Brett Tuggle (September 23, 1951 – June 19, 2022) was an American musician who is best known for his keyboard playing with

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...

and the

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

band.

Career

Early years

As a child, he studied classical piano and learned guitar and organ in his birthplace of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. As a teenager, he played in local Denver bands. When he left home, he played in touring bands in Texas, where he learned a range of

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

styles. He then returned to Colorado where he launched the band Head First. In 1979, record producer Keith Olsen invited Tuggle to go to Los Angeles to meet an artist who needed a keyboard player.

Performing

In Los Angeles, Tuggle made numerous professional contacts with

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues o ...

s, which helped to start his touring career. He was the keyboardist for John Kay & Steppenwolf, before meeting Rick Springfield and joining his band in early 1982. He also played keyboards with

in Roth's post-

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

career 1986–1994 and briefly returned in 1997. In 1988, Tuggle co-wrote the top 10 hit single " Just Like Paradise" with Roth. In 1992, Tuggle was invited by Mick Fleetwood to be a member of the band The Zoo. Tuggle also toured with

Steve Lukather Steven Lee Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to a stea ...

from Toto. Tuggle played with Chris Isaak and

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own en ...

. While Tuggle was known for his onstage keyboard playing for

, he was best known for his performing and songwriting as keyboard player for Roth on the 1986/1987 ''

Eat 'Em and Smile ''Eat 'Em and Smile'' is the debut studio album by former Van Halen singer David Lee Roth, released on July 7, 1986, after his unpredicted successful debut EP ''Crazy from the Heat'' (1985). History After releasing ''Crazy from the Heat'', an ...

'' tour, the 1988 ''

Skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

'' tour, the 1991 '' A Little Ain't Enough'' tour where he also has several co-writes on that album, and up to the 1994 '' Your Filthy Little Mouth'' tour. He continued to perform on various occasions with Roth until some point in 1996/1997. Tuggle also played keyboards, guitars and sang backing vocals for

on their live recording '' The Dance'' in May 1997 and the ensuing tour through the fall of 1997. ''Scouting'' magazine's review of Roth's album ''

'', praised Tuggle's co-writing work on what it called the "best tunes" on the album. The review calls Tuggle and Roth's co-written song " Just Like Paradise" "...sexy, sassy, and memorable" and states that Tuggle's keyboard playing "...give the music an extra dimension and make "Paradise" the bounciest cut Roth's been involved in since "Jump"." Rick Springfield's book ''Late, Late at Night'' states that with his touring band, "Tim on guitar, Mike Siefret on bass, Brett Tuggle on keyboards", Springfield formed a "special camaraderie" with Tuggle on the road due to their shared interest in "illicit sex" with women.

Death

Brett Tuggle died on June 19, 2022 of complications related to cancer. He was 70 years old.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuggle, Brett 1951 births 2022 deaths musicians from Denver American heavy metal keyboardists American heavy metal guitarists Songwriters from Colorado Singers from Colorado American male singers 20th-century American musicians 20th-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American male musicians Steppenwolf (band) members 20th-century American keyboardists