Winger

Having played bass in Alice Cooper's ensemble, Kip Winger assembled his own band in 1987. Alongside Winger on vocals and bass, the lineup included guitarist Reb Beach, bassist Paul Taylor, and drummer Rod Morgenstein, who had previously performed with the Dixie Dregs. After abandoning the name Sahara at the last moment, the group adopted its leader's surname and focused on the polished pop-metal style that propelled Bon Jovi and Poison to chart dominance. Their self-titled debut moved more than a million units, buoyed by the rocker "Seventeen" and the ballad "Headed for a Heartbreak." The follow-up, In the Heart of the Young, arrived in 1990 and matched that commercial performance, moving beyond a million copies while showcasing the hit power ballad "Miles Away." The rise of alternative rock, however, curtailed the band's momentum, and activity ceased following the 1993 release of Pull. Later in the decade, Kip Winger began a solo career that produced three albums before he reconvened with his former bandmates in 2002. A short tour with fellow pop-metal veterans Poison preceded their return to the studio for the first collection in over ten years. IV, issued in 2006, adhered closely to the approach that had defined Winger's earlier success, and the subsequent reunion tour was documented on the two-disc set Winger Live. Karma appeared shortly afterward in 2009, yet several years passed before Better Days Comin' surfaced in the spring of 2014.