Billy Sheehan On Mr. Big's Farewell Tour, David Lee Roth & More - "Paltrocast" Exclusive

Photo byMr. Big // Joel Barrios | Photography That Rocks

Mr. Big -- as comprised of Eric Martin (lead vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitar, vocals), Billy Sheehan (bass, vocals) and Nick D’Virgilio (drums, vocals) -- is closing out its 35-year career in a BIG way -- with not one, but two album releases. First up is their 10th studio album, Ten, which was released on July 12th. The group's last-ever live album release will be The BIG Finish Live, which is due out later this week on September 6th via the Evolution Music Group.

The BIG Finish Live is a brand-new live album and concert film of MR.BIG’s The BIG Finish farewell tour -- which the Paltrocast experienced in Santiago, Chile earlier this year -- where the band played the million-selling Lean Into It album in its entirety, plus additional Mt. Big classics. Filmed in 4K at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan on August 26, 2023, this historic performance will be available in many different multiple high-quality formats: 180g Black Vinyl (3 LP), Hybrid Stereo Multi-Channel SACDs (2), MQA-CDs (2), MQA-CDs + Blu-Ray (2), 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (featuring behind the scenes and interview footage), and cassette (2). All of these formats will come with a booklet/insert that includes previously unreleased photos from their Budokan performance, as well as a sticker or postcard gift for fans.

The first leg of The BIG Finish farewell tour kicked off July 20, 2023 in Nagoya, Japan, which took Mr. Big throughout Southeast Asia, where the band performed for hundreds of thousands of loyal fans at 11 sold-out shows. Mr. Big then brought The BIG Finish to South America, then carrying out an initial run of European shows and two separate East Coast and West Coast tours of the U.S., with its last-ever stateside concert happening June 6th in Billy Sheehan’s hometown of Buffalo, New York. Mr. Big then resumed touring on July 13th in Bulgaria before wrapping on August 23rd in Romania.

Mr. Big is, of course, far from the only high-profile or fascinating credit related to its founding bassist Billy Sheehan. Prior to the founding of Mr. Big, Sheehan was part of the Buffalo-based band Talas before joining up with Van Halen’s David Lee Roth for a pair of albums. A supergroup of sorts, Mr. Big experienced continous international success until it took a hiatus in 2002. Sheehan kept plenty busy before Mr. Big regrouped in 2009, recording and/or touring with the likes of Daniel Piquê, Niacin, Richie Kotzen and Terry Bozzio, beyond issuing a few solo albums of his own. These days, he is also part of The Winery Dogs alongside drummer Mike Portnoy and the earlier-mentioned Kotzen.

I had the pleasure -- and I do mean "the pleasure" -- of speaking with Billy Sheehan again in September 2024 via Zoom, as embedded above and intended to air via the Long Beach, New York-based Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz television series; our September 2021 Zoom-based conversation is embedded below. More on all things Billy Sheehan and Mr. Big can be found online by clicking here.