Michael Kevin Farrell is an American keyboardist, musical director, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work both recording and touring with

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

and

Macy Gray Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known professionally as Macy Gray, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B and soul music, soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influence ...

Early life

Farrell was born and grew up in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He attended

John Carroll University John Carroll University (JCU) is a Private university, private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio, United States. Located in a suburb of Cleveland, it is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts college, liberal arts institution compo ...

where he won a Fulbright Fellowship to study at the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in 1991. He later received a master's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1993. After college, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 1993 to pursue music.

Macy Gray

Farrell was the musical director/keyboardist for Grammy winning artist

. Farrell and Gray opened for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

for 6 weeks at the end of 2003. Though he isn't a member of her band, Farrell still collaborates with Gray as a writer having contributed original material to her 2007 release, ''

Big Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

'', produced by

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

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. They also recently recorded original material for ABC's ''

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'' soundtrack.

Morrissey

In 2004, Farrell joined Morrissey's band on the world tour in support of his platinum album ''

You Are the Quarry ''You Are the Quarry'' is the seventh solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Morrissey. It was released on 17 May 2004 by record label Attack, and was his first album in seven years following 1997's ''Maladjusted''. The album was a huge ...

''. That tour featured worldwide festival and headline dates, including the Glastonbury Festival and the KROQ Inland Invasion. Subsequently, Farrell was the featured keyboardist and percussionist on the album '' Live at Earls Court'' (where he is erroneously billed as 'Mikey V. Farrell), the " Let Me Kiss You" and " I Have Forgiven Jesus" single B-sides and the live concert DVD, '' Who Put the M in Manchester?''. In the fall of 2005, Farrell recorded with Morrissey for his eight studio album '' Ringleader of the Tormentors''. The album, recorded in Rome, was produced by the famed

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

. Farrell co-wrote two songs for those sessions; "At Last I Am Born" and "Sweetie-Pie", and played keyboards, percussion, guitar, trumpet and trombone. In support of the album, the band spent the summer of 2006 performing festival dates in Italy, Turkey, Germany, Holland, Croatia, Finland, Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Austria, France, and Spain. After completing a comprehensive US, UK and European tour in support of Morrissey's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' album in 2007, Farrell decided to leave the band to spend more time with his family. However, an earlier single recorded with Farrell, " That's How People Grow Up", appears on Morrissey's subsequent (2009) album '' Years of Refusal''.

Other work

In recent years, Farrell has increasingly been working in the studio in a variety of capacities, as a session keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, a mixer, and as a songwriter and producer. Farrell has constructed his own studio in Burbank where he has written and produced tracks for Morrissey, Macy Gray, Jeremy Gregory, Ben Lee, Michael Orland of American Idol, and Angie Hart. As a film composer, he has scored the Sundance Channel film "Paradise, Nebraska", the award-winning short-film "Beat", and the children's TV pilot "The Mighty Me Superhero Hour". He has also written a song for the HBO feature film "Girl" and contributed music to the NBC sitcom "Men Behaving Badly". Farrell has also performed on shows such as Third Rock from the Sun, Grounded for Life, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Farrell has toured with other artists such as Vanessa Carlton,

and Vanessa Brown, with whom he played keyboards and guitar. At various times he has also shared the stage with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

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, Lee "Scratch" Perry,

Ruben Studdard Ruben Studdard (born September 12, 1978) is an American singer and actor. He rose to fame as the winner of the second season of ''American Idol'' and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2003 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for his recordi ...

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and Camp Freddy,

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

, Ben Lee, Kimberly Locke, Anthony Rapp, Sally Kellerman, Jean Smart,

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

, Scott Record, and Dan Finnerty and the Dan Band. More recently, he has played keyboards on the

The Guardian Angel Tour, European, North and South American Tour, in 2012. In 2014, he toured with

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwriting unit for the ...

in Australia and Europe.

Personal life

Farrell and his wife Mandy have three children.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Michael American rock keyboardists Record producers from Ohio Musicians from Cleveland Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Syracuse University alumni University of Waikato alumni 21st-century American keyboardists Morrissey band members