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, AMG)