Fergie Frederiksen was born Dennis
Hardy Frederiksen on May 15, 1951 in Grand Rapids, Michigan,
USA. His family emigrated from Denmark to the states more than
100 years ago.
Even though Fergie is most known
for being a former vocalist in Toto, he has done a lot
of other stuff too. Trillion, LeRoux, Frederiksen/Philips and David London, to name some of his bands
and projects. Fergie made his first-ever solo album (except
of David London), released in February 1999, called Equilibrium.
Fergie, with his high-pitched voice,
made his debut as a singer at an early age. He started his musical
career at the age of 13, and he played clubs and pubs at the
age of 15 with musicians three times his own age! Fergie remembers
those days as a great time in his life, and he tells us that
he really learned a lot from his older bandmates. Fergie realized
by coincidence that he could sing, and he therefore decided
that he would try to make a living out of it.
Frederiksen moved to Chicago in
1975 and replaced Tommy Shaw in the band MS Funk.
Tommy and Fergie had been
friends, and Shaw suggested Fergie
as his replacement when he moved on to join Styx. Shortly
after, Fergie met Patrick Leonard
and together they formed Trillion, which was shortly
picked up by Epic Records. After one record, Fergie left the
band and joined LeRoux, with which he released an album
in 1983 (So Fired Up). Fergie had decided to move out
to Los Angeles in 1980, and he started to get involved in a
lot of session work. Through this, he met bass player and producer
Ricky Phillips. They built up a close friendship and
to this day they are still the best of pals. When LeRoux disbanded,
Fergie started a band with Phillips, drummer Pat Torpey,
guitarist Tim Pierce, guitarist Scott Sheets,
and keyboard player John Purdell. The band was called
Abandon Shame. That's when Ricky Phillips gave a video
to his friend Jeff Porcaro.
”And the next thing I know was that
I was asked to join Toto, who were looking for a new singer
after the [departure] of Bobby Kimball,” says Fergie.
He continues, ”Ricky and the other guys in Abandon Shame were
very understanding, as it was a huge chance to join Toto.” Fergie
recorded Isolation with Toto. ”It was an adventurous
album,” Fergie recalls. ”It was a band who took a chance of
doing a album not in any way as commercial as their previous
album. It was an album heavier and more progressive. But still
to this day a great album.” Due to various reasons, Fergie was
to leave Toto only after one album. Today Fergie feels nothing
bad about his former bandmates in Toto - life is good for him
anyway, so why should he? He's building up his ”new life” in
music business, and once again the future looks bright for Fergie!
Fergie then decided to put away
the microphone for awhile. ”I was basically burned out, not
so much as for the music but more as for how the whole industry
works and all this hassle and bullshit you have to deal with,
apart from doing good music.” After some years in the restaurant
business, Fergie felt the passion for music again, and he recorded
an album with his all-time buddy Ricky Phillips (Frederiksen/Phillips), released in 1994.
After this, Fergie felt that he
wanted to live for and by the music again, and he released his
brilliant solo album ”Equilibrium” in 1999. Fergie is also a
member of The World Classic Rockers, a band that plays
a lot of hits with different musicians from former great bands.
We could name some names: Denny Laine, Spencer Davis,
Randy Meisner, Michael Monarch, Nick St. Nicholas,
Kurt Griffey, Steve Stewart, Ron Wikso,
and of course Fergie himself.
Fergie also is part of The Voices
Of Classic Rock, which contains such great talents like
Glenn Hughes, Jimi Jamison, Mike Reno,
Pat Travers, Alex Ligertwood, Spencer Davis,
and others. This is a collection of great musicians that travels
around the world doing special shows.
Fergie was also in the exciting
band Mecca that received rave reviews worldwide for its
first album released in 2002 entitled Mecca. He was a
part of the band with his good friend Joe Vana, and
David Hungate - the former bass player of Toto - to name
a couple. What will happen with Mecca is unsure, but Fergie
will not continue his work with them.
For additional music credits for
Fergie, see
The Official Fergie Frederiksen Website.
