Eric Martin was born on October 10, 1960 in Long Island, New York.
His father is in the military service. When he was young, he had to move
from one place to another all the time. At 12, he moved to Kansas and got
a drum set for a Christmas present. This drum set was his father's who used
to be a drummer in a Big jazz Band before he entered the military service.
Then he moved to Heidenburg in Germany. He wrote his first song at the
age of 13. After that, he moved to Italy and formed a band called "Buzz"
which played cover songs from the Rolling Stones.
Actually, Martin initially, played drums. When he realised how good of a voice
he had, he began to sing the lead vocals and also play drums. When he was sixteen years old, he moved back to Sacramento, USA and spent time being in several local bands. He formed a band called 415 which was later changed into The Eric Martin Band in 1983. Tha band released the first album "Sucker For A Pretty Face". His soulful voice was inspired by Otis Reddings and Stevie Wonder. This album can be considered a good one and well-fit the San Francisco rock scene. However, the sales figures had forced them to disband themselves.
In 1985, he released the self-titled solo-album "Eric Martin" and went on tour. He was awarded the gold record. The following year came a second album "I'm Only Fooling Myself". He did not take part much in songwriting and it was not as successful as it should have been. The album was masterful, it deserves more credit than it was given.
After that, Martin wrote some songs for several movie soundtracks and sang in some night clubs, and one day, he got a call from Billy Sheehan asking about forming Mr.Big.
From then on, his life has been in the limelight.
He's written many of Mr.Big's songs including "To be with you". He is a masterful singer who has seen is share of flops and fame, but now, with Billy, and the gang. He has a solid carreer with Mr.Big
