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 instr ...

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 without ...

, and

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

–

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 gen ...

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 bounde ...

. He started his professional career playing keyboards for R&B singer

Meli'sa Morgan Joyce Melissa Morgan (usually spelled Meli'sa; born December 6, 1964) is an American R&B/Soul singer–songwriter. Morgan had a string of urban contemporary hits from the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s. Most notable include her cover version of ...

(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 Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandol ...

. He toured with the band in 1988 on the Freedom, No Compromise Tour. Following the tour, he co-produced and played

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

and

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Little Steven Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

'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,

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' (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,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 in ...

and

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

on Pavarotti's ''Together for the Children of Bosnia'' CD. In 1997, Alexander joined

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

's band on the ''Across From Midnight'' tour as the pianist and accordionist, and played

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

during an extended unplugged set. A live DVD of the tour was recorded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

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 Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

' 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 John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

. He also played synthesizer in the

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...

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 incl ...

, 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