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Paul Westerberg
Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him release three albums on two major record labels.
Following the release of his third solo album, Westerberg has been mostly releasing music that he has self-produced and recorded in his basement home studio. He has also released two albums and an EP under the pseudonym Grandpaboy. In 2017, Westerberg released songs on SoundCloud as User 964848511 and on Bandcamp as Dry Wood Garage.
In the late 1970s, Westerberg was working as a janitor for U.S. Senator David Durenberger, and one day while walking home from work, he heard a band practicing Yes's "Roundabout" in a basement. He talked his way into the band by convincing the singer that the other band members — Bob Stinson, Chris Mars and Tommy Stinson — were going to fire the singer. The singer quit, and Westerberg joined the group. The band was originally called the Impediments, and they played their first gig in the basement of a church, playing to members of a nearby halfway house who did not appreciate their drunken shenanigans. They soon changed their name to the Replacements after several venues declined to advertise the band under their original name.
The Replacements began performing in the Twin Cities punk scene, showcasing Westerberg's songs in a classic rock–friendly punk style. The band made three albums and an EP for local label Twin/Tone before signing to Sire Records in 1985. They made four albums for Sire, each with a different lineup.
Despite the jump to Sire, the Replacements never translated their critical success into commercial sales. The band broke up in 1991. Their final album, All Shook Down, was mainly a Westerberg solo project; there were a number of guest performers and the other three members of the band (including Slim Dunlap, who had replaced Bob Stinson three years earlier to tour in support of Pleased to Meet Me), made minimal contributions. Mars left the band soon after the album was released. After touring for the album (which was critically well-received) with replacement Replacements, Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson went their separate ways.
The Replacements reunited in 2012, playing several dates at Riot Fest in 2013 and the Coachella Music Festival in 2014. The Replacements once again disbanded in 2015.
Westerberg's first solo releases were two songs, "Waiting for Somebody" and "Dyslexic Heart", for the soundtrack to the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles, for which he is also credited with composing and performing the score. The following year, Reprise Records released his first solo album, 14 Songs. Even though the Replacements had been banned for life from Saturday Night Live after a notoriously chaotic 1986 performance, Westerberg was invited back in 1993 as a solo artist while touring in support of the album. Ironically, one of his two featured songs on SNL was the Replacements tune "Can't Hardly Wait."
During the interim between solo albums, Westerberg's songs appeared on Melrose Place ("A Star Is Bored") and Friends (his cover of Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine" and "Stain Yer Blood") television soundtracks, in 1994 and 1995 respectively.
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Paul Westerberg
Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him release three albums on two major record labels.
Following the release of his third solo album, Westerberg has been mostly releasing music that he has self-produced and recorded in his basement home studio. He has also released two albums and an EP under the pseudonym Grandpaboy. In 2017, Westerberg released songs on SoundCloud as User 964848511 and on Bandcamp as Dry Wood Garage.
In the late 1970s, Westerberg was working as a janitor for U.S. Senator David Durenberger, and one day while walking home from work, he heard a band practicing Yes's "Roundabout" in a basement. He talked his way into the band by convincing the singer that the other band members — Bob Stinson, Chris Mars and Tommy Stinson — were going to fire the singer. The singer quit, and Westerberg joined the group. The band was originally called the Impediments, and they played their first gig in the basement of a church, playing to members of a nearby halfway house who did not appreciate their drunken shenanigans. They soon changed their name to the Replacements after several venues declined to advertise the band under their original name.
The Replacements began performing in the Twin Cities punk scene, showcasing Westerberg's songs in a classic rock–friendly punk style. The band made three albums and an EP for local label Twin/Tone before signing to Sire Records in 1985. They made four albums for Sire, each with a different lineup.
Despite the jump to Sire, the Replacements never translated their critical success into commercial sales. The band broke up in 1991. Their final album, All Shook Down, was mainly a Westerberg solo project; there were a number of guest performers and the other three members of the band (including Slim Dunlap, who had replaced Bob Stinson three years earlier to tour in support of Pleased to Meet Me), made minimal contributions. Mars left the band soon after the album was released. After touring for the album (which was critically well-received) with replacement Replacements, Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson went their separate ways.
The Replacements reunited in 2012, playing several dates at Riot Fest in 2013 and the Coachella Music Festival in 2014. The Replacements once again disbanded in 2015.
Westerberg's first solo releases were two songs, "Waiting for Somebody" and "Dyslexic Heart", for the soundtrack to the 1992 Cameron Crowe film Singles, for which he is also credited with composing and performing the score. The following year, Reprise Records released his first solo album, 14 Songs. Even though the Replacements had been banned for life from Saturday Night Live after a notoriously chaotic 1986 performance, Westerberg was invited back in 1993 as a solo artist while touring in support of the album. Ironically, one of his two featured songs on SNL was the Replacements tune "Can't Hardly Wait."
During the interim between solo albums, Westerberg's songs appeared on Melrose Place ("A Star Is Bored") and Friends (his cover of Jonathan Edwards' "Sunshine" and "Stain Yer Blood") television soundtracks, in 1994 and 1995 respectively.