Tom Hamilton (musician)
Birth name Thomas William Hamilton
Born December 31, 1951
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Genres Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Bass guitar, guitar, vocals
Thomas William Hamilton (born December 31, 1951 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the hard rock bands Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy. He has regularly co-written songs for Aerosmith, including two of the band’s biggest hits: “Sweet Emotion” (1975) and “Janie’s Got a Gun” (1989). Hamilton occasionally plays guitar (e.g. “Uncle Salty”) and sings backing vocals (e.g. “Love in an Elevator”).
Thomas William Hamilton was born to George and Betty Hamilton in Colorado Springs, Colorado. George and Betty now live in Vero Beach, Florida. He has an older brother named Scott, an older sister named Perry, and a younger sister named Cecily. His father was in the Air Force and his mother was a housewife.
He first learned to play guitar from his brother, who got his first guitar when Tom was four years old. Hamilton first started playing guitar when his older brother Scott taught him his first chords at age 12. Tom switched to bass when he was 14 to join a local band because they had an open space at that position. Hamilton was in a few bands with soon-to-be Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry and David “Pudge” Scott. One of the bands was simply called “The Jam Band”. It was at a Jam Band gig in summer 1970 at a place called “The Barn” in Sunapee, New Hampshire, that the Jam Band met Steven Tyler, and the four of them agreed to move to Boston to start a band (not yet named Aerosmith). Scott left the group shortly thereafter, being replaced by Tyler on drums. The three became a power trio with Hamilton on bass, Perry on guitar, and Tyler on drums and vocals. Then Ray Tabano joined and eventually Joey Kramer joined (who coined the name “Aerosmith”) in replacing Tyler on drums so he could focus on vocals. Tabano was replaced by Brad Whitford and Aerosmith was born.
Hamilton is the tallest member of the band at 6’1″. He is also the “funny one” of Aerosmith, always looking for chances to make jokes in interviews and also being one of the bigger talkers at interviews.
Aerosmith songs written
The following Aerosmith songs have a writing credit given to Tom Hamilton
“Sweet Emotion” from Toys in the Attic
“Uncle Salty” from Toys in the Attic
“Sick as a Dog” from Rocks
“Critical Mass” from Draw the Line
“Kings and Queens” from Draw the Line
“The Hand That Feeds” from Draw the Line
“The Reason a Dog” from Done with Mirrors
“The Hop” from Done with Mirrors
“Janie’s Got a Gun” from Pump
“The Movie” from Permanent Vacation
“Krawhitham” from Pandora’s Box
“Beautiful” from Music From Another Dimension!
“Tell Me” from Music From Another Dimension!
“Lover Alot” from Music From Another Dimension!
“Can’t Stop Lovin’ You” from Music From Another Dimension!
“Up on the Mountain” from Music From Another Dimension! – Deluxe Version – Also provides lead vocals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia