early 90's and me, my dad, step sister and half brother and sister lived in San Diego California while my dad was stationed on the USS Kittyhawk. But that was during my early childhood.

[@rjc7289]

Razor-sharp chops, tight vocal harmonies and catchy melodies -- what's not to like about this band? They made top-notch musicianship sound easily accessible and catchy to the ear. They could go from shredding neoclassical guitar to acoustic ballads and not skip a beat! For example, that song "Seven Impossible Days" actually has a bass playing the main solo, and it's one of the most melodic bass lines Billy Sheehan ever put down on tape! Well, that and the non-stop shredding he did on David Lee Roth's "Elephant Gun" prior to Mr. Big's formation, but I digress. It's no surprise this band is Beatles-level huge in Japan! R.I.P. drummer Pat Torpey.

[@williamyates694]

Green Tinted Sixties Mind and Shine were my faves.

[@allanvanuga9196]

Great video.

[@GoldenChed]

Love the tunes that were on the Navy Seals movie 🤘🏻

[@aaronpearson2168]

Green tinted sixties mind was my favorite track off Lean Into It.

[@pdx816]

I just saw Paul Gilbert play a show at a guitar shop/music venue in Portland. He was phenomenal- his sound and tone are amazing. Seemed like a cool guy too.

[@Screechingwhorekats9]

love Mr. Big such great songs full of energy! i watched a documentary where im pretty sure they say Eric came up with 'to be with you' not Paul. Wish i could of seen them in their prime!!

[@humongousfungusamongus3871]

You look as if you've lost weight, you look great! Kudos to youdos.

[@SMELLGOODER]

Cool vid, my guy. What's funny is..... I didn't know that I'd be so interested a video about Mr. Big. Whoodathunk? 🤷🏻‍♂️ Appreciate the content. Just bcuz I don't leave a comment on every video doesn't mean that I'm not watchin every video. 👃😎👃 🤘

[@jeffwilson3527]

I remember being in 9th grade and “to be with you “ kinda being the last hair band song that was huge, nirvana dropped in September and music changed

[@mrscary3105]

Billy is a great guy.

[@masterjake731]

Off to see them in London

[@Golden_Girl7123]

Sheehan is super awesome guy. He is still producing.

[@colleenkeefer2545]

Saw and met Mr. Big twice. First at the Chestnut Cabaret in Philly. Second when they opened for Rush at the Spectrum. At the club, all the rabid guitar guys were packed in front of Paul and all the rabid bass guys were crammed in front of Billy. The press was so hard we nearly got crushed into the stage. As it is, by the end of the show the stage extension was broken. Crazy night but good show. At the arena, the guys came out to the parking lot and hung out preshow. Oh and I love addicted to that Rush!

[@charliebosch3]

You've always have another surprise and interesting story about a band and it's hard work . Jesus Loves You

[@DanielleWhite]

I remember "To Be With You" from when I was in high school but nothing else about them from the time. I liked Todd in the Shadows's take that they managed to have a solid career and notch a hit well in a decade that should have seen them trounced and were a good send-off for the genre.

[@tylerthompson1842]

They suffered the same way Extreme did. They both had very similar hit ballads that were hugely successful. The trouble is none of their other material sounded anything like the hit. If you don’t capitalize on that momentum, especially during the dawn of grunge you’re sunk Edit: I probably should’ve watched the video before commenting lol

[@clausm2203]

Great band

[@davestevens4193]

Currently on tour...maybe their final tour.

[@russob64]

Eric Martin wrote the song “To be With You “ before he was even in Mr Big I don’t think the band would’ve had any hits without Eric Martin and that song

[@thefishingmusicians]

Mt Big is touring again, Asia I think. I just saw some road vlogs from them.

[@ErikShen2907]

R.I.P MAESTRO PAT TORPEY

[@cris_261]

I saw Mr. Big when they were touring with Rush during that band's Roll the Bones tour. I wasn't really into Mr. Big's sound at the time, but they did a good job as an opening act, and sounded good.

[@videonetwork2521]

Eric Martin didnt write " To be with you, he recored with a hand held cassest recorder, from a guy playing and singing it on a stair way leading to Bakersfield College auditorium. The original included the solo that paul plays in it, but was acually the intro to the song. They wrote the verses around the hook!

[@ninerjamie]

Don't know if you made a typo, but Eric DID write 2BWU.

[@TCROCKS666]

I'll see them for the fifth, but also last time in Berlin.

[@POLLOTROM]

Happy Birthday to Paul Gilbert !

[@edwardsanchez3708]

The lead singer from the video to be with you looked just like one of my redhead aunts at the time

[@melissalove2463]

I remember not being able to tell if the lead singer was male or female !

[@guitarhole]

"To Be With You" is the reason I never bought a Mr. Big record. The video made want to break my TV.

[@Ginalopez7877]

I was a kid/teen in the 80s i used watch mtv and was into heavy metal / rock loved Mr.Big

[@erichansen2860]

I saw them open for Rush during the Roll the Bones Tour. Rush was good.

[@arthurmurfitt7698]

Pat put Eric in a choke hold? HAHAHAHAAAAA

[@blueyedmule]

Bump Ahead was a huge album. And the subsequent Winery Dods with Sheehan/Kotzebue is not to be missed!

[@blueyedmule]

Winery Dogs!

[@khill3524]

How would you compare it to Mr Big music?

[@kyletims9572]

Whatever Happened ? They have sold out multiple Arenas in Japan and other countries just this last month

[@Newhavenrailroadpro2006]

Do whatever happened to X Japan behind the endless rain or do whatever happened to loudness behind the crazy nights

[@seangerant653]

racer - x ........do them next !!!!!!

[@deadlyoneable]

So their hit single “just to be with you” was their biggest blessing AND curse.

[@terraaquafirma6631]

What do you mean "What happened to them?" They're playing in Detroit tonight.

[@khill3524]

The best rock band in the world!

[@Vinylrebel72]

Paul Gilbert DID NOT WRITE To Be With You, it was Singer Eric Martin. I know this because I have the interview of that song on VHS, where Eric Martin talks about him writing it.

[@jasondienethal8581]

You should do an episode about Fastway.

[@Jezballz]

No Thanks.

[@jasonmcalister5282]

What happened is simple they had one song and his dad or some family member worked for MTV if I remember rite and after the one hit they wasnt so big any more!

[@vandavis000]

Im sad pat isnt here anymore but nick D'virgilio is a solid drummer to fit in.

[@angryagain3801]

Corporate radio programmers wouldn't play their music . They got a little airplay on the 2nd album but mostly they were ignored and totally disregarded once grunge hit. Looking back at those years it's infuriating how so many talents had their careers detailed by radio programmers that decided this band or that band wasn't cool enough. Corporate dictators have destroyed countless careers . Grateful to say I saw them in August 2023 and it was a fun set. In the video you say they lost their record deal after the 3rd album. Wrong. Nobody in the USA bought those albums but Mr Big absolutely had a record deal and released albums beyond Bump Ahead in the USA

[@1ntwndrboy198]

Heard them open for acdc in 89 their solos were amazing especially the bassist. First time I saw five string. As a band I didn't like the sound 😢