57 Facts About Bruce Hornsby

Bruce Randall Hornsby was born on November 23,1954 and is an American singer-songwriter and pianist.

Bruce Hornsby was a touring member of the Grateful Dead from September 1990 through March 1992, playing over 100 shows with the band.

Bruce Randall Hornsby was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, to Robert Stanley Hornsby, an attorney, real-estate developer and former musician, and Lois, a piano player and church community liaison who had a local middle school named after her.

Bruce Hornsby has two brothers, Robert Saunier "Bobby" Hornsby, a realtor with Hornsby Realty and locally known musician, and John Hornsby, an engineer with whom he has collaborated in songwriting.

Bruce Hornsby graduated from James Blair High School in Williamsburg in 1973, where he played on the basketball team and was chosen by his senior class as most likely to succeed.

Bruce Hornsby studied music at the University of Richmond for a year, at the Berklee College of Music for two semesters, and then at the University of Miami, where he graduated in 1977.

In 1980, he and his younger brother and songwriting partner John Bruce Hornsby moved to Los Angeles, where they spent three years writing for 20th Century Fox.

In 1982, Bruce Hornsby joined the band Ambrosia for their last album Road Island and can be seen in the band's video for the album's single "How Can You Love Me".

In 1984, Bruce Hornsby appeared in the music video for Easton's single Strut.

Bruce Hornsby's recording career started with the biggest hit he has had to date, "The Way It Is".

In 1987, Bruce Hornsby collaborated with Irish group Clannad, playing and lending vocals to their single "Something to Believe In".

Bruce Hornsby appears on the official music video release for the track.

In 1989, Bruce Hornsby co-wrote and played piano on Don Henley's hit "The End of the Innocence".

Bruce Hornsby appeared on albums by Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Crosby Stills and Nash, Stevie Nicks and Squeeze.

Bruce Hornsby slowly began to introduce jazz and bluegrass elements into his music, first in live performance settings and later on studio work.

Bruce Hornsby reworked his hit "The Valley Road" with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band for their album Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Volume Two.

In 1988, Bruce Hornsby first appeared on stage with the Grateful Dead, a recurring collaboration that continued until the band's dissolution.

Bruce Hornsby was frequently a guest before becoming a regular fixture in the touring lineup for the Grateful Dead a few years later.

From 1988 until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, Bruce Hornsby played more than 100 shows with the Grateful Dead.

Mydland's place was filled in September 1990 by Vince Welnick, who became the sole keyboardist by March 1992, although Bruce Hornsby still sat in with the band on occasion.

Bruce Hornsby has performed several of their songs at his concerts and as homages on studio and live albums, while Hornsby originals "The Valley Road" and "Stander on the Mountain" appeared several times in the Dead's setlists.

Bruce Hornsby co-performed the improvisation "Silver Apples of the Moon" for the Grateful Dead's Infrared Roses.

Bruce Hornsby was the presenter when the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and in 2005 he participated in "Comes a Time", a tribute concert to Jerry Garcia.

Bruce Hornsby continues to work with Dead-related projects, such as Bob Weir's Ratdog, Mickey Hart's solo projects.

Bruce Hornsby performed as part of The Other Ones in 1998 and 2000, and on occasion sat in with The Dead.

Bruce Hornsby continues to be involved in the Grateful Dead and Furthur community.

Bruce Hornsby played at the All Good Music Festival in 2012 with Bob Weir on rhythm guitar.

In mid-2013, Bruce Hornsby performed with Grateful Dead-influenced bluegrass group Railroad Earth.

Bruce Hornsby reunited with surviving members of the Grateful Dead along with Trey Anastasio from Phish and Jeff Chimenti at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and later at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, in July 2015.

Bruce Hornsby released his first solo album, Harbor Lights, in 1993.

Bruce Hornsby secured his third Grammy in 1993 for Best Pop Instrumental for "Barcelona Mona".

Bruce Hornsby expanded into the jazz sound from Harbor Lights, this time reintroducing elements of bluegrass from A Night on the Town and his earlier collaborations.

Bruce Hornsby's concerts became "departure points" for his album compositions, which would be blended with and reworked into "lengthy spontaneous medleys".

Bruce Hornsby next worked with several Grateful Dead reformation projects, including several Furthur Festivals and The Other Ones, which resulted in the release of a live album, The Strange Remain.

In 1998, three years after Hot House, Bruce Hornsby released a double album, Spirit Trail.

Bruce Hornsby reflected on these periods of intensive solo performances, stating that the solo tours helped him "recommit [himself] to the study of piano" and "take [his] playing to a whole new level", explorations and improvisations that would not be possible in a band setting.

Big Swing Face received mixed reviews, ranging from "a new and improved Bruce Hornsby" to being called one of the "strangest records of 2002".

In 2004, after 19 successful years on RCA Records, Bruce Hornsby signed with Columbia Records and returned to a more acoustic, piano-driven sound on his Columbia Records debut album, Halcyon Days, released in June 2004.

Bruce Hornsby only plays the dulcimer on the album and does not play piano.

Also noteworthy is a folk version of "The Valley Road", originally a hit in 1988 with Bruce Hornsby's first backing band, the Range.

Concurrently with the bluegrass project, Bruce Hornsby recorded a jazz album, Camp Meeting with Christian McBride and Jack DeJohnette.

Bruce Hornsby wrote songs for SCKBSTD, a Broadway Musical; one song from this project, a playful biographical tune about real-estate tycoon Donald Trump titled "The Don of Dons", was played often at Bruce Hornsby's solo piano performances in early 2007.

Bruce Hornsby invested in Williamsburg area radio station "The Tide" WTYD 92.3 FM.

Bruce Hornsby has endowed the Bruce Hornsby Creative American Music Program at the Frost School of Music of University of Miami.

In 2014, Bruce Hornsby toured selected dates with Pat Metheny Unity Group.

In 2016, Bruce Hornsby performed on a track, "Black Muddy River", along with indie folk band DeYarmond Edison on Day of the Dead, a Grateful Dead cover album, benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

Bruce Hornsby performed the song alongside Vernon that same year in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

Bruce Hornsby performed alongside Vernon at Coachella in 2017, performing "I Can't Make You Love Me;" the performance featured Jenny Lewis.

Bruce Hornsby has composed and performed for many projects with filmmaker Spike Lee, including end-title songs for two films, Clockers with Chaka Khan and Bamboozled.

Bruce Hornsby contributed music for If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise, Old Boy and Chi-Raq, and full film scores for Lee's Kobe Bryant documentary for ESPN: Kobe Doin' Work, Red Hook Summer, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, and Lee's film for the NBA 2K16 video game.

Bruce Hornsby scored Lee's Netflix production She's Gotta Have It.

Bruce Hornsby bought the piano in Zurich, Switzerland, while on a solo show tour in Europe in 1995.

Bruce Hornsby selected ten Model B Steinway Grands to be featured in its Limited Edition Signature Piano Series, each one personalized with his signature.

Bruce Hornsby and his wife Kathy have twin sons, born 1992: Russell, who ran for the Oregon Ducks track and field team at the University of Oregon, and Keith, who played Division I basketball for the University of North Carolina Asheville Bulldogs from 2011 to 2013, transferred to Louisiana State University and played for LSU from 2014 to 2016.

Bruce Hornsby is a regular basketball player and an avid fan of the sport.

Bruce Hornsby stated that he beat Allen Iverson in one-on-one basketball three games in a row after helping him get out of jail.

Bruce Hornsby is a friend of baseball Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and attends games in St Louis.