The American band Winger is known to all heavy metal fans. Just like Bon Jovi and Poison, the musicians play in the style of pop metal.
It all started in 1986 when bassist Kip Winger and Alice Cooper decided to record several albums together. After the success of the compositions, Kip decided that it was time to go on his own "swimming" and create a group.
On tour, he met keyboardist Paul Taylor and offered him a job. Reb Beach and former DIXIE DREGS drummer Rod Mongensteen joined the new band. When high-class musicians gathered, the success of the team was already guaranteed.
Experiments with the name Winger
The name of the group did not come up immediately. Titles such as Your Doctor and Sahara were discussed, but in the end, on the advice of Alice Cooper, they settled on Winger.
Having signed an agreement with Atlantic Records in 1988, the musical group recorded their debut album under the same name Winger.
At first they wanted to call him the unused name Sahara, but this option did not suit the studio and the idea was abandoned.
The first experience was successful - more than 1 million copies of the disc were sold. Two hits were the most popular: Seventeen and Headed for a Heartbreak, which was performed in the style of a ballad.
In America, the album peaked at number 21 on Billboard, and in Canada and Japan, it became a significant success, becoming "gold". To achieve such popularity, the group was largely helped by producer Beau Hill.
sidereal time
After the release of the first disc, the team began to actively tour with such bands as: BON JOVI, SCORPIONS, POISON. A warm welcome from the audience was guaranteed. In 1990, the band received the American Award for Best New Heavy Metal Band.
After working at concerts, the musicians took a break for two weeks. Hiding from the eyes of "fans" in a rented house in Los Angeles, the group began work on the second album, the material for which was collected during the tour.
The second disc Headed for a Heartbreak was released in the same year and turned out to be better than the debut. He managed to take the 15th position of the Billboard rating and again get "gold" in Japan.
The album has sold over 1 million copies. For a whole year, the band toured with well-known bands, among which were: Kiss and Scorpions, and their compositions Miles Away and Can't Get Enuff still sounded on the radio.
The first failures, the collapse of the Winger group
But not everything was so smooth. After playing over 230 shows, the band's keyboardist Paul Taylor announced his retirement due to overwork. John Roth took his place.
In the early 1990s, a new style of music began to gain even more popularity. Grunge gradually began to displace pop metal. The third album Pull was criticized, the disc was only at the bottom of the top hundred in Billboard. Although the composition Down Incognito kept on the radio for some time, the musicians were disappointed.
A tour in Japan in 1993 was unsuccessful. Television mockery of Kip's outrageous appearance also added fuel to the fire. In 1994, the group announced its dissolution.
Kip Winger took up the "promotion" of his solo career by opening his own music studio. John Roth has returned to DIXIE DREGS. Reb Beach joined DOKKEN and Alice Cooper became the guitarist for Whitesnake.
Together again
Seven years later, in 2001, the five members of Winger gathered in the studio to record The Very Best of Winger, which included one new track, On the Inside. After the reunion, the musicians held a number of successful tours in the United States and Canada.
Since Reb Beach had obligations in the Whitesnake group, the group's activities were suspended for three years, but already in October 2006 the musicians recorded their fourth album with the symbolic title "IV".
Despite the band's desire to make a remake of their early works, new trends have made adjustments to the work, and the disc turned out to be quite modern.
"Resuscitation" of creativity
In 2007, the band members "reanimated" their early compositions, and also created a new song, Live. In February 2008, Winger played a concert in Providence, Rhode Island, along with other bands, to support the victims of a nightclub fire.
A year later, the release of the fifth album Karma took place, which many critics called the best in the creative heritage of this group. The tour in support of him was a great success.
In 2011, the group again had to suspend their activities due to the participation of Reb Beach in the Whitesnake tour, but in April 2014, the Winger group presented the last sixth album, Better Days Comin.
Winger today
Currently, the group continues to perform in clubs, private events and festivals. In a recent interview with Trunk Nation, Winger frontman Kip Winger admitted that the band is working on new songs, three of which are already complete.
The vocalist himself writes songs for his solo album, and also composes symphonies and creates parts for a violin concerto at the Nashville Symphony. Despite being extremely busy, Kip Winger is dreaming about the band's new album.
