Whatever Happened To Sebastian Bach?
His isn't the first face that many would think of when they see the name Bach and music in the same context. And his genre of choice is far removed from classical music. But among Sebastian Bach's earliest musical experiences was classical and traditional music, as he wrote in his memoir "18 and Life on Skid Row." It wasn't the music of Johann Sebastian Bach that 8-year-old Sebastian Bierk (his birth name) encountered through the church, but the hymn "Gloria In Excelsis Deo." "As I hit the high harmony ... the whole soprano section reached a musical crescendo that I experienced in every part of my mind, body, and soul," he wrote. Bach's mother and aunt had encouraged his musical talent for years, he told NPR, but that experience in church unlocked an overwhelming love of singing.
That love carried Bach from Peterborough, Ontario to a career as the frontman for the rock band Skid Row. His stint as the band's lead vocalist was short-lived, and it put him through the archetypal rock star arc of sudden success, wild parties, alcohol and drugs, and self-destruction (he was at least 15 years off drugs when he spoke to NPR in 2016). By his own admission to Legendary Rock Interviews, he was fired from Skid Row for rejecting songs he didn't feel were good enough. But that dismissal wasn't the end of Bach's musical career. Here's what Sebastian Bach's been up to since leaving Skid Row.
He's sung with other bands and in Broadway shows
Sebastian Bach's departure from Skid Row was an acrimonious one, and he told Gator 98.7 that he and his bandmates haven't even been in the same room together since 1996. For his part, Bach says he has no hard feelings toward his old bandmates, and that a reunion "should" happen "for the fans." But Bach hasn't been idle since leaving Skid Row. Per AllMusic, he helped form the Last Hard Men shortly after being fired, though his time there was brief. He moved on to solo recording, releasing his first album in 1999. His latest solo release, "Give 'Em Hell," was released in 2014.
Since then, Bach has toured and performed with various acts. He's also taken his musical talents to the theater. He played the title role in the Broadway version of "Jekyll & Hyde" in 2000, and he played Riff Raff the following year in a production of "The Rocky Horror Show." Bach attributed the move to Broadway to the talent scout who first signed him in an interview with Orlando Weekly, done while Bach was in the national touring production of "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Jesus of Nazareth.
He's done some acting and voice-over work
Like many musicians, Sebastian Bach found a side career in acting. Besides his work in musical theater, he had a recurring role on "Gilmore Girls" as Gil (per AllMusic), which he reprised for the revival miniseries in 2016. On the big screen, he's had cameos in films like "Rock of Ages" and "Swearnet: The Movie" (per IMDb). Bach's music and acting careers have also mingled at times; his supergroup, Damnocracy, was the subject of a VH-1 reality series in 2006, and he's put in several reality TV stints since.
One of Bach's most noted performances relied entirely on his voice. In 2010, per the Los Angeles Times, he made a cameo appearance as a member of King Triton's clan on "SpongeBob SquarePants" alongside John O'Hurley and Victoria Beckham. According to Brave Words, Bach recorded his part in 2008, around the same time he was doing voiceover work across town for Cartoon Network's "Robot Chicken." Per TV By the Numbers, Bach's "SpongeBob" episode, "Clash of the Tritons," scored 5.2 million views and drove up the traffic on Spongebob.com to its highest week.