B'z Support Members
B'z Support Members are musicians who appear with B'z during their LIVE-GYM events playing the instruments not occupied by the primary duo of Koshi Inaba on vocals and Tak Matsumoto on guitar as well as contribute to their studio recordings. The stable of support musicians that have provided drums, bass, keyboards, and other instruments during various B'z shows and in the studio include a number of esteemed musicians from various other successful music acts. Among those who have recorded and performed with B'z are American bassists Billy Sheehan of Mr. Big and Barry Sparks, who has previously toured with the Scorpions, UFO, and the Michael Schenker Group.
Typically, those touring with the band at a given time are also those providing their respective parts on the most recent recording efforts. This formation of touring and recording with the same team began in 1993 with one of the band's best-regarded albums, RUN. Additionally, active members often also appear in the band's music videos as well.
In addition to taking on various drummers, bassists, and keyboardists over time, B'z also occasionally tour with additional performers, such as brass sections, orchestras, and occasionally performance troupes providing choreography on stage behind the band's performance. In recent years, the band has added a backing guitarist and vocalist beginning when Shinichiro Ohta toured with the band beginning in 2003 through 2008. The role went absent from the band's 2009 and 2010 tours, but would be again filled in 2011 by a friend of Tak's, Yoshinobu Ohga, who was featured as one of the fellow guitarists on his concept album Theatre Of Strings in 2005.
Most recently, since 2011, drums have been provided by Canadian drummer Shane Gaalaas, bass by American Barry Sparks, backing guitar by Yoshinobu Ohga, and keyboards by Takanobu Masuda.
Drums
Shane Gaalaas
(2002-)
Kaichi Kurose
(1998-2001)
Denny Fongheiser
(1995-1997)
Ikko Tanaka
(1990-1994)
Abe Kaoru
(1989-1990)
Masato Yamaguchi
(TV)
Pat Torpey
(TV once)
GO
(TV 2007+)
Chad Smith
(Recording only)
Bass
Barry Sparks
Barry Sparks (born June 20, 1968, in Lucasville, Ohio) is an American bassist that has played with some of the most recognizable rock and metal acts in the world, including Yngwie Malmsteen, UFO, and Ted Nugent.
Introduced to Tak and Koshi by his longtime friend Shane Gaalaas, whom he met during their time touring with The Michael Schenker Group and also played in the sideproject Cosmosquad with, he first embarked on a live effort with them during B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 "BANZAI IN NORTH AMERICA" and soon thereafter B'z LIVE-GYM 2003 "BIG MACHINE". After touring with fellow rock acts Dokkun, UFO, and Ted Nugent in the interim, he returned to tour with B'z beginning with the "ACTION" tour in 2008. Since, he has appeared on every B'z tour to follow as well as numerous television appearances. He has likewise appeared in a number of videos, including those for "C'mon", "Don't Wanna Lie", and "MY LONELY TOWN". In addition to being their live bassist, Barry has also provided bass on the majority of B'z recordings since 2008, including for various singles and the studio albums of MAGIC and C'mon.
Barry describes himself as the world's biggest KISS fan and has amassed a large collection of vinyl records. His love of records would be something he would introduce to Tak, which has become a bonding point for the two ever since. Barry considers Tak a close friend and has become one of the longest mainstay support members to have ever toured with B'z.
In 2004, Barry released a solo album entitled Can't Look Back on which he performed all vocals, guitar, and bass. For the majority of the tracks, Shane Gaalaas provided drums.
Tours with B'z
Tokunaga Akihito
(1998, 2003-2007)
Billy Sheehan
(2002)
Shotaro Mitsuzono
(1999~2001)
Akashi Masao
(1989~1997)
Hazuki Kido
(TV once)
Juan Alderete
(Recording only)
Backup Guitar
Ohga Shiganobu
(2011~)
Ohta Shinichiro
(2003-2008)
Keyboards
Takanobu Masuda
(1992~1997, 1999-)
Kosuke Oshima
(1998)
Yoko Hiromoto
(1989-1992)