Eric M. Bazilian (born July 21, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band
The Hooters
The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band combines elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music to create its sound.
The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980 ...
. He wrote "
One of Us", a song first recorded by
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...
in 1995.
Early life
Eric Bazilian was born on July 21, 1953 at University of Pennsylvania Hospital to Stanford Bazilian, a
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
, and Barbara Bazilian, a concert pianist. He is Jewish.
Bazilian graduated from
Germantown Friends School
Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Fri ...
and studied physics at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
Career
The Hooters
In college, Bazilian met
Rob Hyman
Robert Andrew Hyman (born April 24, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter, keyboard and accordion player, producer, arranger and recording studio owner, best known for being a founding member of the rock band The Hooters.
Early life
Hyman st ...
.
Together, they formed The Hooters in 1980. Bazilian sings and plays guitar, mandolin, recorder, harmonica, and saxophone in the band.
In 1983, The Hooters began working on their first album. The result, ''
Amore'', was released on the independent label Antenna and sold over 100,000 copies.
[Bashe, P. R., & George-Warren, H., ''The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'' (Third ed.). New York, Fireside, 2005, pp. 442–443]
The band's second album, ''Nervous Night'' (1985), featured the singles “And We Danced”, “Day by Day”, and “All You Zombies”. The album