Muzz Skillings (born January 6, 1964, in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

) is an American bassist, singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for being the original

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

with

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

. Skillings played bass, sang backing vocals, and co-wrote songs on the Grammy award-winning 1988 debut album ''

Vivid Vivid may refer to: Music * Vivid (band), a Japanese rock band * "Vivid" (song), by Electronic, 1999 *"ViViD", a 2016 song by Loona from '' HeeJin'' Albums * ''Vivid'' (Vivian Green album), 2015 * ''Vivid'' (Crystal Kay album), 2012 * ''Vivi ...

'', the Grammy award-winning 1990 follow up '' Time's Up'', and the 1991 EP ''

Biscuits A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also b ...

''. His use of melodic, complex and moving bass lines during his time with

left him with high acclaim from musicians worldwide. Skillings's departure from the band in 1992 was due to musical differences and a desire to branch off and evolve musically outside of Living Colour. He left under good terms (as indicated in his liner notes printed in the album sleeve of

's 1995 best-of compilation, ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'') and has returned to the band on occasion to substitute for their current bassist

Doug Wimbish Douglas Arthur Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is an American bass player, primarily known for being a member of rock band Living Colour and funk/dub/hip hop collective Tackhead, and as a session musician with artists such as Sugarhill Gang, ...

. Skillings has since led a band called Medicine Stick, in which he plays

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

and sings lead vocals, as well as writes the songs.

Discography

with Living Colour

*''

'' (1988) *'' Time's Up'' (1990) *''

Biscuits (EP) ''Biscuits'' was an EP of live and unreleased cuts by Living Colour, released on July 16, 1991. The Sony Music Japan edition of this disc had nine extra tracks not available on the international editions, making ''Biscuits'' a compilation album. ...

'' (1991) *''

Live from CBGB's ''Live From CBGB'' is a live album by Living Colour recorded live on December 19, 1989 at the CBGB club, but not released until January 11, 2005 by Epic Records. This concert was the band's homecoming after experiencing worldwide success with t ...

'' (2005) - Recorded live on 19 December 1989

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skillings, Muzz American heavy metal bass guitarists American male bass guitarists African-American rock musicians African-American male singer-songwriters Alternative metal bass guitarists Living people Living Colour members 1964 births 20th-century American bass guitarists African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers