Sean Kelly is a Canadian musician living in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, currently playing guitar with

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

Coney Hatch Coney Hatch is a Canadian hard rock band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their album ''Four'' in 2013 and a live double album on vinyl, ''Postcard From Germany'' in 2023. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the band consisted ...

and

Lee Aaron Lee Aaron (born Karen Lynn Greening; July 21, 1962) is a Canadian rock singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love". Early life Aaron was born as Karen Lynn Greeni ...

. He founded the Toronto-based

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band Crash Kelly, and is the band's lead singer and guitarist.no byline (Sept–Oct 2004). "Crash Kelly sign worldwide record deal", ''Canadian Musician'', 26 (5): 18. Kelly was a member of Canadian rock band

Helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

, playing

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

. He stayed with them for most of 2009 at which time joined Furtado's band on guitar.HELIX Part Ways With SEAN KELLY
/ref> He is also guitarist for the Toronto rock group 69 Duster, which he co-founded with the ex-singer for

Images in Vogue Images in Vogue is a Canadian new wave group formed in 1981 in Vancouver. It originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon (later of Numb), synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith, and percussioni ...

, Dale Martindale. He has done session guitar work for other bands as well, including Neil Leyton's 2003 album, Midnight Sun, and was a member of Jeff Pearce's band Rye. Kelly has also collaborated with

Gilby Clarke Gilbert J. Clarke (born August 17, 1962) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is known for having a three-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your ...

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

Rudy Sarzo Rodolfo Maximiliano Sarzo Lavieille Grande Ruiz Payret y Chaumont (born November 18, 1950) is a Cuban-American musician. He remains best known as the bassist for Quiet Riot, Ozzy Osbourne, and Whitesnake, and has also played with several well k ...

, and

Canadian Brass The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet ...

Career

Crash Kelly signed a multi-album deal with

Liquor and Poker Music Liquor and Poker Music is an American rock music record label based in Hawthorne, California. Bands on the label are generally in the punk, stoner rock and heavy metal genres. Current artists * American Heartbreak * Backyard Babies * Black Hal ...

in 2004. They have toured internationally with

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

and

Backyard Babies Backyard Babies is a Swedish Rock music, rock band originally from Nässjö and currently based in Stockholm. The band was formed in 1987 and have released eight studio albums, in addition to winning two Grammis, Swedish Grammy Awards. They ...

in the US and

Quireboys The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. Originally known as The Choirboys, then The Queerboys, billed as The London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at last with their ...

and Enuff Z'Nuff in the UK. The group name, Crash Kelly, is a reference to the nickname of an uncle, who acquired it as an AHL player hockey all over the northern states (including a long stint in Pennsylvania). "Crash" Kelly was known as a tough player, and an enforcer on the ice. The film ''

Slap Shot ''Slap Shot'' is a 1977 American sports comedy film directed by George Roy Hill, written by Nancy Dowd, and starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean. It depicts a minor league ice hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity ...

'' was based loosely on the antics of this league. Sean's uncle's team the

Johnstown Jets The Johnstown Jets were a professional ice hockey team from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Jets were founded in the Eastern Hockey League, Eastern Amateur Hockey League for the 1950–51 season, playing at the newly constructed Cambria County War M ...

was said to have been an inspiration for some of the movie which was partly filmed on location in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

. Crash Kelly have opened for artists such as

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes ten studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Geo ...

and

, and have had their songs featured on

Bam Margera Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV Reality tel ...

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 ...

program '' Unholy Union''. Sean Kelly, as one of the producers of Crash Kelly's album ''Penny Pills'', was a finalist for Best Album at the 2004 Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards. He has received formal training in classical guitar from Eli Kassner, and has worked as a music teacher in the

Toronto Catholic District School Board The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 40 prior to 1999) is an English-language public-separate school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, headquartered in North York. ...

and received his Bachelor of Education degree from Nipissing University. His influences include classic

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 ...

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

, and T.Rex.

With Helix

In February 2009, Kelly joined

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

based rock band

. Kelly joined as their new bass player, alongside original vocalist Brian Vollmer, and longtime guitarist Brent Doerner. Kelly co-wrote and co-produced the 2009 Helix album '' Vagabond Bones'' He stayed with Helix until fall 2009 when he joined

on guitar for his first show in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. The departure was amicable according to Vollmer: "I give Sean my blessings, no worries. As long as we continue to write together, I am happy."RockMusicStar.com: Interview with Brian Vollmer 04/17/2010
/ref> Since departing Helix, Kelly has co-produced and played on their 2010 release, '' Smash Hits...Unplugged!''.

With Nelly Furtado

Sean Kelly's first show with Furtado in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

was attended by 165,000 fans. It was followed by an appearance on

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fifth installment of ''The Tonight Show'', hosted by Conan O'Brien. It aired from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, succeeding ''The ...

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, ...

. Kelly then headed to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for a series of acoustic shows. He has continued to tour with Furtado through 2010.

Discography

Solo

* 2007: ''The #1 Classical Guitar Album'' (Opening Day/

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

) * 2008: ''Christmas Guitar'' (Opening Day/Universal Music Group) * 2011: ''"Where the Wood Meets the Wire" (Opening Day/Universal Music Group)'' * 2011: ''A Very Merry Christmas'' (with various artists) (Opening Day/Universal Music Group)

With Crash Kelly

* 2003: ''Penny Pills'' -(Bhurr Records (CA)/TB Records (UK)/Liquor and Poker Music (USA)/Spiritual Beast (Japan) * 2003 "Waiting For An Alibi" Single – TB Records/BMG (UK) * 2006: ''Electric Satisfaction'' – Bhurr Records CA/Liquor and Poker Music (USA)/Spiritual Beast (Japan) * 2008: ''One More Heart Attack'' – Opening Day/Universal (CA), Warrior Records/Universal (USA), Spiritual Beast (Japan) * 2008 ''"Love You Electric"'' – Bad Reputation (Europe) * 2019 ''Touch Me (single)'' = Canadian Shield Music

With Helix

* 2009: '' Vagabond Bones''HELIX – Tentative Title Of Reunion Album Revealed
/ref> * 2010: '' Smash Hits...Unplugged!'' * 2011: ''Skin in the Game'' EP * 2012: ''R-O-C-K! Best of 1983–2012'' * 2014: '' Bastard of the Blues'' * 2016: ''Rock It Science'' * 2018: ''

ICON An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

With Nelly Furtado

*2009: "Mas" Acoustic EP (Universal) *2010: "Walmart Soundcheck" (Interscope) *2012: "AOL Session" (Interscope) *2012: "Walmart Soundcheck" (Interscope) *2012: ''

The Spirit Indestructible ''The Spirit Indestructible'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado. The album was released on 14 September 2012. Furtado served as the executive producer for the album as well as a principal writer. Further produ ...

'' (deluxe edition) – (Interscope) *2016 ''

Feel So Close "Feel So Close" is a song by Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, released as the second single from his third studio album, ''18 Months'' (2012). In order to have lyrics and be standalone, Harris had to return to singing on this song, after previously s ...

'' -(Nelstar/E7) *2017: '' The Ride''

With Lee Aaron

*2016: ''Fire and Gasoline'' (Big Sister) *2018: ''Diamond Baby Blues'' (Metalville) *2019: ''Power, Soul, Rock N' Roll – Live in Germany'' (Metalville)

With Carole Pope

*2011: ''Landfall'' (independent)

With
Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadians, Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was origina ...

*2016: ''Hands Up'' EP (as songwriter)

With Metal On Ice

*2013: ''Metal On Ice'' (Coalition Records/Warner Music Canada)

With Trapper

*2015: ''Go For The Heart'' EP (independent)

Film music

*''Randy Rhoads – The Quiet Riot Years (Red Match Production) *''The Day Santa Didn't Come'' (BravoFACT)

Bibliography

* ''Metal on Ice: Tales from Canada's Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Heroes'' (2013,

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...

)

References

External links

carlbegai.com – interview

''Metal On Ice'' book/compilation
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Sean Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Canadian rock guitarists Canadian session musicians Canadian male songwriters Canadian classical guitarists Canadian bass guitarists Canadian male guitarists Helix (band) members Liquor and Poker Music artists

Career

With Helix

With Nelly Furtado

Discography

Solo

With Crash Kelly

With Helix

With Nelly Furtado

With Lee Aaron

With Carole Pope

With Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadians, Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was origina ...

With Metal On Ice

With Trapper

Film music

Bibliography

References

External links

With
Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadians, Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was origina ...