Singer Eric Martin has confirmed that Mr. Big will reunite for a mid-2023 US Tour.
Martin discussed the tour plans in an interview with The Metal Voice. Fellow original members Paul Gilbert (guitar) and Billy Sheehan (bass) are on board, and an as-yet-unnamed drummer will take the place of the late Pat Torpey, who passed away in 2018 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.
“I still can’t really say the drummer… Mr. Big it’s definitely gonna happen, there’s no question about it,” Martin said. “It’s gonna happen in the middle of 2023. There are going to be multiple dates. We are working on the US. Paul Gilbert is involved, the original guitar player… Billy Sheehan and the spirit of Pat Torpey.”
Martin was tight-lipped regarding the drummer, but revealed that the new band member won the gig after submitting a rehearsal video of the Lean Into It track “Lucky This Time.”
“He thought he would one-up the audition, so he played drums on it and he sang the lead and the harmonies on everything,” Martin said. “It was phenomenal. I don’t want to mention the guy’s name until the press release comes out. But the guy really stepped up and everybody knows him and then one really really cool thing is that he was a big fan of Pat Torpey. I think Pat, he’d approve of this new mystery man.”
Mr. Big last toured in 2018 with journeyman drummer Matt Starr (whom Martin said will not be involved in the upcoming tour). The hard rock band is best known for its hit ballad “To Be With You,” which topped the charts in multiple countries. In the interview with The Metal Voice, Martin shared an answering machine message from Pat Torpey after the track made heavy rotation on MTV in the early ’90s.
Torpey’s transcribed message was as follows: “Eric Martin, it’s Pat Torpey, eh it’s 5 o’clock. I guess you are not there. I got a call last night. Congratulations Eric, I knew you had it in you. Dammit, heavy rotation MTV. Today we are going into heavy rotation, can you believe that? It’s amazing. I’m starting to get scared with all this good news.”
You can watch the full interview with Martin below, as well as the 4K remastered music video for “To Be With You.”