Billy Squier

Biography

• Billy Squier, real name William Haislip Squier, is an American rock musician from Boston, Massachusetts. Billy Squier shot to fame in 1981 with his breakout single “The Stroke”.

  Before going solo in 1980, Billy Squier played with bands The Sidewinders and Piper. Deciding to try out his own brand of rock, Billy signed with Capitol Records. His debut solo album “The Tale of the Tape” featured Bruce Kulick from Kiss and gained minor success.

  Billy Squier turned to Reinhold Mack, on the recommendation of Queen guitarist Brian May, to produce his second album, “Don’t Say No”. The album was a massive hit and went triple platinum, as well as spawning three hit singles for the singer. The album remained on the US Billboard chart for two years and sold an impressive four million albums in the United States alone.

  Billy followed up his success with his third studio album, “Emotions in Motion”, which hit number five on the US charts and went double-platinum. The album artwork was created by Andy Warhol, and the album’s title track featured Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. The Single “Everybody Wants You” was arguably the most successful single from the album, though, hitting the number one spot on the US Mainstream Rock chart.

  Billy Squier toured hard during the 80s with band Def Leopard accompanying him on the “Emotions in Motion” tour, allowing him to take some time before releasing his next studio album “Signs of Life”. This album earned him his biggest hit to date with “Rock Me Tonite” reaching number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

  Squier’s later albums with Capitol Records failed to match the success of “Don’t Say No” and “Emotions in Motion”, but his years on the rock scene had won him legions of fans and he is still well known today for the classic rock hits “The Stroke”, In the Dark", "Rock Me Tonite", "Lonely Is the Night", "Everybody Wants You" and "Emotions in Motion".

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