How much is Steve Miller worth?
| Net Worth: | $60 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Guitarist |
| Date of Birth: | October 5, 1943 |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 1.9 m |
About Steve Miller Band
For aficionados of classic rock, the Steve Miller Band’s contributions during the heyday of that radio-defined genre in the 1970s rank among the most enduring and memorable songs of that time period. However, the band has a number of qualities that have more than earned it a spot in the pantheon of rock icons, along with its namesake guitarist and leader. Although Miller continued to explore his many inspirations across five diverse studio albums over the decade, the ’80s period of his career may be considered to be his most pop-oriented. Here is a timeline of the Steve Miller Band’s extensive history.
Core ’70s & ’80s Band Members
- Steve Miller (born Steven Haworth Miller on October 5, 1943 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) – Lead vocals, lead guitar, synthesizer, keyboards, songwriter
- Gary Mallaber (born October 11, 1946 in Buffalo, New York) – Drums, percussion, backing vocals, songwriter
- Byron Allred – synthesizer, piano, keyboards
- Gerald Johnson – Bass guitar
- Lonnie Turner – Bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals, songwriter
- Kenny Lee Lewis – Guitar, bass guitar
Young Years
Miller was almost a guitar prodigy from the beginning thanks to a close familial connection to the famous guitarist Les Paul, who inspired him to start mastering the instrument early and completely. The majority of Miller’s formative years were spent in Dallas, Texas. As a teenager, he played in bands, and after an enthusiastic but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to study literature in college, he decided to devote himself entirely to music. Miller began his career in the Chicago blues scene, but after discovering a spark in the psychedelic rock of the late 1960s, he moved to San Francisco and started his long-lasting band.
Psychedelic and Blues Exploration to Pop Stardom
Miller became known as a recognized guitarist and growing songwriter in the early years of the rock period thanks to the band’s first several albums. Miller’s penchant for personas was first demonstrated in early songs like “Brave New World,” “Seasons” and “Space Cowboy” which were standouts. This paved the way for the musician’s trio of iconic pop/rock albums, The Joker (1973), Fly Like an Eagle (1976), and Book of Dreams (1977), which collectively catapulted him to superstardom. The songs from the first two records’ titles, as well as “Take the Money and Run,” “Rock’n Me” and “Jungle Love” quickly became radio favorites and significantly outstayed their welcome.
Return of the ’80s and More Successes
Miller & Co. took a brief sabbatical from writing new music following the band’s massively successful 1978 release of Greatest Hits. As a result, the band’s momentum suffered, which contributed to the economic failure of Circle of Love (1981), an experimental five-song LP. Nevertheless, 1982’s Abracadabra was a hit, largely due to the modern-sounding but still heavily guitar-driven title track. In the summer of 1982, this nearly perfect record reached the top of the pop charts in the United States, and Miller had rediscovered his magic.
Final Attempts of the Reliable Lineup
Only two more albums would be released by the group’s most popular incarnation before Miller relaxed his recording schedule and sought out new collaborators, but Italian X-Rays from 1984 and, in particular, the 1986 album Living in the 20th Century, demonstrated once more that Miller has enormous appeal for a diverse range of rock music fans. “I Want to Make the World Turn Around,” the artist’s final big hit, served as a decent farewell. Miller has already gone nearly two decades without releasing any kind of album, but his legacy as a rootsy pioneer of classic rock has remained justifiably strong.
Lyrics are not lyrics. live Steve Miller
The band members, who are all dressed in black, including 66-year-old Steve Miller, who is still trim and attractive, play with a smooth tone, clean lines, and hot licks. Steve Miller has loved and accumulated guitars ever since he received his first guitar lesson from his godfather, Les Paul, at the age of five. The largest guitar in the world, whose tuning pegs have been transformed into functional LED lights, is surrounded by a swirl of guitars from Broadway director Rob Roth’s personal collection on his stage. It provides a setting for some incredibly entertaining party music.
The band, which consists of Kenny Lee Lewis on bass and guitars, Gordy Knudtson on drums, Joseph Wooten on keyboards, and Sonny Charles filling in for the much missed Norton Buffalo on vocals, is clearly having a blast on this tour as they tear through a very tight 2 1/2 hour set. The audience is left satisfied, entertained, and fully rocked as greatest hits are incorporated into brand-new songs from the recently released Bingo!.
It is impossible to dispute Miller’s guitar heritage, and listening to him play is a delight. Get over the fact that many people have and will continue to argue that his songs display lyrically problematic elements. It’s just for fun. “Jet Airliner” was followed immediately by the “whoo! whoo!” of “Take the Money and Run,” which then seamlessly transitioned into “Mercury Blues” at a faster-than-studio tempo.
The next song was “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” by Earl King, followed by Sonny Charles’ rendition of “Further on Up the Road,” which most classic rock fans would remember as Eric Clapton’s version.
As was already mentioned, Mr. Charles is a brand-new member of the group. For “33 1/3 years,” Norton Buffalo played the harp and served as Steve Miller’s backup vocalist (“my partner in harmony”). Only 60 days had passed after his lung and brain cancer diagnoses when he passed away unexpectedly in October. Before the concert, Steve said Norton would constantly sing “some people call me roast beef” instead of “some people call me Maurice” to get him to sing erroneous lyrics to songs like “The Joker.” Therefore, Steve stated, “Norton, if you’re watching from heaven, say hi to Les Paul and I hope you’re having some roast beef,” before playing “Wild Mountain Honey” solo on a 12-string guitar. He claimed to have performed the song with Norton “probably 2,000 times and never got tired of it.”
The Joker was sung correctly in a false reggae rendition that followed “Dance Dance Dance,” and even if “Abracadabra” had terrible lyrics, everyone could forgive the lads because they were having so much fun. A Jessie Hill version, “Ooh Poo Pah Doo,” was one of several guitar-heavy songs from the Bingo! album and was intended as a tribute to our countrymen serving in the Gulf.
“The Stake,” “Living in the USA,” and “Rock’n Me” wrapped up the main set (for which Dylan Brown, a freshman from Santiago High School in Corona, California, was brought on stage to jam with the band.)
Steve Miller has been directing Kids Rock Free, a nonprofit organization that serves more than 12,000 students, for 11 years. It is the subject he cares about the most. Steve and Fender Guitar set established Kids Rock Free with funding and equipment to support school music initiatives. One of the program’s pupils, Dylan Brown, has participated in 19 performances so far.
On three of the four encores that the band played at the audience’s request, Dylan also jammed. Requests, yes. In “Fly Like an Eagle,” Steve and Dylan engaged in a protracted solo duel. An evening of fun and fat guitars came to a close with “Space Cowboy,” “Swing Town,” and “Jungle Love.”
