Winger

A former member of Alice Cooper's band, bassist Kip Winger formed his own group in 1986; in addition to vocalist/bassist Winger, the group featured guitarist Reb Beach, bassist Paul Taylor, and drummer Rod Morgenstein, formerly of the Dixie Dregs. Taking their name from their leader after a last-minute change from Sahara, Winger specialized in the stylish pop-metal that sent Bon Jovi and Poison to the top of the charts. The band's eponymous debut sold over a million copies on the strength of the rocker "Seventeen" and the ballad "Headed for a Heartbreak." Winger's second album, 1990's In the Heart of the Young, was equally successful, selling over a million copies and featuring the hit power ballad "Miles Away." However, the band didn't outlast the post-alternative pop-metal backlash and the group faded away after the release of their 1993 album Pull. Kip Winger launched a solo career later that decade, releasing three albums before reuniting with his former bandmates in 2002. After a brief tour alongside fellow pop-metal veterans Poison, the band returned to the studio to craft their first album in more than a decade. 2006's IV stuck close to the formula that made Winger famous, and the resulting reunion tour was captured on the two-disc set Winger Live. Another album called Karma quickly followed in 2009, but the group took its time to deliver Better Days Comin', which appeared in the spring of 2014. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine