Mark Alexander (born ) is an American

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

, and producer–

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

Biography

Alexander was born in

New Canaan, Connecticut New Canaan () is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 census. About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of Connecticut's Gold Coast. The town is bound ...

. He started his professional career playing keyboards for R&B singer Meli'sa Morgan (best known for her hit remake of Prince's "Do Me Baby"), before becoming the keyboard player for Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. He toured with the band in 1988 on the Freedom, No Compromise Tour. Following the tour, he co-produced and played keyboards and synthesizers on Little Steven's ''Revolution'' album, and was the keyboardist and vocalist on the subsequent tour. Following the tour, he worked as a session player on various projects produced by Little Steven, including records with

Darlene Love Darlene Wright (born July 26, 1941), known professionally as Darlene Love, is an American singer and actress. She was the lead singer of the girl group the Blossoms and she also recorded as a solo artist. She began singing as a child with her ...

The E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

, and

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

. Alexander joined Meat Loaf and the

Neverland Express Meat Loaf’s Neverland Express was the rotating backing band for the late American singer Meat Loaf. Band lineups 1977–78 (''Bat Out of Hell'') * Bob Kulick: lead guitars * Bruce Kulick: guitars * Steve Buslowe: bass, vocals * Jim Steinman: ...

in 1990 as pianist-vocalist, touring with him until 1993, when he joined

Curtis Stigers Curtis Stigers (born October 18, 1965) is an American jazz singer. He achieved a number of hits in the early 1990s, most notably the international hit " I Wonder Why" (1991), which reached No. 5 in the UK and No. 9 in the US. Career S ...

' (Arista Records) band as pianist-synthesist. After a year and half of touring, Alexander played piano on Stigers’ follow-up record, ''Time Was'' and on his remake of the

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and New wave music, new wave,Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...

and Luciano Pavarotti on Pavarotti's ''Together for the Children of Bosnia'' CD. In 1997, Alexander joined Joe Cocker's band on the ''Across From Midnight'' tour as the pianist and accordionist, and played acoustic guitar during an extended unplugged set. A live DVD of the tour was recorded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Late in 1998, he joined Enrique Iglesias' band as chief synthesist-programmer-keyboardist, touring extensively for two years. Late in 2001, Alexander rejoined with Meat Loaf once again for the Night of the Proms tour in Europe. After the tour, he played piano on Meat Loaf’s ''Couldn't Have Said it Better'' album and Hammond B-3 on the ''Bat Out of Hell 3'' album, produced by Desmond Child. He also played synthesizer in the Billy Joel-

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

musical ''Movin' Out'' on Broadway, as well as first chair keyboards on the national tours of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' and ''Love, Janis''. Alexander lives in

South Salem, New York South Salem is a hamlet in the Town of Lewisboro, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. Part of the New York metropolitan area, the town center has a post office, town hall, library, and recycling center. Notable residents have inclu ...

, with his family. His son, Brandon, is a young aspiring singer.

Discography

* ''Revolution'' - Little Steven, 1989, BMG International * ''The Bodyguard'', 1992, Arista * ''Time Was'' - Curtis Stigers, 1995, Arista * Home Alone 2 Soundtrack-Little Steven- 1992, Arista * Glory of Gershwin Featuring Larry Adler- 1994, Island * Welcome to the Neighborhood- Meat Loaf, 1995, MCA * Meat Loaf Live Around the World- 1996, Rhino/Ada * ''Pavorotti and Friends for the Children of Bosnia'', 1996, Decca * Joe Cocker-Across From Midnight Tour - Live DVD Eagle Vision * Couldn’t Have Said it Better- Meat Loaf, 2002, MCA * This is a Beautiful Town - Michael Zapruder- 2002 Explorable Oriole Records * ''Meat Loaf Live with the Melbourne Symphony'' - Meat Loaf 2004, Sanctuary * ''Bat Out of Hell III'' - Meat Loaf-Mercury, Virgin, 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Mark Living people 1963 births People from New Canaan, Connecticut People from South Salem, New York 21st-century American keyboardists