Birth name James Andrew Michael Name James Michael | Role Record producer | |
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Born September 26, 1967 (age 56) ( 1967-09-26 ) Occupation(s) Producer, musician, songwriter, singer, sound engineer, mixer Instruments Guitar, keyboards, bass, vocals, drums, organ Labels Indivision/Beyond Music Music groups Sixx:A.M. (Since 2007), The X Factor Finalists 2011 Albums Similar People DJ Ashba, Nikki Sixx, Jacoby Shaddix, Mick Mars, Desmond Child Profiles | ||
James Michael discusses producing Motley Crue
James Andrew Michael (born September 26, 1967) is an American record producer, songwriter, mixer, vocalist and musician. He is currently the lead singer of the rock band Sixx:A.M.
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SIXX: A.M. - Meet James Michael
Early life
He took piano lessons while growing up and sang in Holland High School's show choir, Vocal Dimensions. As a teen, he played in different local rock bands including The Way We Dress and Night Shift. In the late 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles where he slept on a friend's couch the first year and lived on a diet of junk food and beer.
Career
James Michael has worked as a record producer, songwriter and/or engineer/mixer with many recording artists including Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morissette, Meat Loaf, Mötley Crüe, HammerFall, Scorpions, Hilary Duff, The Rasmus, Papa Roach, Trapt, American Bang, Saliva, The Exies, Deana Carter, Sammy Hagar, Lillix, Sarah Kelly, Taylor Momsen, Halestorm, Jack's Mannequin, Brides of Destruction, Shahnaz and Marion Raven.
He put out his first solo album in 2000 entitled "Inhale". Michael wrote and mixed the entire album and often played all of the instruments, with the exception of a few guest artists. He released the song "Los Angeloser" on May 7, 2009 on MySpace.
Michael gave the song "Los Angeloser" to Meat Loaf which was released on Meat Loaf's album "Hang Cool Teddy Bear". Michael sung backing vocals on the song.
Michael is co-founder (along with Nikki Sixx) and lead singer of the rock band Sixx:A.M.. The band’s debut album, The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, produced by Michael, was on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart for 26 consecutive weeks and featured the No.1 rock track of 2008 and gold-selling single "Life Is Beautiful". He also co-wrote and handled production for the band’s second album, "This Is Gonna Hurt", which debuted at #10 on the Billboard Hot 200 and its first track, “Lies of the Beautiful People”, went No. 1 at Active Rock radio.
James Michael produced, mixed and co-wrote Mötley Crüe's last studio album Saints of Los Angeles that debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. He also co-wrote the song "Higher Than Heaven" for James Durbin's "Memories of a Beautiful Disaster" album released on November 21, 2011. He produced and co-wrote Papa Roach’s acclaimed new album, "The Connection", which debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. Other recent projects include writing the track "People Like Us" for the Kelly Clarkson Greatest Hits project, mixing Hinder’s new album "Welcome to the Freak Show" and writing with and contributing vocals for Halestorm.
James Michael's solo song "Learn to Hate You" premiered on November 26, 2012 on YouTube and can be found on iTunes and Amazon.com for download.
James Michael met up with Nikki Sixx and Dj Ashba early in 2013 to start writing songs for a new Sixx:A.M. album. He is also currently working on the new James Durbin record