Gary John Barden (born 27 August 1955,

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

, England) is an English singer-songwriter, best known for his work with

Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) are a guitar-oriented hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Sche ...

. Barden was discovered by Schenker upon the guitarist's hearing a demo of Barden's previous band, Fraser Nash. Barden proceeded to appear on ''

The Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) are a guitar-oriented hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. In 1986, Schenker and vocalist Robin McAuley formed the McAuley Schenk ...

'' (1980), ''MSG'' (1981) and ''

One Night at Budokan ''One Night at Budokan'' is a live album by Michael Schenker Group released in 1982. This album was recorded at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan as part of their 1981 tour. Track listing 1982 original LP All songs written by Michael Schenker ...

'' (1981) albums. He was asked to leave the group and was replaced briefly by former

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

frontman

Graham Bonnet Graham Bonnet (born 23 December 1947) is an English rock singer. He has recorded and performed as a solo artist and as a member of several hard rock and heavy metal bands including Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Alcatrazz, and Impellitteri. ...

. In the interim, Barden worked with Gary Moore on the demos of what would later become Moore's '' Corridors of Power'' album and joined MSG again to conclude the band's tour after Bonnet's departure and recorded the next album '' Built to Destroy'' (1983), and the live album ''

Rock Will Never Die ''Rock Will Never Die'' is a Michael Schenker Group live album released in 1984 and recorded at Hammersmith Odeon in London, over two nights in October 1983. The concert was also released in VHS with the same title. This is the last album rec ...

'' (1984). After his stint in MSG he went on to form Statetrooper with brothers Steve and Paul Johnson, as well as record an album and tour as lead singer with

Praying Mantis Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...

. In 2007, Barden was fronting Silver and Statetrooper, and maintaining a solo career. He recorded an album with

called ''

In the Midst of Beauty ''In the Midst of Beauty'' is the thirteenth full-length studio album recorded by the various M.S.G. lineups and the tenth studio album by the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). The album was released on 13 May 2008 and marked the comeback of the or ...

'' which was released in April 2008, followed by a world tour. In 2010, Barden, Schenker, Simon Philips, Neil Murray and Wayne Findlay embarked in an extensive tour in Japan, recording a new DVD to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of their debut album. After that, Barden left the band amicably to focus in his solo career. He rejoined Michael Schenker to record an album entitled Michael Schenker Fest, which was a collection of MSG's former singers to record new songs. Following the album's release, he and the rest of the group embarked on a world tour. Barden currently resides in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

, Thailand.

Discography

with The Michael Schenker Group

* ''

'' (1980) * ''

MSG Monosodium glutamate (MSG), also known as sodium glutamate, is the sodium Salt (chemistry), salt of glutamic acid. MSG is found naturally in some foods including tomatoes and cheese in this glutamic acid form. MSG is used in cooking as a fl ...

'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * '' Built to Destroy'' (1983) * ''

'' (1984) * ''

Heavy Hitters ''Heavy Hitters'' is a 2005 album of cover songs by the Michael Schenker Group. Originally planned by Schenker as a collection of covers featuring himself and a "revolving all-star cast of guest musicians," the album was labeled and marketed ...

'' (2005) * ''

Tales of Rock'n'Roll ''Tales of Rock'n'Roll'' is the twelfth full-length studio album recorded by the various M.S.G. lineups and the ninth studio album by the Michael Schenker Group. It was released in 2006 after two years of work in celebration of the band's 25th ...

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008)

with Schenker Barden Acoustic Project

* ''Gipsy Lady'' (2009)

with Praying Mantis

* ''To the Power of Ten'' (1995) * ''Captured Alive in Tokyo City'' (1996)

with Statetrooper

* ''Statetrooper'' (1986) * ''The Calling'' (2004)

with Silver

* ''Silver'' (2001) * ''Dream Machines'' (2002) * ''Intruder'' (2003) * ''Addiction'' (2004) * ''Gold'' (2005)

Solo as Gary John Barden

* ''Past & Present (MSG remixed)'' (2004) * ''Agony & The Xtasy'' (2006) * ''Love and War '' (2007) * ''Rock 'n Roll My Soul '' (2010) * ''Eleventh Hour '' (2011)

Michael Schenkerfest

* Resurrection (2018) * Revelation (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barden, Gary 1955 births Living people English rock singers English heavy metal singers English rock guitarists English male singer-songwriters Michael Schenker Group members The Gary Moore Band members People from Royal Tunbridge Wells Musicians from Royal Tunbridge Wells Musicians from Kent English male guitarists The Company of Snakes members