Shooting Star is an American rock band from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, formed in the late 1970s. After gaining popularity in the Kansas City area, Shooting Star became the first American group to sign with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. They recorded their debut album in England in May and June of 1979 with producer

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

. The band gained national exposure when a number of songs garnered moderate airplay on

album-oriented rock Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the late 1960s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock. US rad ...

radio stations in the US. Shooting Star initially consisted of Van McLain (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Bill Guffey ( keyboards), Steve Thomas (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s), Ron Verlin (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

), Charles Waltz (

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, keyboards, vocals) and Gary West (

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, guitars, keyboards, drums).

Early history

Shooting Star was formed in suburban

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

by next-door neighbors and childhood friends Ron Verlin and Van McLain (born Van Allen McElvain on May 3, 1955, in Kansas City, Missouri; died March 2, 2018). They created a band with their brothers, Craig McLain and John Verlin, and played

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

records in Ron's grandmother's garage. Two years later, Van and Craig had moved to different school districts and the band split up. Upon entering Shawnee Mission South High School, Van and Ron met up again. With the 1950s nostalgia craze of 1971 brewing, they played classic 1950s hits. After seeing Sha Na Na in the movie ''

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

'', they added three dancers to the act and called the band The Shooting Stars featuring The Galaxies, the name inspired by

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

History

London and New York City

By 1974, Van began serious songwriting. The band decided to stop playing cover songs and perform their own music. Later that year, they recorded a four-song demo tape and planned a trip to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to shop their songs for a record deal. They left on January 6, 1975, and after three weeks of shopping their music to different record labels, they were offered a recording contract with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. Upon signing, The Shooting Stars were given the opportunity to play a showcase performance at the legendary

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End of London, West End. It was the location of the first ...

in London. The band then made their way to Morgan Studios to record their first single, ''Take the Money & Run'' (shortly before the Steve Miller hit of the same name). Arista Records then released The Shooting Stars from their contract, and they returned to Kansas City. In 1977 Van and Ron persuaded fellow musician Gary West (born Gary Hodgden) to join them as a singer and songwriting partner. Gary, with his brother Ron West, had been a member of the premier Kansas City rock band of the 1960s, The Chesmann Square. After The Chesmann dissolved in 1974, Ron West formed the band

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and Gary West moved with the Chesmann's lead guitarist Jim McAllister to New York City. There they formed the group The Beckies with

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

Michael Brown, formerly of the group

The Left Banke The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, "Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the Music journalism, music press refer ...

, and former Kansas Citian Scott Trusty. The Beckies released one album on

Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteh ...

. Upon Gary's return to Kansas City, he and Van began songwriting in earnest. Steve Thomas had already joined on drums by 1976 and in 1977 Bill Guffey was added on keyboards for a new lineup of The Shooting Stars. And with the addition of Charles Waltz on violin, keyboards and vocals in May 1977, the name was eventually shortened to Shooting Star later the following year and they started recording demos in Gary's garage, all the while playing gigs around the Midwest. After saving enough money and putting a

press kit A press kit, often referred to as a media kit in business environments, is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about a person, company, organization or cause and which is distributed to members of the Mass media, ...

together they tried to secure another record deal in New York City. Through connections that Gary had made while a member of The Beckies, the band booked a showcase at the punk rock club

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

. A representative for a new New York management firm, Golden Lion Entertainment, was in the crowd that night and offered them a contract. With a management deal secured, Shooting Star returned to Kansas City to continue writing new material.

Virgin Records

Six months later, the band's management arranged for them to play another showcase at the New York City club Tracks. Three record companies,

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, made offers to sign the band. Virgin, then a small British record label, succeeded. The label was looking for a rock group to break into the US market, and Shooting Star became the first American band on their roster. In May 1979 Shooting Star returned to London to record their eponymous debut album. The album ''Shooting Star'' was released in January 1980 and the band embarked on a national tour opening for

Robin Trower Robin Leonard Trower (born 9 March 1945) is an English rock guitarist who achieved success with Procol Harum throughout 1967–1971 and then again as the bandleader of his own power trio known as the Robin Trower Band. Biography Robin Trower ...

and Triumph. "Wild In the Streets", a B-side release, was a staple of live show encores; the song was eventually released on CD as a bonus track. "You Got What I Need", from the debut, ended up peaking at #76 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The debut album stalled out at #147 on the Billboard Top 200 and Van McLain explained his version as to why:

We had the number one most played AOR song in the country with 'Last Chance' and our record company, Virgin, had gotten into a fight with
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
, who was their distribution. We ended up not being able to get our album in the stores for six months. We should have sold a ton of albums from having that popular of a song on the radio, but when people went to the stores, they couldn't buy the album because it was not in the stores.

With the radio success, and Virgin switching over 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 ...

for their distribution, Shooting Star returned to the studio in 1981 to record '' Hang On for Your Life'' (July 1981). "Hollywood" was released as a single and climbed the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, topping out at #70. In support of the album, the band toured with

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

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 ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

Jefferson Starship Jefferson Starship is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1974 by a group of musicians including former members of Jefferson Airplane. Between 1974 and 1984, they released eight RIAA certification, gold or Music rec ...

and Journey. They appeared on the radio shows Rock Line, King Biscuit Flower Hour (KBFH), The Source and Westwood One. Keyboardist Bill Guffey left the group after the recording of ''Hang On for Your Life''. In 1982 Shooting Star released their third album, '' III Wishes'' (July 1982), then returned to touring with such acts as

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon), or simply REO, was an American Rock music, rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial suc ...

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

and others. 1983 saw the release of their fourth album, ''

Burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combust ...

'' (June 1983) and the band once again embarked on a heavy touring schedule. But bassist Ron Verlin, who had become disenchanted with the music industry, departed in early 1984; Norm Dahlor was recruited to take over. That same year the band contributed two songs for the movie soundtrack '' Up the Creek'' (April 1984). The songs were "Get Ready Boy" and "Take It." Virgin Records then picked up

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

as their distributor and Geffen's A&R executive, John Kalodner (who had earlier championed such hugely successful acts as Foreigner and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

), got behind the group and they began to record their fifth album, '' Silent Scream'' (April 1985). Van, Norm and Steve were also the backing band on Ian Hunter's single "Great Expectations." The band then toured with

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

and

Separate ways

In 1986, after almost a decade of touring and five albums, Shooting Star decided to go on hiatus. A farewell show was played on December 27, 1986 at Memorial Hall in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

and after a few more concerts, Shooting Star went their separate ways in late spring of 1987. Guitarist McLain, in a 2013 interview with ''Goldmine Magazine'', explained why the group disbanded:

We signed with Geffen, and we put out ''Silent Scream''. Geffen got into a fight with all the radio promo guys, and they fired them the week our album came out. We had 200 ads on the radio, out of 300 reporting stations, in the first week. he album's first track'Summer Sun' was being added everywhere, and it looked like the album would be a smash. After the fight with the promo guys, it dropped to 40 stations. What do you do? We really worked hard on that record, and it was the one. It just crushed Gary when it all fell apart over something that ridiculous; It literally drove him out of the music business. You put your heart and soul into this stuff, and you expect these business guys to come through for you. We got hosed four or five times. Over the next several years fans from around the world were frustrated by not being able to find Shooting Star records, which all went out of print, while the band continued to receive radio airplay.

In 1985 and 1986 West and McLain had also been working on songs for a duo project they had in the works called West-McLain. But the interest that CBS Records had shown vanished when their connection there was fired from the company. After that West, now more disillusioned than ever, decided to leave the music business once and for all.

Reunion

In July 1989 V&R Records, the band's own label, acquired the rights to release ''The Best of Shooting Star''. This release marked the first time that any Shooting Star record appeared on CD and included two previously unreleased songs, "Christmas Together", a 1985 single which had been played on Kansas City radio, and "Touch Me Tonight", a new song by Van which peaked on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #67. Enigma Records, a heavy metal label that was starting to acquire more mainstream artists, bought the rights to the album and retitled it '' Touch Me Tonight – The Best Of Shooting Star''. In the November 4, 1989, issue of Billboard, the album was the first album to reach that magazine's pop albums chart without being available as a vinyl record. The band also released the first two albums on one CD called ''Shooting Star/Hang on for Your Life''; it omitted two songs from the albums ("Stranger" and "Sweet Elatia").

1990s

With the success of ''The Best Of'' in 1989, Shooting Star was offered a new recording contract with

Enigma Records Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. History Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...

. Returning to the group were original members Ron Verlin, Van McLain and Steve Thomas. The other members were Dennis Laffoon on keyboards and vocalist Keith Mitchell. Charles Waltz was originally slated to rejoin but had moved to California and was busy with another band, Toledo Waltz, while Gary West had left the music business entirely. Thomas played drums on "Touch Me Tonight" but departed shortly afterwards as he was unable to commit to music full-time during this period. He was subsequently replaced by Rod Lincoln. In Los Angeles, the band made a video for "Touch Me Tonight." It received extensive airplay on

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 ...

, making their request chart and rose to #67 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. This was the highest-charting single of the band's career. The song also appeared in the

Dolph Lundgren Hans "Dolph" Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957) is a Swedish actor, filmmaker, and martial artist. Lundgren made his acting debut in 1985 with a cameo in the List of James Bond films, James Bond film ''A View to a Kill''. Also that year, he h ...

movie '' I Come in Peace''. In February 1991 the band released their sixth effort, '' It's Not Over''. During the recording of this project, Enigma Records went bankrupt and the group decided to finish it on their own, releasing it on their own V & R label. After the album's release, Ron Verlin was replaced on bass by Eric Johnson (not the famous guitarist) and the band toured with

Bad English Bad English was an American/British hard rock supergroup formed in 1987. It reunited Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain with singer John Waite and bassist Ricky Phillips, his former bandmates in the Babys, along with Journey guitarist Ne ...

, and

38 Special 38 Special or 0.38 Special or .38 Special, may refer to: * .38 Special, a revolver cartridge Music * 38 Special (band), an American rock band ** ''38 Special'' (album), the 1977 debut album of the band 38 Special * .38 Special (song), a 2022 ...

. After selling about 10,000 copies of ''It's Not Over'', the group was contacted by JRS Records (whose parent company was SCS Music), which agreed to take over distribution of the album nationally. But the group became dissatisfied with JRS, claiming they did very little to promote the album, and filed a lawsuit against them on October 14, 1992, in

Johnson County, Kansas Johnson County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Kansas, along the border of the state of Missouri. Its county seat is Olathe, Kansas, Olathe. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 609, ...

District Court. By 1993, disappointed over the collapse of Enigma, the JRS fiasco and the general decline in popularity of classic rock music, the band went into semi-retirement but resurfaced each year to play occasional concerts with Verlin back on bass. In 1997 the violin became a part of their sound again with the addition of violinist Terry Brock (not the same man who performed as a background vocalist with

on their '' Drastic Measures'' tour). In the summer of 1999, while vacationing in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, Van was reunited with producer/engineer Kevin Beamish. Kevin and Van had met 20 years earlier while Shooting Star was recording its first album. At that time, Kevin was a young engineer for

. Out of this chance meeting grew the plans to record and release Shooting Star's seventh album, ''

Leap of Faith In philosophy, a leap of faith is the act of belief, believing in or accepting something not on the basis of reason. The phrase is commonly associated with Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Idiomatic usage As an idiom, ''leap of faith'' ca ...

'' (July 2000). The recording took place at Sound Stage Studios in Nashville, Tennessee from December 1999 through February 2000.

2000s

Shooting Star celebrated its 20th year as recording artists in 2000 with the release of ''Leap of Faith'' and a fall tour. Shane Michaels joined as the band's new violinist in May 2000, replacing Christian Howes (1999–2000), who had replaced Terry Brock. Original drummer Steve Thomas returned to the fold in late 2003 and singer Keith Mitchell left in the summer of 2005 after reported voice problems. In July 2006 the group released the album '' Circles'' with Kevin Chalfant (ex-member of 707 and The Storm) handling the lead vocals. But since Chalfant was unable to commit to touring, he was replaced in 2007 by Ronnie Platt. Original keyboardist Bill Guffey (born William Guffey III on July 28, 1952) died on April 12, 2007, at age 54. Violinist Shane Michaels left the band in June 2008 to concentrate on another project, Flannigan's Right Hook, and was replaced by Janet Jameson. Bassist Ron Verlin, who had left the group twice before (in 1984 and 1991) and had taken temporary leaves of absence since his return in 1994, departed permanently in 2009; since then, keyboardist Dennis Laffoon has also covered the position of bassist. Shooting Star was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall Of Fame on March 7, 2009. The band performed at Liberty Hall in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

with the McLain, Thomas, Lafoon, Platt, Jameson lineup, with special guest Ron Verlin on bass, and for two songs, original vocalist Gary West. Other former members were on hand that evening but did not perform.

2010s–present

Ronnie Platt left the band in 2011 to work with Chicago band Arra. His final performance with Shooting Star was in September 2010, leading to a period between 2011 and 2012 where, for the first and only time in the band's history, Van McLain was the band's sole lead vocalist (with occasional help from the band's violinist, Janet Jameson). McLain spent the first part of 2012 focusing on a solo project to be released by Alligator Records before returning to Shooting Star in the second half of 2012 (this album, ''New Blue'', was not released until 2022). Keith Mitchell returned as lead vocalist in 2012 but left again in 2013 due to health problems. Janet Jameson also left the band at this time.

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

native Todd Pettygrove, from the band Vandelyn Kross, then joined in June 2013 as the new lead singer, making his live debut with the group the following month at

Moondance Jam Moondance Jam is an annual rock music, rock and classic rock festival held in mid-July in the Leech Lake/Chippewa National Forest Area near Walker, Minnesota. It is recognized as Minnesota's largest rock festival and a major classic rock festival ...

Walker, Minnesota Walker is a city in Cass County, Minnesota, Cass County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 966 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Cass County. Walker is part of the Brainerd, Minnesota, Brainerd B ...

. Shooting Star returned to the UK in October 2013 to play "Firefest", the melodic rock festival that takes place each year at Nottingham Rock City. In July 2014 former Shooting Star vocalist Ronnie Platt joined

as the replacement for departing lead vocalist Steve Walsh. Marking 35 years since their first album, Shooting Star released ''Into the Night'' in July 2015, which was initially available as a free download at the band's website. During this time period, Van McLain, Dennis Laffoon and Steve Thomas, in addition to their Shooting Star duties, had also performed in the Overland Park, Kansas area as a trio – The Star Blues Band. In September 2015 Van McLain experienced "flu-like" symptoms that became increasingly worse. After experiencing slurred speech, he was taken to the emergency room where he began to show severe symptoms of

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

. He was diagnosed with West Nile fever and was hospitalized for over eight months. On September 24, 2017 a special Shooting Star Relief Fund concert was held in Kansas City to assist McLain with his continuing recovery from West Nile fever. The concert featured members of the KC music scene including The Elders, 2nd House, members of The Rainmakers and a Shooting Star Past & Present performance with Steve Thomas, Dennis Laffoon and Todd Pettygrove performing with guests Gary West, Ron Verlin, Norm Dahlor, Janet Jameson and Pettygrove's former bandmate Chet Galloway, handpicked and standing in for Van on guitar. Shooting Star had remained inactive since McLain's illness began in late 2015 and, tragically, McLain died on March 2, 2018 from complications of his West Nile virus infection at age 62. Reportedly, since McLain had been receiving treatments for cancer after having survived it since the mid-90s, his immune system had been weakened and left vulnerable to the disease. Shooting Star announced in late 2018 they would play a concert on January 19, 2019 in Kansas City with a revamped lineup to include former violin player Janet Jameson and new guitarist/vocalist Chet Galloway. According to the band's official website, McLain's family fully supported a reforming and continuation of Shooting Star, and the current lineup planned to announce additional shows.

Personnel

Current members

* Steve Thomas – drums (1978–1987, 1989, 2003–present) * Dennis Laffoon – keyboards, bass, vocals (1989–present) * Janet Jameson – violin, vocals (2008–2013, 2018–present) * Todd Pettygrove – lead vocals (2013–present) * Chet Galloway – lead vocals, guitars (2018–present)

Former members

* Bill Guffey – keyboards (1978–1981; died 2007) * Van McLain – lead vocals, guitars (1978–1987, 1989–2018; his death) * Ron Verlin – bass (1978–1984, 1989–1991, 1994–2009) * Charles Waltz – violin, keyboards, backing vocals (1978–1987) * Gary West – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums (1978–1987) * Norm Dahlor – bass (1984–1987) * Keith Mitchell – lead vocals (1989–2005, 2012–2013) * Rod Lincoln – drums (1989–2003) * Eric Johnson – bass (1991–1994) * Terry Brock – violin (1997–1999) * Christian Howes – violin (1999–2000) * Shane Michaels – violin (2000–2008) * Kevin Chalfant – lead vocals (2005–2007) * Ronnie Platt – lead vocals (2007–2011)

Lineups

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums *''Into The Night'' was offered in 2015 as a free download. ;Live albums ;Compilation albums

Singles

;Promotional singles ;Other popular songs These songs received airplay on rock stations and were frequently performed live, but they were not released as singles: ;Limited-edition vinyl single reissues

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting Star American hard rock musical groups Rock music groups from Missouri Musical groups established in 1977 Musical groups from Kansas City, Missouri Frontiers Records artists Geffen Records artists Epic Records artists Arista Records artists Virgin Records artists