Happy Birthday today (Nov. 5) to bassist Brian Wheat of Tesla. He's 56. Other rockers celebrating include former Night Ranger guitarist Jeff Watson (63) and Radiohead lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood (48).
Brian Wheat is best known as the bassist for rock band Tesla. The band formed out of Sacramento, California in 1981 released their first album Mechanical Resonancein 1986 and toured with bands like David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, and Poison. The band released their second album The Great Radio Controversyin 1989, which produced the hit power ballad "Love Song". In 1990, they released the live album Five Man Acoustical Jam and had a hit with their cover of "Signs" (a 1971 hit for Five Man Electrical Band.) Tesla would release their third studio album Psychotic Supper in 1991, and their fourth studio album Bust a Nut in 1994 before going on hiatus. The band reunited in 2000 and have continued on ever since, releasing many other albums. Tesla released their last studio album Shock earlier this year. See a pic of me with Tesla below taken backstage at Times Union Center in Albany, NY. Cheers to Brian Wheat on his birthday today!