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Bill Leverty was born in Richmond, Virginia; and at the age of 15, he began palying guitar. He was influenced by a variety of artists including Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Michael Schenker, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Steve Morse, Eddie Van Halen, Al Dimeola, Allan Holdsworth, Scorpions, Randy Rhodes, and Jeff Beck. Bill began playing in bands seriously at the age of 18.
In 1983, Bill formed the band, White Heat. The band later got signed to Epic Records and changed their name to FireHouse. FireHouse won the American Music Award for Best New Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Band of 1991, Metal Edge Magazine’s Best New Band of 1991, Young Guitar Magazine’s Best Newcomer of 1991, and Music Life Magazine’s reader’s pop poll Best Newcomer of the Year. The band has sold over 6 million units worldwide and has had 8 top 40 hits. Bill has produced the last 5 FireHouse albums and he also recently released his first ever solo album, BILL LEVERTY’S WANDERLUST, which is a slight departure from FireHouse, featuring a more Southern/Bluesy side of Leverty.
Bill has toured extensively in America, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Germany, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Spain, Wales, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Trinidad, India, and Mexico. Leverty also has shared the stage with Journey, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bon Jovi, REO Speedwagon, Tesla, Cinderella, Peter Frampton, Ratt, Status Quo, Cher, Damn Yankees, Night Ranger, Quiet Riot, Skid Row, 38 Special, Molly Hatchet, Eddie Money, BTO, Blackfoot, The Outlaws, Derek St. Holmes, Badlands, Lynch Mob, Ted Nugent, The Rembrants, Blessed Union of Souls, Poison, Black Oak Arkansas, Nelson, The Romantics, Enuff Znuff, Slaughter, Warrant, Trixter, Nelson, Dave Mason, John Cafferty, L.A. Gunns, Dokken, Lynch Mob, Jackyl, The Tubes, Styx, Pat Travers, Steppenwolf, Blue Oyster Cult, Sebastian Bach, Badfinger, Paul Rogers of Bad Company, Rick Derringer, John Entwistle of The Who, Faster Pussycat, David Lee Roth, Great White, Jefferson Starship featuring Mickey Thomas, TNT, Sammy Hagar, UFO, Whitesnake, Megadeth, Loverboy, Savoy Brown, and many more. The band also performed an impromptu version of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” with the legendary Brian Johnson.
In the summer of 2005, FireHouse joined forces to tour with Cinderella, RATT, and Quiot Riot for the Rock Never STops Tour, which played over 50 successful shows in 12 weeks. Leverty continues to tour and record with FireHouse, and he has been writing with and producing other artists as well as working on his side projects.
Bill Leverty uses Dean Markley’s Blue Steel Electrics REG and Alchemy Gold Bronze Acoustics CL.
Having used Dean Markley Strings since he first started playing guitar, Bill says, “Dean Markley makes the greatest quality strings on the planet. They have amazing tone that lasts and lasts. By the way, I’ve never broken a Dean Markley String.”
Be sure to visit the Bill Leverty website at:
www.Leverty.com.
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