Jim McGorman (born c. 1974), a native of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, is an American musician, songwriter/producer and multi-instrumentalist: guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and drummer. McGorman is best known for his work with the House Band on the CBS television shows ''
Rockstar: INXS'' and ''
Rockstar: Supernova''. He has also performed with and produced American
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
.
Early life
McGorman grew up in
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a Township (New Jersey), township within Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As a suburb of Philadelphia, the township is part of the South Jersey and Delaware Valley regions. Cherry Hill ...
and graduated
Cherry Hill High School East
Cherry Hill High School East (also known as Cherry Hill East or CHE) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Cherry Hill, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating ...
, 1992; graduated
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
in 1995 with a degree in audio engineering and music production.
Career
He has been musical director for
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
,
Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing ...
,
Michelle Branch
Michelle Jacquet Branch (born July 2, 1983) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals with Santana for their 2002 single, " The Game of Love".
As a solo recording artist, Bran ...
,
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...
(from
KISS
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
) and toured with
Cher
Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
. With Cher on her Farewell Tour, McGorman played guitars, keyboards and sang a duet with Cher. He has also worked with
Gwen Stefani
Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer.
Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...
,
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Music", she has had a Cultural impact of Shakira, significant impact on the ...
,
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...
,
Aaron Neville
Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...
,
New Radicals
New Radicals (stylized as Иew Radicals) was an American pop rock band formed in 1997 in Los Angeles. The band was centered on the duo of Gregg Alexander (lead vocals, guitar, songwriting, production) and Danielle Brisebois (keyboards, percussio ...
,
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
,
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
and
Marc Broussard
Marc Broussard (born January 14, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. His style is best described as "bayou soul", a mix of funk, blues, R&B, rock and pop, matched with distinct Southern roots. He has released twelve studio albums, one li ...
. He has written songs for
Kate Voegele
Kate Elizabeth Voegele ( ; born December 8, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She made her musical debut in 2003, with the release of her extended play ''The Other Side''. She performed numerous local live shows to promote the ...
,
Bret Michaels
Bret Michael Sychak (born March 15, 1963), known professionally as Bret Michaels, is an American singer and musician. He is the frontman of rock band Poison, which has sold over 65 million albums worldwide and 30 million records in the United St ...
(
Poison
A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
),
Marc Broussard
Marc Broussard (born January 14, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter. His style is best described as "bayou soul", a mix of funk, blues, R&B, rock and pop, matched with distinct Southern roots. He has released twelve studio albums, one li ...
and for TV shows such as ''
One Tree Hill'' and ''
Smallville
''Smallville'' is an American superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by writer-producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on the DC Comics character Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The series was produce ...
''.
TV performances include ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'', ''
The Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...
'', BBC's ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'', "American Music Awards", "Vancouver 2010 Olympics Closing Ceremonies", ''Conan O'Brien'', ''Regis and Kelly'', ''The View'', and
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
's ''TRL''. Jim performed with Michelle Branch on the TV series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...
'' (episode: Tabula Rasa) and with
Dilana Robichaux (the runner-up from Rock Star: Supernova) on
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. The show ran for nineteen seasons from September 8, 2003, to May 26, 2022, in which it broadcast 3,339 episodes. It was produced by ...
. In October/November 2006, Jim and the House Band toured the United States with
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...
(from
KISS
A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
). In January 2007, Jim became a member of
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
's band and toured with her from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is touring with
Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986.
After starting ...
.
Regarding the Rockstar TV show house band, he says that he feels his role is a multifaceted one: guitar, keys and singing. ''"Plus, being a writer/artist myself, I feel that I understand how to work with the singers. From a guitar perspective, I try to capture the original tones of the records we play, from guitars to tunings and effects. Rafa has a unique tone that he really likes, so the more I get the original tones right, the more I think the audience will relate to the performance."''
Musical influences
''"Everyone in my family is musical or some sort of performer. My mother was a dancer, and my dad plays piano and sings. My dad, though, really got me going with music. He showed me the beauty of chord changes. Mom was more of a "word writer." I got my love of lyrics from her. I guess you could say I'm very fortunate to have talented and supportive parents. - Started playing piano at six, drums at eight, guitar at 12, and I've been singing since I was born."''
McGorman cites a number of popular music influences, including soul music of
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...
, and the rock of
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
and
U2.
Discography
References
External links
Jim McGorman Official Web sitesunfired.net - Jim McGorman Resource Website (fan page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGorman, Jim
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
Berklee College of Music alumni
Living people
1970s births
Singers from Pennsylvania
Guitarists from New Jersey
Guitarists from Philadelphia
People from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill High School East alumni
21st-century American singers
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American keyboardists
21st-century American male singers
1974 births
Musicians from Camden County, New Jersey