David Bryan

David Bryan
Bryan at the 2009 premiere of When We Were Beautiful
Background information
Birth name	David Bryan Rashbaum
Born	(1962-02-07) February 7, 1962 Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Rock hard rock glam metal heavy metal pop rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, keyboardist
Instruments	Vocals keyboards piano
Years active	1978–present
Associated acts	Bon Jovi
Notable instruments
Yamaha Piano Yamaha Keyboards Yamaha Synthesizers Oberheim OB5 organ Roland accordion

David Bryan Rashbaum (born February 7, 1962), best known as just David Bryan, is the keyboard player of the American rock band Bon Jovi, with which he has also co-written songs and performed backing vocals. He is the writer of the successful Broadway musical Memphis.

Early life

David Bryan Rashbaum was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and raised in Edison, New Jersey. His father, Eddie Rashbaum, played the trumpet. Bryan was raised Jewish.^[1][2] He attended elementary school at Clara Barton, where he played many instruments including violin, viola, trumpet and clarinet. He also attended Herbert Hoover Middle School, then J. P. Stevens High School, from which he graduated. Bryan began to learn piano at age seven, and played keyboards for a band called Transition with bass player Steve Sileo and lead singer Mike Ziegel. He studied with Emery Hack, a professor at Juilliard, for thirteen years. Bryan was accepted into Rutgers University, but dropped out to attend Juilliard, a school devoted to the performing arts in New York City.

With Bon Jovi

Bryan on a concert with Bon Jovi.

Bryan was the first ever to receive a call when Jon Bon Jovi learned that he had received a recording contract, and agreed to join the band. He shortened his full name to his first and middle names because he got tired of spelling his full name over and over again. At the time, Bryan was attending Rutgers University and was studying Pre-Med with a 4.0 GPA. Bryan has played keyboards and sung on all of Bon Jovi's albums, as well as the solo projects of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Bryan co-wrote the songs "Love Lies" and "Breakout" on Bon Jovi's self-titled first album, "Only Lonely"; "The Hardest Part Is the Night" and "To the Fire" on 7800° Fahrenheit; the hit "In These Arms" on Keep the Faith; and "Last Cigarette" on Have A Nice Day (plus the international bonus track "Unbreakable") .^[3]

Musical theater

He co-wrote the musical Memphis with Joe DiPietro, which had its off-Broadway debut in 2002. In 2008, Memphis was performed at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. The show was also performed in January 2009 in Seattle, Washington, at the 5th Avenue Theatre, prior to moving to Broadway later in 2009. Memphis, which ran on broadway from October 18, 2009 to August 5, 2012, was nominated for 8 Tony awards for the 2010 season and won 4 including Best Musical and Best original musical score. Memphis is now the most nominated show on Broadway, winning multiple Drama Desk awards and Outer Critics Circle awards, including Best Musical, Best Composer, and Best Orchestrations. Memphis The Musical went on to win four Tony awards at the 2010 Tonys, including Best Musical, Best Composer, Best Book, and Best orchestrations.

Bryan also co-wrote the musical The Toxic Avenger, again collaborating with Joe DiPietro. The musical made its off-Broadway premiere at New World Stages on April 6, 2009.

He is also working on a new musical with DiPietro titled Chasing The Song, which chronicles American songwriters from 1962–1964 who worked in the Brill Building. Bryan describes it as "It's a fictional story about factual America."^[4] Director Christopher Ashley and choreographer Sergio Trujillo are now involved. According to Playbill, "A fall or early winter workshop of the musical is currently being planned. Broadway is the goal."^[5]

Personal life

Bryan married his high school sweetheart April McLean on August 25, 1990, but they divorced in 2004. They have three children: twins Gabrielle (Gabby) Luna Bryan and Colton Moon Bryan (born March 10, 1994), and Artemis Ianto Bryan (born April 28, 2000). David married Lexi Quaas on August 7, 2010 in Colts Neck, New Jersey.

In the late 1990s, prior to Bon Jovi coming together to record Crush, Bryan nearly severed his finger in a home accident involving a circular saw. After a year of rehabilitation and therapy, Bryan regained motion in his finger and went back to playing the keyboard. In 1991, before he helped Bon Jovi guitarist and friend Richie Sambora in his solo album Stranger in This Town and record a soundtrack in the horror movie "The Netherworld", Bryan was suffering from a South American parasite, caught during a tour with the band. Bryan was hospitalized. He described the pain as " It ate out my stomach lining, my intestines, and attacked my nerve endings. It was in my bloodstream; I was poisoned. I was 145 pounds, and I was really ill in the hospital for two weeks... then bedridden at home, for a month". He recovered and, in 1992, he and the band did "Keep The Faith" showing that the band is still together since "New Jersey".

Charity work

Bryan is very active in VH-1's Save the Music program, as well as Only Make Believe. He also wrote the anthem for Only Make Believe, "Rockin' All Over the World", with Dena Hammerstein. He is an honorary Board member for Only Make Believe, a non-profit organization that brings interactive theatre to chronically ill and disabled children in hospitals and care facilities. He is also a board member of Damon Marks' Traveling Guitar Foundation.^[6]

The band has built several homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The video for the hit song "Who Says You Can't Go Home" is a documentary of the making of these homes. The band also gave Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network one million dollars. With this, she created Bon Jovi Boulevard in Louisiana. Bon Jovi was welcomed back, one year later, to see Bon Jovi Boulevard, and to unveil it to its future residents

Discography

Solo

• On a Full Moon (1995)^[7]
• Lunar Eclipse (2000)^[8]

With Bon Jovi

Contributions

• Stranger in This Town (1991)
• Netherworld Soundtrack (1992) – Original Score^[8]
• "Time Was" – Curtis Stigers (1995) – wrote "This Time"^[8]
• Destination Anywhere (1997)

Further reading

• Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness Publishing, 1992.

References

External links

• Official website