William G. Leverty II (born January 30, 1962) is an American guitarist. He is a founding member of the

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

FireHouse __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire hos ...

and has been responsible for writing many of the band's hit songs. Throughout the 2000s, Leverty has also pursued a solo career, releasing five albums: ''Wanderlust, Southern Exposure, Deep South, Drive,'' and ''Divided We Fall''. Following the death of founding member and vocalist CJ Snare, Leverty alongside drummer Michael Foster are the only original members still active in the band.

Biography

Born in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, Leverty's parents gave him a guitar when he was 4 years old, although he didn't take playing guitar seriously until he was 14. Around this same time, Leverty began to study music theory in high school. Reported on January 9, 2016, to be 53 years old. In 1984, Leverty's band, White Heat, held auditions for drummers and it was here that Leverty met fellow Richmond native and his longtime bandmate and collaborator, Michael Foster. In 1988, Leverty and Foster's White Heat combined forces with C.J. Snare and

Perry Richardson Perry Richardson (born July 7, 1958) is an American bass guitarist who played in the hard rock band FireHouse until 2000 and is currently the bassist of Stryper. Biography Richardson graduated Conway High School in Conway, South Carolina ...

. Before signing to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

in 1989, White Heat changed their name to

. Firehouse went on to sell over 7 million albums worldwide, as well as win the 1991 American Music Award for "Favorite New Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Artist." In 1993, Leverty won an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

songwriter award for Firehouse's highest charting single, "Love of a Lifetime." In 2004, after 15 years with Firehouse, Leverty released his first solo album, ''Wanderlust''. On October 9, 2007, Leverty released his first instrumental and second solo album, ''Southern Exposure'', followed by a third album, ''Deep South,'' in 2009. His fourth solo album, ''Drive'', was released in February 2013. Leverty released his fifth album, ''Divided We Fall'', in 2020. In 2013, Leverty formed a supergroup, Flood the Engine. FTE is composed of Leverty, Jimmy Kunes (

Cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

), Keith Horne (

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

Trisha Yearwood Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American country singer. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single "She's in Love with the Boy", which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Hot Country Songs ...

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), and Andre Labelle (

Vinnie Vincent Vincent John Cusano (born August 6, 1952), better known by his stage name Vinnie Vincent, is an American guitarist. He is a former member of the rock band Kiss from 1982 until mid-1984 during the band's transition out of their 1973–1983 makeu ...

). Flood the Engine released their only album, ''Flood The Engine,'' in 2013.

Gear

Throughout the 1990s, Leverty held an endorsement deal with Yamaha Guitar Development. He played the Yahama Pacifica model for 16 years. On July 4, 2006, GREM USA announced that Leverty signed an exclusive endorsement with the guitar manufacturer. GREM guitars produced "The Bill Leverty Free Radical" model. In 2012, Leverty began working with C.R. Alsip Guitars and became the guitar manufacturer's first endorsee. Leverty worked hand in hand with C.R. Alsip's master luthier & owner, Jake Willoughby, in the prototyping stages. Soon thereafter, Leverty's C.R. Alsip guitar known as "Lucky 13" was born. Leverty's second Alsip, "Goldie," was pictured on his fourth solo album, ''Drive''.

Personal life

Leverty married his wife Kris in 1996; together they have one child.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Wanderlust'' (2004) * ''Southern Exposure'' (2007) * ''Deep South'' (2009) * ''Drive'' (2013) * ''Divided We Fall'' (2020)

with Firehouse

*''

'' (1990) *''

Hold Your Fire ''Hold Your Fire'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian progressive rock band Rush, released on September 8, 1987. It was recorded at The Manor Studio in Oxfordshire, Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, AIR Studios in Montserrat and McClear Place ...

'' (1992) *'' 3'' (1995) *'' Good Acoustics'' (1996) *'' Category 5'' (1998) *'' O₂'' (2000) *''

Prime Time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'' (2003) *'' Full Circle'' (2011)

with Flood the Engine

* ''Flood the Engine'' (2013)

References

External links

Official websiteFirehouse official siteBill Leverty interviewed on Metal Rules! Radio episode 10
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leverty, Bill 1967 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists FireHouse (band) members Musicians from Richmond, Virginia Guitarists from Virginia 20th-century American guitarists