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-198 ...

. 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 ...

, 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 Fr ...

and studied physics at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

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 ...

. 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 went platinum and sold more than two million copies in the United States. The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980s due to heavy radio airplay and MTV rotation of several songs, including " All You Zombies", "Day by Day", " And We Danced" and "Where Do the Children Go". The band played at the

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

benefit concert in Philadelphia in 1985. In Europe, the Hooters had success with the singles "All You Zombies" and "

Johnny B Johnny B may refer to: * "Johnny B" (song), song by The Hooters * Jonathon Brandmeier (born 1956), American radio personality and musician known as Johnny B See also * '' Johnny Be Good'', 1988 American comedy film directed by Bud Smith * " John ...

", but the band's breakthrough across Europe came with the single "

Satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radiois ...

". The band played at

The Wall Concert in Berlin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

in 1990. On May 11, 2004, The Hooters were presented with a

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

from the Philadelphia Music Awards.

Other work

In 1995, Bazilian produced and arranged

's major-label debut album ''

Relish A relish is a cooked and pickled product made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs and is a food item typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a pickled cucumber jam eaten with ...

''. The album was nominated for six

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

, including Song of the Year for the No. 4 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' hit " One of Us," which Bazilian wrote.

Accolades

On November 17, 2000, Bazilian was inducted into the Philadelphia Walk of Fame on the Avenue of the Arts. On April 21, 2004, Bazilian won an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

Film and Television Music Award for " One of Us" as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances a ...

for the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

television series ''

Joan of Arcadia ''Joan of Arcadia'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), family drama television series telling the story of teenager Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn), who sees and speaks with God and performs tasks she is given. ...

''.

Discography

Solo career

* ''The Optimist'' (2000) * ''A Very Dull Boy'' (2002) * ''What Shall Become of the Baby?'' (2012) (with

Mats Wester Mats Wester (born September 1, 1964 in Botkyrka, Sweden) is a musician and plays the nyckelharpa. Mats studied at Adolf Fredriks Musik Skola in Stockholm. Together with the singer Håkan Hemlin he operates the musical group Nordman. During Nor ...

, as Bazilian & Wester) * ''Bazilian'' (2021)

References

External links

Eric Bazilian
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bazilian, Eric Living people 1953 births American rock singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters The Hooters members Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Guitarists from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences alumni Germantown Friends School alumni 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers