Gary Cherone

Gary Cherone and his fraternal twin Greg Cherone were born on July 26, 1961, in a middle-class Catholic family in Malden, Massachusetts. The twins have three other brothers.

He attended Malden High School where he played basketball and wanted to pursue a sporting career. However, his dreams were shattered when he sustained a serious knee injury. He then took up singing, which became his passion. He was influenced by rock stars like Roger Daltrey of The Who, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, and Queen's Freddie Mercury.

Gary Cherone sang in local bands as a teenager. In 1979, he, along with his friend and drummer Paul Geary and guitarist Matt McKay, formed Adrenalin, a hard-rock band, and performed locally. In 1981, they changed the band's name to The Dream and recorded an independent EP that consisted of six songs.

Gary and The Dream were featured in a music video produced by David Hogan, which was presented in an MTV program, ‘Basement Tapes’. The show featured music videos by unsigned artists, and The Dream's video for ‘Mutha, Don't Wanna Go to School Today,’ won the contest.

In 1985, Gary, his drummer friend Paul Geary, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and bassist Pat Badger formed the rock band Extreme; the name was a play on the words “Ex-Dream". The foursome started writing songs and performing, and by the late 1980s, they had a large regional following.

In 1989, the band released their first self-titled album through A&M Records, which sold over 300,000 units. The band shot to fame with their second album ‘Extreme II: Pornograffiti’, released in 1990.

The album was a unique mix of hard rock, funk, and pop songs driven by Bettencourt's brilliant guitar playing. Although the album received a good reception in the rock world, its initial sales and chart success were moderate. Two singles from album—‘More Than Words’ and ‘Hole Hearted’, reached the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two other singles ‘Decadence Dance’ and ‘Get the Funk Out’, however, received only moderate response.

‘Extreme,’ the first studio album of the Boston metal band Extreme, was released on March 14, 1989. The album contained four singles—‘Little Girls’, ‘Kid Ego’, ‘Mutha (Don't Wanna Go to School Today)’ and ‘Play with Me’. The songs featured catchy guitar riffs and fast soloing. Lyrically, the album represented childhood themes. The single ‘Play with Me’ was featured in the movie ‘Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure’ and in ‘Jury Duty’.

Extreme’s second album ‘Extreme II: Pornograffiti’ as released in 1990 and was certified double platinum. The song ‘More Than Words’ was a smashing hit, and reached the no. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's lyrics were mostly written by Gary, and were based on the concept of a fictional young boy named ‘Francis’ and his observations of a corrupt society.

Cherone’s only collaborative album with the rock band Van Halen, the album ‘Van Halen III’ was released by Warner Bros. Records, and was gold certified in the United States by RIAA. Selling over 700,000 copies as of 2011, it featured an eclectic and diverse set of songs, different from the standard arena rock.