Biography
Gary Cherone entered the world as a fraternal twin during the early 1960s in Malden, Massachusetts. Sports initially defined his ambitions, and he pursued a path toward professional basketball. A severe knee injury ended those prospects, prompting him to channel his energies into music instead. Employed at a local car rental shop, he assembled the cover band Myth in 1978, which delivered renditions of material by the Who, Queen, and the Rolling Stones throughout the Boston area. The following year he launched a separate outfit also named Myth alongside guitarist Paul Geary. By 1981 Cherone and Geary had established the Dream, a pop rock and metal ensemble that captured first place in MTV’s Basement Tapes competition for unsigned acts. Fronted by Cherone, the Dream issued a self-titled six-song album on Toppe Records. In 1985 a local television station acquired the rights to the group’s name, prompting the formation of Extreme. Cherone remained the internationally renowned rock band’s lead vocalist through 1996, during which time it issued the hit single “More Than Words” and appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. After Extreme dissolved that year, Cherone participated briefly in the jazz-oriented side project Houndstooth. The collaboration ended quickly once Van Halen parted company with vocalist Sammy Hagar, leading Cherone to join the group as its frontman from 1996 to 1999. He subsequently departed to launch Tribe of Judah, an act nominated for Boston Music Awards honors that included Outstanding New Rock Band. In 2002 he issued his first solo recording, The Anthropic Principal, through Spitfire.
Singles