MR. BIG Drummer PAT TORPEY Dies At 64

09 February 2018

Pat Torpey, drummer and founding member of MR. BIG, passed away Wednesday, February 7 at the age of 64 from complications of Parkinson's disease. His family, bandmates and management request privacy at this very difficult time. Services are pending.

In a 2017 interview with Rock Rebel magazine, MR. BIG bassist Billy Sheehan spoke about Torpey's battle with Parkinson's disease. He said: "Pat, unfortunately, ran into a bad situation, and as a band, we wanted to make sure that he knew that we were with him 100 percent. It's a tough thing for everybody, but Pat has demonstrated incredible courage and strength. He's inspiring to so many people all over the world. I get e-mails from people every day who maybe don't have the same affliction, but have something similar and Pat inspires them to get out of bed and get going and push back a little bit more. I think that's a wonderful thing in itself. The American military, the Navy Seals and their motto is 'No Man Left Behind.' So for the beginning of this, we adopted their motto to a rock band and [it was] 'No Man Left Behind'. A lot of bands are out there now and they don't have all the original members. Sad, sometimes you can't. People pass on and situations, but we really want it to be Paul, Eric, myself and Pat. Matt is incredible at helping out. I have to mention how awesome he is and how wonderful a job he's done to do Pat's parts the way they should be done. Really wonderful."

Asked in a 2011 interview with OnlineDrummer.com what influenced him to pick up a pair of sticks and start drumming, Torpey said: "I was about 7 or 8 years old, and my family used to go to this local picnic event with a live polka band. I was able to sit behind them and look down on the drummer, right on the top of him, and so from that vantage point I could see what he was doing, and I thought, 'Wow, that looks like fun!' That was my first memory of when I can remember wanting to play the drums. I went to my mother and said, 'I wanna play the drums,' and she gave me that look that parents give you, you know the 'Oh, yeah, sure you do… you're 7 years old.' So from there I kind of held on to that dream. I'd fashioned some drum sticks from a couple of sticks out of the yard. I carved them and drew my name on them with a magic marker, you know, the kind of thing an aspiring kid would do."

MR. BIG — Torpey, Martin, Sheehan and guitarist Paul Gilbert — released its ninth original studio album, 'Defying Gravity', last July.

MR. BIG, formed in 1988, produced numerous hit songs that ranged across a wide array of rock genres — be it ballads, heavy metal, or blues rock. Their hits included 'Alive And Kicking', 'Just Take My Heart' and the chart-topping ballad 'To Be With You'.

Photo credit: William Hames

Source: blabbermouth.net

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