Stephen Shareaux (born September 16, 1965) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as lead vocalist for the hard rock band

Kik Tracee Kik Tracee was a 1990s hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988, during the last years of the glam metal movement, before the influx of grunge and alternative rock. History The band was formed in a Los Angeles suburb in 1988 by ...

. He is a

solo artist In music, a solo (from the Spanish and Italian based-word: ''Solo'', meaning ''alone'' or ''by yourself'') is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an ...

as well as lead vocalist and co-founder of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Zen From Mars which includes members of

Bang Tango Bang Tango is an American hard rock band. The band was formed in Los Angeles in 1988 and was signed to MCA Records the same year. History Formation (1988) Initially the band was founded by guitarist Mark Knight and bassist Kyle Kyle in 1 ...

, Enuff Z'Nuff, Flipp, and

Fear Factory Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1989. Throughout the band's career, they have released ten full-length albums and have evolved through a succession of sounds, all in their main style of industrial metal. ...

Career

Kik Tracee

Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1987, Shareaux formed the hard rock band Kik Tracee with L.A. bassist Rob Grad, guitarist Gregory "Hex" Offers, guitarist Michael Marquis, and drummer Scott Donnell (Later replaced by Johnny Douglas). The group were signed to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

and initially managed by Sharon Osbourne until Slaughter bassist Dana Strum persuaded the band to seek elsewhere for representation; Strum would then go on to produce their debut record ''No Rules''. The music video for the track ''Don't Need Rules'' had moderate rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and the single ''You're So Strange'', which also had a music video, peaked at No. 46 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1991. The band's follow up, the

Chris Goss Christopher Ryan Goss (born August 17, 1958) is an American record producer and musician. Best known for producing records for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age, he is regarded as an important figure in the development of stoner rock and deser ...

produced EP ''Field Trip'', was released in 1992. Kik Tracee's marketing team treated almost the entire New York staff of RCA, the band's label, to a real life field trip to present the marketing plan for the album. A video was then released for the single ''In Trance''. Also in 1992, Shareaux was named a top contender to replace Vince Neil in Mötley Crüe; Shareaux turned down the offer to join, and

John Corabi John Corabi (born April 26, 1959) is an American hard rock singer and guitarist. He was the frontman of The Scream during 1989 and the frontman of Mötley Crüe between 1992 and 1996 during original frontman Vince Neil's hiatus from the band. C ...

ultimately got the gig. In 1993 the band began work on its second full-length release, ''Center of a Tension'', with producer

Garth Richardson Garth "GGGarth" Richardson is a Canadian record producer and music engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson (Alice Cooper, The Guess Who, Badfinger, Poco), a pioneer of the music recording industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Gart ...

. The band would end up falling apart at this point resulting in the album never making it past the pre-production stage. In 2017, Kik Tracee signed with EMP Label Group to release a 2-disc demos and b-sides album titled ''Big Western Sky''.

Post Kik Tracee

Still having to deliver an album to RCA after the break of up Kik Tracee, Shareaux then teamed up with guitarist/singer Brynn Arens to write together; Shareaux parted ways and Arens carried on to form Flipp. Following Kik Tracee's break up, Shareaux would resurface in Revel 8 as well as Nectar, which featured Rik Schaffer of Tomorrow's Child and Engines of Aggression. As shown in the VH1 documentary ''The Rise of Velvet Revolver'', in 2002 Shareaux had auditioned for the lead singer position in ''The Project''; which would end up becoming

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...

. The position eventually went to

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...

. Shareaux's debut solo album ''Golden'' was released in November 2013. The album was produced by Bernie Larsen and features a guest appearance by

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...

and

Faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

keyboardist

Ian McLagan Ian Patrick McLagan (; 12 May 1945 – 3 December 2014) was an English keyboardist, best known as a member of the rock bands Small Faces and Faces. He also collaborated with the Rolling Stones and led his own band from the late 1970s. He was i ...

, who performs on the track ''R&R''. The single ''Stay'' was released along with a music video which was directed by

Kii Arens Kii Arens (born May 7, 1967) is an American contemporary, Pop art, pop-artist, graphic designer and Film director, director. He is the owner of La-La Land Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2021 Arens was part of the dearMoon project and created numerous ...

. In 2016, Shareaux had been chosen to audition in person for the then vacant frontman position in

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kr ...

Jeff Gutt Jeffrey Adam Gutt (born May 2, 1976) is an American singer and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist for Stone Temple Pilots since November 2017. He is also the former lead vocalist for the nu metal band Dry Cell. Gutt has appeared in two s ...

would end up getting the gig.

Zen From Mars

In 2015, Shareaux began performing acoustic shows with

guitarist

Drew Fortier Andrew Lawrence Fortier (born July 14, 1987) is an American musician, guitarist, filmmaker, actor, and author. He is best known for his work with The Lucid; which he cofounded alongside Vinnie Dombroski (Sponge), David Ellefson (ex Megadeth), a ...

for which Kik Tracee material was performed live for the first time since the band's break up in 1993. This eventually led to the duo forming

band Zen From Mars along with bassist Chip Z'Nuff, drummer

Mike Heller Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

, guitarist Brynn Arens, and pianist Kate Catalina. The band released an early version of their track ''New Leaf'' in 2016 which was mixed by Matt Wallace. Their debut album ''The Ultra Head Frequency'' is currently being mixed and mastered for a 2018 release.

Other works

In 2005 Shareaux landed a role as Jimmy the Mod in the stage musical of

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...

. Shareaux also performs in The Who Generation, which is a

tribute band that have been featured on

AXS TV AXS TV is an American cable television channel. Majority-owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, it is devoted primarily to music-related programming (such as concert films, documentaries, and reality series involving musicians) and combat spor ...

's World's Greatest Tribute Bands.

Legacy and accolades

Kik Tracee's debut album ''No Rules'' appeared at No. 46 on

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

's ''Top 50 Greatest Hair Metal Albums of All Time'' list. Kik Tracee landed at No. 78 for VH1's ''Hair Metal 100 Countdown'' list which ranked the greatest 80's hair metal bands of all time.

Discography

Kik Tracee

* ''No Rules'' (RCA, 1991) * ''Field Trip'' (RCA, 1992) * ''Center of a Tension'' (unreleased, 1993) * ''Big Western Sky'' (EMP Label Group, 2017)

Nectar

* ''Afterglow'' (Dream Cirlcle, 1997)

Zen From Mars

* ''The Ultra Head Frequency'' (TBA)

Solo

* ''Golden'' (2013)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shareaux, Stephen 21st-century American singers American rock songwriters Singers from Los Angeles 20th-century American singers American male singer-songwriters Living people 1965 births 20th-century American male singers 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from California