Mr Big back for good?

When American rock band Mr Big broke up in 2002 amid reported acrimony between bass player Billy Sheehan and the rest of the band, nobody - least of all Sheehan himself - expected the band to get back to where they once belonged.

Formed in 1988, Mr Big - Sheehan, guitarist Paul Gilbert, singer Eric Martin and drummer Pat Torpey - scored hits like "To Be With You" and their version of "Wild World", but Gilbert left, and the band took a break in 1997. They reformed in 1999 with Ritchie Kotzen on guitar, recorded a couple of albums and broke up again.

But, hey, third time lucky, as they say.

The seed for the band's latest reunion was sown when Sheehan asked Gilbert to collaborate on a song ("Dynamic Exhilarator") on Sheehan's "Holy Cow!" album. "We played together, we had a wonderful time," said Sheehan over the phone from Denmark.

"(Gilbert) invited me to one of his shows and we jammed; and Pat was there and he also played, and the next thing you know, we got in touch Eric and that's how (the reunion) started."

Mr Big got started again with a reunion tour of Japan, which was so successful they decided to continue their tour. The band will swing by Singapore next week for their gig at Fort Canning Park.

"Singapore was one of our favourite places in the world when we first came over there. To me, it was paradise," said Sheehan. "And the record company, instead of sitting us in a hotel and doing interviews all day, they put us in a car and we drove all around Singapore with the press people. We absolutely fell in love with the place."

Sheehan said that the guys are falling in love with performing together again.

"It's just like it used to be, only better," said the 56-year-old of the shows so far. "We've all been through a lot, we bring more things now to Mr Big, we're better players, singers and songwriters. So it's all the fun of before, plus a lot more in the music."

He declined, however, to confirm if the band will record together. "We don't know yet. We'll see what time allows. Our biggest concern right now is doing the show tonight. And when we're in Singapore, our biggest concern will be the show in Singapore."


Mr Big's reunion world tour lands in Singapore October 18, 8pm at Fort Canning Park. Tickets at S$85 from Tickets.com (www.tdc.sg or call 6296 2929).

- TODAY