Since Billy Sheehan announced that Mr. Big was planning to play shows in 2023, their fans have been dying to know who will replace their late drummer Pat Torpey. That’s why Eric Martin was asked about this anonymous drummer in a conversation with the Metal Voice, and the singer couldn’t be more mysterious.
“I’m here to tell you, folks, I have been talking about it lately. I still can’t really say the drummer,” said Martin and kept their new drummer a secret once again. He later confirmed Mr. Big’s upcoming shows by saying, “Mr. Big, it’s definitely going to happen. There’s no question about it. It’s going to happen in the middle of 2023. There are going to be multiple dates. We are working on the US.”
Eric Martin then revealed the remaining band members for this reunion, stressing that Matt Starr will not join them, “Paul Gilbert is involved, the original guitar player. Billy Sheehan and the spirit Pat Torpey. There will be a phenomenal drummer. It won’t be Matt Starr. Matt is doing his own thing. We have this new drummer.”
Following that, Martin detailed the hiring process of their new drummer, “I will tell you that he sent an audition video, and I watched it, and he played, ‘Lucky This Time,’ which is a song that we’ve hardly ever done because mainly because it was really hard for me to sing it. It’s on the ‘Lean Into It’ album.”
He continued, “What he did was he thought he would one-up the audition, so he played drums on it, and he sang the lead and the harmonies on everything. It was phenomenal. I don’t want to mention the guy’s name until the press release comes out. But the guy really stepped up, and everybody knows him, and then one really, really cool thing is that he was a big fan of Pat Torpey. I think Pat, he’d approve of this new mystery man.”
When Sheenan had first talked about Mr. Big’s future plans, he had disclosed that Matt Starr would be returning as the band’s drummer. However, he later claimed that the band had changed its mind about Starr. The name of their new drummer then turned into a mystery. Nonetheless, many fans expressed their excitement when the band members approved the reunion of Mr. Big for touring. It sounds like there are no doubts the reunion will happen since Eric Martin seemed confident in his latest interview.
