The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller on

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 ...

and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

radio, as well as several earlier

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, '' Children of the Future''. It went on to produce the albums ''

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

'', ''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...

'', '' Your Saving Grace'', '' Number 5'', '' The Joker'', '' Fly Like an Eagle'', and '' Book of Dreams'', among others. The band's album '' Greatest Hits 1974–78'', released in 1978, has sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

History

In 1965, after moving to Chicago to play the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, Steve Miller and keyboardist Barry Goldberg founded the Goldberg-Miller Blues Band along with bassist Roy Ruby, rhythm guitarist Craymore Stevens, and drummer Maurice McKinley. The band contracted 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 ...

and recorded a single, "The Mother Song", which they performed on '' Hullabaloo'', before Miller left the group and moved to San Francisco. Miller then formed the Steve Miller Blues Band. Harvey Kornspan, managing partner, wrote and negotiated the band's contract ($860,000 over five years as well as $25,000 of promotion money that was to be spent at the band's discretion) with Capitol/

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

then-president Alan Livingston in 1967. Shortly after, the band's name was shortened to the Steve Miller Band at the recommendation of

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

in order to broaden its appeal. The band, consisting of Miller, guitarist James Cooke, bassist Lonnie Turner, drummer Tim Davis (who replaced the departing Lance Haas) and Jim Peterman on Hammond B3 organ, backed

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

at a gig at the Fillmore Auditorium that was released as the live album, '' Live at Fillmore Auditorium''. Guitarist Boz Scaggs joined the band soon after and the group performed at the Magic Mountain Festival (festival was held June 10/11, 1967) and the following week at the

Monterey Pop Festival The Monterey International Pop Festival was a three-day music festival held June 16-18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. The festival is remembered for the first major American appearances by the Jimi Hendrix Ex ...

(festival was held June 16/17/18, 1967). In March 1968, while in England, the band recorded their debut album, '' Children of the Future'', at Olympic studios with

Glyn Johns Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English recording engineer and record producer. He has worked with many of the most famous rock recording acts from both the UK and abroad, such as the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who, ...

as engineer/producer. The album did not score among the Top 100 album chart. The visit itself got off to a poor start also as the group and their entourage were arrested for 'importing drugs and possession of a dangerous firearm'. Kornspan's wife had called Johns asking if he would appear as a character witness in the magistrate's court the day after the arrest and, hopefully, stand bail for them. Johns agreed and the group was released on condition that Johns would 'stand surety for their good behavior' for the rest of their time in England. Both accusations were dropped. The 'dangerous firearm' turned out to be a non-working flare gun that was being used as a wall decoration in the house where the group was staying. The 'imported drugs' happened to be some hash that was buried in the middle of a large fruitcake that had been sent to the group by a stateside friend, unbeknownst to anyone in the group. The second album ''

'' appeared in October 1968 and climbed the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart to . Successes included the single "Living in the USA". ''

'' (, 1969) featured the songs "Space Cowboy" and "My Dark Hour".

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, credited as "Paul Ramon", played drums, bass and sang backing vocals on "My Dark Hour". This was followed by '' Your Saving Grace'' (, 1969) and '' Number 5'' (, 1970). In 1971, Miller broke his neck in a car accident. Capitol Records released the album '' Rock Love'', featuring unreleased live performances and studio material. This is one of two Steve Miller Band albums not to be reissued on CD until 2022, the other being '' Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden''. In 1972, the double album compilation ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' was released, containing 16 songs from five of the band's first seven albums. The style and personnel of the band changed radically with '' The Joker'' (, 1973), concentrating on straightforward rock and leaving the psychedelic blues side of the band behind. The title track, " The Joker", became a single and was certified 5× platinum, reaching over five million sales. It was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on January 11, 1974. Three years later, the band returned with the album '' Fly Like an Eagle'', which charted at . Three singles were released from the album: " Take the Money and Run" (), " Fly Like an Eagle" () and their second success, " Rock'n Me". Miller credits the guitar introduction to "Rock'n Me" as a tribute to the Free song, " All Right Now". '' Book of Dreams'' (, 1977) also included three successes: "

Jet Airliner A jet airliner or jetliner is an airliner powered by jet engines (passenger jet aircraft). Airliners usually have twinjet, two or quadjet, four jet engines; trijet, three-engined designs were popular in the 1970s but are less common today. Air ...

" (), " Jungle Love" () (later becoming the song played over the opening credits of the 8th season of the sitcom ''

Everybody Loves Raymond ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' is an American television sitcom created by Philip Rosenthal that aired on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005, with a total of 210 episodes spanning nine seasons. It was produced by Where's Lunch and Wor ...

''), and " Swingtown" (). 1982's ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. The actual origin is unknown, but one of the first appearances of the word was in a second-century work ...

'' album gave Steve Miller his third success with the title track. Miller's hit pushed

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's " Hard to Say I'm Sorry" out of the spot, just as his "Rock'n Me" had knocked Chicago's " If You Leave Me Now" out of the spot in 1976. Released in 1978, ''The Steve Miller Band's Greatest Hits 1974–78'' has sold over 15 million copies. '' Bingo!'', an album of blues and R&B covers, was released on June 15, 2010. '' Let Your Hair Down'', a companion release to ''Bingo!'', was released 10 months later, on April 18, 2011. Founding member Tim Davis died from complications due to diabetes on September 20, 1988, at the age of 44. Long-time band member

Norton Buffalo Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951 – October 30, 2009), best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter, country music, country and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile ...

died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

on October 30, 2009. John King (drummer during "The Joker" era) died after a short bout with

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

on October 26, 2010. James Cooke died from cancer on 16 May 2011. Original bassist Lonnie Turner died from lung cancer on April 28, 2013. His time with the band led to songs such as Jet Airliner, Swingtown, Take the Money And Run, Jungle Love and many more. Blues guitarist Jacob Petersen officially joined the band before the Spring 2011 tour. Following Petersen joining the band, longtime guitarist Kenny Lee Lewis switched instruments to become the band's full-time bassist. In 2014, Steve Miller Band toured with fellow San Francisco rock band Journey. When it was announced that Steve Miller would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist without his band, Miller told ''Rolling Stone'', "It wasn't my decision, and I didn't have any input into any of it. If they had asked me what do, I think I would have said, 'Here's a list of everyone that was ever in my band. They all ought to be here.'"

Members

Current members * Steve Miller – lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards (1966–present) * Kenny Lee Lewis – bass (1983–1987, 2011–present), guitar (1982–1983, 1987–1988, 1994–2011), backing vocals (1982–1988, 1994–present) * Joseph Wooten – keyboards, backing vocals (1993–present) * Jacob Petersen – guitar, backing vocals (2011–present) * Ron Wikso – drums (2021–present) Former members * Lonnie Turner – bass, guitar, backing vocals (1966–1970, 1975–1978, died 2013) * Boz Scaggs – guitar, lead and backing vocals (1967–1968) * Jim Peterman – keyboards, backing vocals (1966–1968) * Tim Davis – drums, backing vocals (1966–1970, died 1988) * James "Curley" Cooke – guitar (1967, died 2011) * Ben Sidran – keyboards (1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1987–1991) * Nicky Hopkins – keyboards (1969, 1970, died 1994) * Bobby Winkelman – bass, guitar, vocals (1969–1970, died 2023) * Ross Valory – bass, backing vocals (1970–1971) * Jack King – drums (1970–1972) * Gary Mallaber – drums, keyboards, backing vocals (1972, 1975–1987) * Roger Allen Clark – drums (1972, died 2018) * Dick Thompson – keyboards (1972–1974) * Gerald Johnson – bass, backing vocals (1972–1974, 1981–1983) * John King – drums (1972–1974, died 2010) * Les Dudek – guitar (1975) * Doug Clifford – drums (1975) * David Denny – guitar, backing vocals (1975–1978) *

– harmonica, guitar, backing vocals (1975–1978, 1982–1987, 1989–2009, died 2009) * Greg Douglass – slide guitar, backing vocals (1976–1978) * Byron Allred – keyboards (1976–1987, 1990, died 2021) * John Massaro – guitar, backing vocals (1982–1983) * Billy Peterson – bass, backing vocals (1987–2011) * Bob Mallach – saxophone (1987–1996) * Paul Peterson – guitar (1988, 1991–1992) * Ricky Peterson – keyboards (1988, 1991) * Keith Allen – guitar, backing vocals (1989–1990) * Sonny Charles – backing vocals (2008–2011) * Gordy Knudtson – drums (1987–2021)

Timeline

Discography

;Studio albums The group has been releasing albums and singles since 1968 and currently has released 18

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s, six

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

s, seven (official)

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, and at least 29 singles. * '' Children of the Future'' (1968) * ''

'' (1968) * ''

'' (1969) * '' Your Saving Grace'' (1969) * '' Number 5'' (1970) * '' Rock Love'' (1971) * '' Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden'' (1972) * '' The Joker'' (1973) * '' Fly Like an Eagle'' (1976) * '' Book of Dreams'' (1977) * '' Circle of Love'' (1981) * ''

'' (1982) * '' Italian X Rays'' (1984) * '' Living in the 20th Century'' (1986) * '' Born 2 B Blue'' (1988) * '' Wide River'' (1993) * '' Bingo!'' (2010) * '' Let Your Hair Down'' (2011)

Awards

* ASCAP Golden Note Award, 2008. * Star for "Recording" on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

on 1750

Vine Street Vine Street is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that runs north–south between Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, and Melrose Avenue. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine being symbolic of Hollywood itself. The intersection has be ...

. * Steve Miller inducted into

The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and th ...

in 2016

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control American blues rock musical groups American pop rock music groups American musical trios Capitol Records artists Mercury Records artists Polydor Records artists Roadrunner Records artists Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups from San Francisco Psychedelic rock music groups from California 1966 establishments in California