Elliot Easton

Born on December 18, 1953, in Brooklyn, NY, as Elliot Shapiro, the left-handed guitarist served as lead player for the Cars during their run from 1977 to 1987. After the commercial peak of Heartbeat City, Easton stepped away in 1984 to pursue independent recordings. The resulting album Change No Change, issued in 1985 and featuring vocals from Jules Shear, marked that detour, after which he rejoined the Cars for their final release. By 1993 he had formed Band of Angels, whose recorded material stayed unreleased until the 1996 reissue of Change No Change brought some of it forward. Easton also contributed to sessions for Nelson and Jules Shear while maintaining a touring role with Creedence Clearwater Revisited.