Bill Leen (born March 1, 1962) is an American musician from

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

. He is the bass player of the band

Gin Blossoms Gin Blossoms is an American alternative rock band formed in 1987 in Tempe, Arizona. They rose to prominence following the 1992 release of their first major label album, ''New Miserable Experience'', and the first single released from that albu ...

, which he co-founded in 1987 with his longtime friend

Doug Hopkins Douglas Owen Hopkins (April 11, 1961 – December 5, 1993) was an American musician and songwriter. He co-founded Gin Blossoms, a popular modern rock band of the early 1990s, with Richard Taylor. He was the band's lead guitarist and a princ ...

. Leen graduated from

McClintock High School McClintock High School is a high school located in Tempe, Arizona, approximately two miles southeast of the campus of Arizona State University. McClintock High School was established in 1964. The school was named after James H. McClintock. McCl ...

in Tempe, then studied English and philosophy at Arizona State University, leaving during his junior year to devote his energy to music. He and Doug Hopkins played in a variety of local Tempe bands during the early 1980s, including The Moral Majority and The Psalms before moving to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

and forming The 10 o'Clock Scholars. His first taste of musical notoriety occurred while playing with the Psalms. The Psalms were asked to fill in for up-and-coming band,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

which had cancelled a show, opening for

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

at the Devil House nightclub.

References

1962 births American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Arizona State University alumni Gin Blossoms members Living people Guitarists from Arizona People from Tempe, Arizona Alternative rock bass guitarists American alternative rock musicians American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists {{US-bass-guitarist-stub