Fran Sheehan (born March 26, 1949) is an American rock musician best known for being the bass player in the early incarnation of the rock band

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. Sheehan was perhaps the most experienced musician in the original lineup of

Life and career

Sheehan's father Skip Sheehan was a vaudeville performer, and he began performing at the age of five. He studied music at North Shore Community College and the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on ...

. He dropped out of school to pursue a professional musical career. Sheehan was one of three musicians added to the Boston lineup shortly after band leader

Tom Scholz Donald Thomas Scholz (born March 10, 1947) is an American musician. He is the founder, main songwriter, primary guitarist and only remaining original member of the rock band Boston. He has appeared on every Boston album. Scholz is an MIT-trai ...

and vocalist Brad Delp signed a recording contract with Epic Records in 1976. Sheehan, drummer

Sib Hashian John Thomas "Sib" Hashian (August 17, 1949 – March 22, 2017) was an American musician, best known as a drummer for the rock band Boston. Career Boston Hashian was chosen by Boston founder and band leader Tom Scholz in 1975 to replace origina ...

and guitarist

Barry Goudreau Barry Goudreau (born November 29, 1951) is an American musician. He was one of two original guitarists for the rock band Boston alongside founder Tom Scholz; both Scholz and Goudreau shared lead and rhythm guitar parts. Before Boston Goudrea ...

were all long-time friends of Delp's who had worked with the singer in various other bands over the previous few years. The band was an overnight success, but relations between Scholz and the other four band members were strained from the beginning. Following Goudreau's and Hashian's departure, Sheehan was fired from the band midway through the sessions for Boston's ''

Third Stage ''Third Stage'' is the third studio album by the American rock band Boston, released on September 26, 1986, on MCA Records. It was recorded at Boston co-founder Tom Scholz's Hideaway Studio over a long, strained, six-year period "between floods ...

'' album in the early 80s. He received a songwriting credit for "Cool the Engines," however. After leaving Boston, Sheehan (along with two other ex-band members) sued

, before settling out of court. After leaving Boston, Sheehan formed Fran Sheehan and the All-Star Band, who gigged extensively but never released an album. In 1985, he produced a 4-track demo tape for a then-totally unknown local band called

Extreme Extreme may refer to: Science and mathematics Mathematics *Extreme point, a point in a convex set which does not lie in any open line segment joining two points in the set *Maxima and minima, extremes on a mathematical function Science *Extremop ...

. Sheehan stopped playing the bass during the 1990s for several years after he injured his arm and hand in a biking accident. However, he eventually recovered and still appears on stage from time to time. In the meantime, he sang with various bands. He has made several guest appearances over the years, including '' Hallelujah'' with

Sammy Hagar Samuel Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose and subsequently launched a successful solo ca ...

and The Waboritas. In August 2007, Sheehan, along with other previous and current Boston band members, appeared on stage at the Brad Delp Tribute Show held at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. On February 25, 2012, Sheehan played with Boston bandmate

on stage outdoors for a three-hour benefit concert in Florida at the "All Star Jam for the Sydney and Berne Davis Art Center in

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 2 ...

References

External links

Interview with Fran Sheehan by Michael Hill dated 1998Fran Sheehan at Third''Stage''Official Boston SiteDiscogs Artist 435086
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheehan, Fran Boston (band) members American rock musicians American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists 1949 births Living people Musicians from Norfolk, Virginia Guitarists from Virginia American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists