Janis Tanaka (born January 9, 1963) is an American bassist who has worked as a session musician and on tour with a number of well-known artists including

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

Fireball Ministry Fireball Ministry is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1999. Biography Formed in Cincinnati in the late 1990s by James A. Rota II and Emily Burton, Fireball Ministry moved to New York City before settling in ...

, Hammers of Misfortune, Stone Fox, and L7. She was also a member of the Pagan Babies, a band started by

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

, and Deirdre Schletter in the 1980s.

Career

Tanaka grew up in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, in a family with several sisters. She took courses at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

for one year followed by

Long Beach City College Long Beach City College (LBCC) is a public community college in Long Beach, California. It was established in 1927 and is divided into two campuses, the Liberal Arts Campus in Lakewood Village and the Pacific Coast Campus in central Long Beach ...

. Tanaka began playing guitar,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

, and piano in elementary school.

Music

Early bands Tanaka played with include The Jackson Saints and Sugar Baby Doll. She left Hammers of Misfortune to play with Pink. In 2001, Tanaka appeared on

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

supporting Pink. She has also played in the band Winterthrall. As of 2017, Tanaka was reportedly playing in The Big Meat Combo and in the all female version of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based Femme Fatale. Janis Tanaka in July 2004

Film

Tanaka has appeared in several films as herself including ''L7: Pretend We're Dead'', released in 2016 and directed by Sarah Price, and ''Fireball Ministry: Master of None,'' released in 2003. She has acted in the films: '' Live Freaky Die Freaky'', ''Down and Out With Dolls'' and starred in the film ''The Year of My Japanese Cousin'' (1995). She had a starring role in ''The Year of My Japanese Cousin'' and received a favorable review of her performance in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

''.

References

External links

* Living people American rock bass guitarists Women bass guitarists American women singers American women heavy metal singers American singers of Asian descent American musicians of Japanese descent American women musicians of Japanese descent L7 (band) members Singers from San Francisco American film actresses Actresses from San Francisco 1963 births Guitarists from San Francisco 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American women musicians Feminist musicians {{US-rock-musician-stub