Kip Winger became famous as Alice Cooper's legendary bass-player, then made his own band of unique power and sound. The Winger broke up after some years, then reunited to bring you now a sound fresher than ever.
Winger was formed in 1987 by Kip Winger after he did some backing vocals on Twisted Sister's fifth album Love Is for Suckers. Kip Winger was a former member of Alice Cooper's band as was lead guitarist Reb Beach, who also worked on the Love Is for Suckers album. Paul Taylor was also a natural recruit for Winger, having also played with Alice Cooper's band. To round out the line up, they recruited former Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein. The band initially wanted to call themselves "Sahara", but since the name was taken by another band, the group chose the name Winger. The name "Sahara" can still be seen on the cover of their first album.
The debut album, Winger, was released on August 10, 1988 on Atlantic Records. The record was a success, achieving platinum status in the United States, and gold status in Japan and Canada. Radio and MTV hits from the album included "Madalaine", "Seventeen", "Headed for a Heartbreak", and "Hungry". In 1990, the band was nominated for an American Music Award for "Best New Heavy Metal Band".
Shortly after that tour, Winger released its second album In the Heart of the Young, which went double platinum in the U.S. and Gold in Japan. Hit radio tracks and MTV videos included "Can't Get Enuff", "Miles Away" and "Easy Come Easy Go".
Winger followed the release of its second album with a 13 month world tour, playing over 230 dates with Kiss, Scorpions, ZZ Top, Extreme and Slaughter. Paul Taylor left the band after the tour, citing exhaustion after years of touring.[1] Their third studio album, Pull, was recorded in 1992/1993 as a three-piece band. It was originally going to be called Blind Revolution Mad, after the opening song. Reportedly Kip Winger, anticipating that critics would dismiss the album out of hand, renamed it Pull as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the CD being used by critics as a skeet shooting target. The album was produced by Mike Shipley, but was not as successful as the previous album. On the following tour, John Roth was called in to replace Paul Taylor on rhythm guitar.
In 2001, all original members of the band (including both Taylor and Roth) returned to the studio to record the song "On the Inside" for The Very Best of Winger. In 2002, all 5 members embarked on a reunion tour of the US and Canada on a bill with Poison, but they once again disbanded afterwards. According to Kip Winger in a 2008 interview with rock & roll comic C.C. Banana, it was important to include all 5 members because "it was the big, long-awaited reunion so I wanted to include everybody who had ever been in the band."[2]
Kip Winger performed as the lead singer for the Alan Parsons Live Project, for their July 16, 2005 show at the Common Ground Music Festival in Lansing, Michigan USA.[3][4] In May 2006, a press release announced that Winger has reformed to record another album and tour Europe. The album, IV, was released in Europe in October and the nine-country "Winger IV Tour" ran in the last two weeks of the same month.
Line up:
Kip Winger – bass guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar
Reb Beach – lead & rhythm guitars, backing vocals
John Roth – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Cenk Eroglu – keyboards, rhythm guitar, effects, backing vocals
Rod Morgenstein – drums, percussion, backing vocals
