Willie Basse
Willie Basse | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | August 6, 1956 Odessa, Texas, United States |
| Died | October 28, 2018 (aged 62) |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer, engineer, actor |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass, guitar, drums |
| Labels | New Empire Media / Rocks Cool Records |
| Formerly of | Black Sheep, Slash, Guns N' Roses, Snew, Scorpions, Kottak, Mr. Big, Racer X, Trampled Underfoot, Canned Heat, Lynch Mob |
| Website | williebasse |
Wilber Cornelius Rice, Jr. (August 6, 1956 – October 28, 2018), known by the stage name Willie Basse, was an American hard rock vocalist, bassist, music producer, engineer and songwriter. He was the frontman for Black Sheep, a 1980s metal band that featured a number of noteworthy musicians throughout its line-up changes. The last known line-up consisted of Basse on bass, Kyle Harrison and Brian Conroy on guitars, and James Kottak on drums. Other members included Slash, Paul Gilbert, Randy Castillo, Kurt James, Kevin Reye/Kevin Reyes (Micheal Bolton Band, Fortress, White Lie/TRIIX, Martial Law, Power Squadron, Network, Zodiac), Todd Devito, Ed DeGenaro, Kyle Harrison, Randy Meers, Mitch Perry and Patrick Abbate. Kevin Reyes & Todd Devito performed on 1984 7 song demo, which was featured on KLOS 95.5 Local Licks show in late 1984. Popularity of the demo helped paved the way to a record deal with Enigma Records. In 1985, the band released a full-length album, "Trouble In The Streets", on William and Wesley Hein's Enigma Records for which Billboard Magazine noted Basse as the producer. Their EP "Sacrifice" was released on Quicksilver in 1999.