Paul Westerberg: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Videos
• Photos
• Groups/Boards
• Fan Sites

• Chris Mars
• Slim Dunlap
• Keith Richards
• Bash & Pop
• Ron Wood
• Gin Blossoms
• Soul Asylum

• Alex Chilton
• Faces
• Bob Dylan
• Big Star
• The Rolling Stones
• Johnny Thunders

• Mark Deming
• Josh Rouse
• Twenty Cent Crush
• The Rooks
• Liquor Giants
• Mark Lind
• Billy Gewin

• The Replacements

• The Replacements

Born:

Dec 31, 1959

Genres:

Rock Music, Alternative Rock Music, Singer/Songwriter Rock Music, Adult Alternative

Decades Active:

1980's|1990's|2000's

Artistic Quality

Medium

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Medium

Ratings Guide

After disbanding the Replacements in 1991, singer/songwriter Paul Westerberg resurfaced the following year with two songs on the Singles soundtrack. A year later, Westerberg released his first solo album, 14 Songs, in the summer of 1993. Although the record received generally positive reviews and spawned the modern rock hit "World Class Fad," the album failed to break the songwriter into the mainstream. Three years later, Westerberg released his second solo album, Eventually. Like 14 Songs and the entire Replacements catalog before it, Eventually received good reviews but failed to become a commercial success upon its spring 1996 release.

In the spring of 1997, Westerberg left Reprise Records. He recorded a one-off EP under the name Grandpaboy for the Boston-based indie label Soundproof/Monolyth Records; the label was co-owned by Darren Hill, who had previously played bass with Westerberg. By the time the EP was released in August of 1997, Westerberg had signed a new contract with Capitol Records, releasing Suicaine Gratifaction -- widely acclaimed as his finest solo work to date -- in early 1999. Unfortunately, Capitol's management was completely overhauled during the release of the album, causing the expected push behind the release to be prematurely buried. Westerberg was dropped and essentially disappeared from the music scene until 2002, when he suddenly announced the complicated Stereo/Mono project. He had signed with Vagrant Records, with the intention of releasing a double album recorded half in stereo, half in mono. Obviously enthusiastic about the new material, he decided to release the mono side early under the Grandpaboy moniker two months early, and started an in-store tour that spring to promote both releases.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide