41 Facts About Derek Sherinian

1.

Derek Sherinian was born on August 25,1966 and is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others.

2.

Derek Sherinian was a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and one of the founding members of Black Country Communion and Sons of Apollo.

3.

Derek Sherinian has released nine solo albums that have featured a variety of prominent guest musicians, including guitarists Slash, Yngwie Malmsteen, Allan Holdsworth, Steve Lukather, Joe Bonamassa, Michael Schenker, Steve Vai and Al Di Meola.

4.

Derek Sherinian has appeared on the cover of numerous keyboard magazines around the world, including the November 2011 issue of Keyboard, which declared Sherinian a "Keyboard Hero for a New Generation".

5.

Derek Sherinian has been called the "King of the Keys" by Guitar World magazine and the "Caligula of Keyboards" by Alice Cooper.

6.

Derek Sherinian began taking piano lessons at age five in Santa Cruz, California.

7.

Derek Sherinian has since studied with other keyboardists, including Mitchel Forman, T Lavitz, Russell Ferrante, and Alex Alessandroni.

8.

Derek Sherinian paid tribute to Miles covering his song "Them Changes" featuring Joe Bonamassa on his 2020 solo album "The Phoenix".

9.

Derek Sherinian received his first big break with Alice Cooper in 1989 to tour in support of the platinum selling Trash album.

10.

Derek Sherinian toured and recorded with Cooper on and off until 1998.

11.

Derek Sherinian once pulled four twos on the bullet train from Japan, and won a huge poker pot.

12.

In 1994, Derek Sherinian replaced Kevin Moore in the progressive metal band Dream Theater, originally just for the band's promotional tour for Awake.

13.

Derek Sherinian reunited with Dream Theater for a one-off concert in 2004, which was recorded and released as When Dream and Day Reunite.

14.

In January 2012, Derek Sherinian performed at two shows with instrumental supergroup Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, and Tony MacAlpine for the Guitar Center Drum Off, and Sabian Live.

15.

Since 1999, Derek Sherinian has recorded nine solo albums, featuring performances by numerous highly acclaimed musicians.

16.

Derek Sherinian has stated that his intention when forming Planet X was to create a group of musicians that "played their instruments so fiercely that they would strike fear in the hearts of all musicians".

17.

In 2001, Derek Sherinian teamed with drummer Simon Phillips and guitarists Steve Lukather and Zakk Wylde to record Inertia, followed by Black Utopia.

18.

Derek Sherinian called the album "a lot darker and heavier than [Inertia]".

19.

Derek Sherinian extended further into the fusion realm by collaborating with guitarist Allan Holdsworth and violinist Jerry Goodman on Mythology.

20.

Since 2002, Derek Sherinian has toured with several well-known artists, including Billy Idol and Yngwie Malmsteen.

21.

Derek Sherinian worked with duduk master Djivan Gasparyan on the song "Prelude To Battle" on the release, written for his great grandmother who survived the Armenian genocide.

22.

In 2009, Derek Sherinian released his sixth solo album, Molecular Heinosity, again featuring Zakk Wylde, Tony Franklin and Brian Tichy.

23.

Later that year, Derek Sherinian performed a one-off acoustic gig with Alice in Chains to launch their Black Gives Way to Blue album.

24.

In September 2011, Derek Sherinian released his seventh solo album titled Oceana, reuniting with Simon Phillips and Steve Lukather, and featuring a guest appearance from BCC bandmate Joe Bonamassa.

25.

In 2019, Derek Sherinian signed a new solo deal with Sony Music, and released The Phoenix September 18,2020.

26.

Derek Sherinian appeared on two Whitesnake albums as part of the Red, White, and Blue Trilogy.

27.

In 2021, Derek Sherinian guested on the Michael Schenker Group album Immortal on the song "Drilled to Kill" and appeared on the lyric video.

28.

In 2009, Derek Sherinian became a founding member of supergroup Black Country Communion with Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, and Joe Bonamassa.

29.

Derek Sherinian recorded with Black Country Communion on their third studio release Afterglow.

30.

Derek Sherinian went on to join Bonamassa's solo band in July 2013 until December 2014.

31.

Derek Sherinian was hired by David Coverdale to replace the original keyboards on the previously released Whitesnake albums Slip of the Tongue and Restless Heart.

32.

Derek Sherinian's performances resulted on the Red, White, and Blues Trilogy compilation records, containing the albums The Rock Album, Love Songs, The Blues Album and Greatest Hits.

33.

Derek Sherinian just played his ass off for us, and you can hear it.

34.

April 2004, Derek Sherinian was invited by ex-Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes to play three shows in Japan with Marco Mendoza bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums.

35.

July 14,2009, Derek Sherinian performed a one-off acoustic gig at Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood with Alice in Chains to launch their Black Gives Way to Blue album.

36.

September 10,2012, Derek Sherinian was special guest to the Armenian band Dorians performing a concert in Yerevan and the first rock concert ever in Artsakh.

37.

On September 13,2012 Glenn Hughes and Derek Sherinian met Bako Sahakyan, the president of de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and organized a concert there.

38.

March 6,2013, Derek Sherinian was a special guest keyboardist with Black Label Society for their Unblackened acoustic set at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

39.

Derek Sherinian uses vintage instruments, primarily the Hammond organ, Moog, Rhodes, and Nord Lead 3 mixed in with some modern sounds.

40.

Derek Sherinian was presented the G2 Modular synth serial number 001 by Clavia representative Bengt Lilja in January 2004.

41.

Derek Sherinian is known for being one of the first keyboardists to use vertical keyboard stands, influencing a new generation of keyboardists.