MIKE INEZ Biography - Musicians

 
 

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MIKE INEZ

Name: Mike Inez                                                                         
Born: 14 may 1966                                                                       
                                                                                         
Michael "Mike" Inez (born May 14, 1966, in San Fernando, California) is a rock           
musician.                                                                               
                                                                                         
Starting out on guitar and saxophone, but since the late 1980s (most of his             
professional career) he has been a bass guitar player in popular hard rock bands.       
                                                                                         
In 1990, more than 50 musicians were auditioning for Ozzy Osbourne's group, and         
Inez won the spot of bassist. Within a month, Inez was playing live at a gig             
with Osbourne at Wembley Stadium.                                                       
                                                                                         
Inez was around for the No More Tears album in 1991, Inez is credited with bass         
"inspiration" and Inez also appeared on the 1993 Osbourne live album, Live and           
Loud, but by late 1993 Inez had moved on to his next project. Alice in Chains           
bassist Mike Starr had left the group after the release of Dirt and Inez                 
replaced him.                                                                           
                                                                                         
Inez toured throughout 1993 with Alice in Chains on the strength of the Dirt             
album, and the group participated in the 1993 Lollapalooza Tour. The next AIC           
album Jar of Flies was ready for release in 1994 with Inez recording the bass           
tracks. (This album debuted at #1 on the album sales charts, the first EP ever           
to do so).                                                                               
                                                                                         
Inez again recorded with the band for their eponymous 1995 release Alice in             
Chains. This album also debuted at #1. Inez can be seen appearing with Alice in         
Chains on the 1996 MTV Unplugged special, one of the few live performances the           
group had played together in three years. Afterwards, they went on a long hiatus         
and are now back with Inez still playing bass.                                           
                                                                                         
Also in 1995, Inez played with Slash on the former Guns N' Roses guitarist's             
side group, Slash's Snakepit. The group recorded It's Five O'Clock Somewhere             
although Inez did not play any live shows during the corresponding tour.                 
                                                                                         
In 1998 Inez played with his Alice in Chains bandmate, Jerry Cantrell, on his           
debut solo album, Boggy Depot. In the following year, Inez played on the bonus           
track to Black Label Society's debut album Sonic Brew, a reworked heavy metal           
cover version of the Osbourne track "No More Tears". At around this time, Inez           
formed the band Spys 4 Darwin with Sean Kinney, Chris DeGarmo from Queensrÿche,         
and Vinnie Drombroski from Sponge. They released the "Microfish" EP, and played         
radio festivals in the Northwest.                                                       
                                                                                         
In mid August 2001, Inez temporarily replaced Steve Gibb (who was sent home mid-tour)   
for Black Label Society, who were in the middle of the Ozzfest 2001 tour. In             
late 2002 Inez was considered to replace Jason Newsted in Metallica.                     
                                                                                         
Inez appears on Heart's 2003 release, Alive in Seattle, a double CD live                 
recording that documents a 2002 concert at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.                 
                                                                                         
In 2003, Inez replaced Robert Trujillo (who had joined Metallica) in Black Label         
Society, doing a short two week west coast tour of the United States, and a             
short tour of Japan for their The Blessed Hellride album. A few songs from the           
Tokyo, Japan show of this tour appears in the bonus features section of their           
live DVD, Boozed, Broozed, and Broken-Boned.                                             
                                                                                         
Inez recorded one track with Black Label Society, called "Crazy Or High" for             
their 2004 release Hangover Music Vol. VI.                                               
                                                                                         
In 2005 Inez reunited with the surviving Alice in Chains members, performing at         
a benefit concert for the Tsunami Disaster.                                             
                                                                                         
By 2006 Inez had got together with Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney of Alice in           
Chains, and had set for a world tour, with various guest singers to fill in for         
the late Layne Staley. The main singer for the band's tour was William DuVall.           
The band was also featured on Decades of Rock: Heart and Friends where they             
performed "Would?" (with Phil Anselmo) and "Rooster" (with William DuVall).             
                                                                                         
Inez was a guest player on "Under the Gun" from Motorhead's 2006 album Kiss of           
Death.                                                                                   
                                                                                         
Inez continues to tour with Alice in Chains with DuVall on permanent vocals,             
they plan on coming out with a new album, said to be released in late 2008 or           
2009.