Mike Watt

This article is about the bassist. For other people named Mike Watt, see Mike Watt (disambiguation).

Mike Watt
Watt in 2009
Watt in 2009
Background information
Birth nameMichael David Watt
Born (1957-12-20) December 20, 1957 (age 66)
Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, vocals
Years active1978–present
Labels
Member of
Formerly of
Websitemikewatt.com

Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957)[1] is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo career with the 1995 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, he has since released three additional solo albums, most recently in 2010 with Hyphenated-man. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder (2008–present), a member of the art rock group Banyan (1997–present) and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges.

Watt has been called "one of the greatest bassists on the planet".[2] CMJ New Music called Watt a "seminal post-punk bass player".[3] Readers of NME voted Mike Watt one of the "40 Greatest Bassists of All Time"[4] and LA Weekly awarded him the number six spot in "The 20 Best Bassists of All Time".[5] In November 2008, Watt received the Bass Player Magazine lifetime achievement award, presented by Flea.[6] The Red Hot Chili Peppers dedicated their best-selling album, 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik, to Watt.[7]

  1. ^ Sutherland, Sam (March 24, 2007). "Mike Watt on What's Watt". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  2. ^ Seitzer, Mike (May 22, 2019). "Legendary punk bassist Mike Watt reflects on making music his way". Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  3. ^ "Rev. of Mike Watt, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?". CMJ New Music. December 1994. p. 5. Retrieved March 26, 2010.
  4. ^ Barker, Emily (July 25, 2014). "40 Of The Greatest Bassists Of All Time – Picked By NME Readers". NME. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "The 20 Best Bassists of All Time". LA Weekly. May 13, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  6. ^ Leigh, Bill (2008). "Welcome to Bass Player LIVE!". Bass Player Magazine.
  7. ^ "Shootin' The Breeze with Mike Watt". Smash Mag. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.