Bernard Fowler
Bernard Fowler (born January 2, 1960) is an American musician. He is known for a long association with The Rolling Stones, providing backing vocals since 1989 and on their studio recordings and live tours. Fowler has been a featured guest vocalist on the majority of solo albums released by the members of that band.
Bernard Fowler

Lorenz · originally posted to Flickr as Bernard Fowler live in Vienna 2007 · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Bernard Fowler
- Birth Name
- R.
- Born
- 2 January 1960
- Birthplace
- New York City, United States
- Occupation
- * Musician
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- rock music
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Bernard Fowler. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2897920 · wikipedia · Bernard Fowler
In this article
Biography
Biography
He has released two solo albums, and he has also been a regular featured singer on other musicians' recordings and tours. Fowler has toured and recorded with the bands Tackhead and Bad Dog and occasionally with Nicklebag and Little Axe.

Bernard Fowler (Background singer of Rolling Stones) with his band BAD DOG Concert at Lindenpark in Potsdam, Germany on March 8th 2007.
.headache · originally posted to Flickr as BAD DOG
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Bernard Fowler • Birth Name — R. Bernard Fowler • Born — 2 January 1960 • Birthplace — New York City, United States • Instrument — * Vocals • percussion • Genre — * Electro • rock • rock & roll • funk • R&B • blues • country rock • reggae • blues rock • gospel • Occupation — * Musician • producer • songwriter • actor • Years Active — 1974-present • Label — * Atlantic • Rolling Stones • Sony • Associated Acts — The Rolling Stones, Peech Boys, Herbie Hancock, Bootsy Collins, Tackhead, Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Waddy Wachtel, Little Axe, The Pussycat Dolls • Website — Bernard Fowler.com
Career
Career
Fowler's first recordings were with the group The Total Eclipse for the album A Great Combination released 1975. In the early 1980s he was a member of The New York City Peech Boys with DJ Larry Levan and keyboard player Michael De Benedictus. The group had dance hits with tracks like "Don't Make Me Wait" and "Life Is Something Special". He provided vocals for the songs "I'm the One" and "Come Down" from the Material album One Down, where he was credited as a songwriter on several tracks. In 1982 Fowler sang on the Celluloid Records release Do The Smurf For What It's Worth. Fowler guested on Herbie Hancock's classic electro-funk albums Future Shock (1983) and Sound-System (1984), as well as the 1985 albums Compact Disc by Public Image Ltd and Language Barrier by Sly & Robbie. In 1986, he sang a song written by Philip Glass (music) and Paul Simon (lyrics), which appeared on Philip Glass's Songs from Liquid Days. In 1987 he sang backup for James Blood Ulmer on America – Do You Remember the Love?, and the next year he appeared on Bootsy Collins's What's Bootsy Doin'?. Fowler was the lead singer for the group Tackhead for several albums in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has also appeared on albums from Herb Alpert, Little Axe, Todd Terry, Michael Hutchence, (formerly of INXS) and Tackhead. In 1988 Fowler found himself touring with Steven Seagal.
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
• Illustration — Fowler in Potsdam, Germany; March 8th 2007 performing with The Rolling Stones In 1985, Fowler was hired to record backing vocals on Mick Jagger's first solo album, She's the Boss. This proved to be the beginning of a lasting business and personal relationship, not only with Jagger, but with all the current members of the Rolling Stones, as he has also performed on the solo albums of Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Ron Wood. After Fowler had already performed as a session musician with individual members of the Rolling Stones on their solo projects, he was chosen to join the Stones on their Steel Wheels world tour, in 1989. Mick Jagger spoke about his choice of Fowler to sing backing vocals saying that Fowler impressed him because he had a wide vocal range, many musical influences, and stamina. He has remained as a regular backup singer on tours with the Stones since then. Fowler was a feature vocalist on three of Watts' jazz solo albums. The other members of the Rolling Stones have utilized his vocal talents on their solo projects, including Richards' Main Offender and Wood's solo projects.
Songwriting and projects
Songwriting and projects
Fowler was asked to collaborate on songs from other artists. One such person has been Ron Wood in writing and composing songs for his solo albums. Fowler and Wood have co-written several songs and recorded them on Wood's albums. In 2006, Fowler released his first solo album, Friends with Privileges, on Sony Japan. This is his first entirely solo effort, however, he has had a significant number of rock and roll and R&B heavyweights in the music industry working with him. They include Ron Wood, Darryl Jones and Lisa Fischer of Rolling Stones fame; studio session musician and record producer Waddy Wachtel, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Robert Plant, Dave Abbruzzese (formerly of Pearl Jam), Joe Elliot (of Def Leppard), and Ivan Neville. His newest project is called the IMF's. In May 2011, he appeared as a special guest joining Argentine musician Charly Garcia playing a concert in Montevideo, Uruguay.
With The Rolling Stones and their solo projects
With The Rolling Stones and their solo projects
• (1985) She's the Boss (Mick Jagger) • (1989) Steel Wheels (Rolling Stones) • (1991) Flashpoint (Rolling Stones) • (1992) Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings (Charlie Watts) • (1992) Slide on This (Ronnie Wood) • (1992) Main Offender (Keith Richards) • (1993) Warm and Tender (Charlie Watts) • (1993) Slide on Live: Plugged in and Standing (Ronnie Wood) • (1993) Jump Back (Rolling Stones) • (1994) Voodoo Lounge (Rolling Stones) • (1995) Stripped (Rolling Stones) • (1996) Long Ago and Far Away (Charlie Watts) • (1997) Bridges to Babylon (Rolling Stones) • (1998) No Security (Rolling Stones) • (2000) Live and Eclectic (Ronnie Wood) • (2002) Forty Licks (Rolling Stones) • (2004) Live Licks (Rolling Stones) • (2005) A Bigger Bang (Rolling Stones) • (2005) Rarities 1971–2003 (Rolling Stones) • (2008) Shine a Light (Rolling Stones) • (2010) I Feel Like Playing (Ronnie Wood) • (2012) Light the Fuse (Rolling Stones) (a digital download through Google Music) • (2012) GRRR! (Rolling Stones) compilation album • (2013) Hyde Park Live (Rolling Stones) • (2015) From the Vault – Live at the Tokyo Dome (Rolling Stones) • (2015) Sticky Fingers Live (Rolling Stones) • (2015) Hyde Park Live (Rolling Stones) • (2015) Crosseyed Heart (Keith Richards) • (2016) Totally Stripped (Rolling Stones) • (2016) Havana Moon (Rolling Stones) • (2017) Sticky Fingers – Live At The Fonda Theatre 2015 (Rolling Stones) • (2018) San Jose '99 (Rolling Stones) • (2018) Voodoo Lounge Uncut (Rolling Stones) • (2019) Bridges to Bremen (Rolling Stones) • (2019) HONK (Rolling Stones) compilation album incl. live CD (Lim. ed.) • (2019) Bridges to Buenos Aires (Rolling Stones) • (2020) Steel Wheels Live (Rolling Stones) • (2021) A Bigger Bang Live (10" Vinyl, 2 track, RSD 2021) • (2021) A Bigger Bang: Live on Copacabana Beach (Rolling Stones) • (2022) Licked Live in NYC (Rolling Stones) • (2022) Grrr Live! (Rolling Stones) • (2023) Anthology (Charlie Watts) • (2024) Live at the Wiltern (Rolling Stones) • (2024) Welcome to Shepherd's Bush (Rolling Stones)
With others
With others
• (1982) Smurf For What It's Worth (The Smurfs) • (1982) Don't Make Me Wait (Peech Boys) • (1982) Life Is Something Special (Peech Boys) • (1982) One Down (Material) • (1982) Future Shock (Herbie Hancock) • (1983) I Need You Now (Sinnamon) • (1983) Crazy Cuts (Grandmixer DST) • (1984) Do You Believe (The Mariner's Baptist Church Choir) Beat Street soundtrack and movie • (1984) Sound-System (Herbie Hancock) • (1985) Starpeace (Yoko Ono) • (1985) Language Barrier (Sly & Robbie) • (1986) Futurista (Ryuichi Sakamoto) • (1986) Media Bahn Live (Ryuichi Sakamoto) • (1986) Songs from Liquid Days (Philip Glass) • (1986) Axis (Jonas Hellborg) • (1986) Album (Public Image, Ltd.) • (1987) America – Do You Remember the Love? (James Blood Ulmer) • (1988) What's Bootsy Doin'? (Bootsy Collins) • (1988) Bass (Jonas Hellborg) • (1990) Strange Things (Tackhead) • (1990) Liberty (Duran Duran) • (1991) Videohead (Tackhead) • (1991) Johnnie B. Bad (Johnnie Johnson) • (1992) No Other World (Shining Path) • (1992) Onobox (Yoko Ono) • (1993) Stain (Living Colour) • (1994) Jazz Passengers in Love (Roy Nathanson's Jazz Passengers) • (1996) 12 Hits and a Bump (Nicklebag) • (1997) Power Inc. (Tackhead) • (1999) Michael Hutchence (Michael Hutchence) • (1999) Colors (Herb Alpert) • (2000) Hot Night Tonight (Barbara Lynn) • (2001) Best of Material (Material) • (2004) Champagne & Grits (Little Axe) • (2008) Along Came a Spider (Alice Cooper) • (2008) Ever Changing Times (Steve Lukather) • (2010) All's Well That Ends Well (Steve Lukather) • (2010) Bought for a Dollar, Sold for a Dime (Little Axe) • (2013) Ronin (Tao Of Sound) • (2023) Heavy Hitters II (George Lynch and Jeff Pilson)
Personal life
Personal life
Actress Jane Arakawa (Street Trash) met Fowler on Pearl Harbor Day in 1984 and married on 11 December 1988.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1960
Bernard Fowler born at New York City.
Personal discography
• (2006) Friends With Privileges (Bernard Fowler) (Sony Japan) • (2015) The Bura (Bernard Fowler) (MRI) • (2019) Inside Out (Rhyme & Reason Records)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Bernard Fowler”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2897920: Bernard Fowler
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Bernard Fowler, revision 1371001207 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Bernard Fowler - The Rolling Stones. www.rollingstones.com.
- 2.Bernard Fowler. Discogs.
- 3.Kelly, Kurt. Kurt Kelly Interviews Singer, Songwriter, and Producer Bernard Fowler. kurtkelly.blogspot.com. May 31, 2014.
- 4.The Total Eclipse - A Great Combination. Discogs. 1976.
- 5.[ Bernard Fowler] at AllMusic
- 6.Rolling Stone. Music News: Latest and Breaking Music News.
- 7.Heslin, Maria Katrien. Rock-n-soul with Bernard Fowler - backup rock vocalist's career and his band Nickelbag. American Visions. 13. 5. Oct–Nov 1998.
- 8.Slideonron.com. Songs by Ronnie Wood.
- 9.Bernard Fowler - Friends With Privileges. Discogs.
- 10.Tres músicos de los Rolling Stones visitaron Mendoza: "Charly García es el padre del rock and roll". Diario Uno.
- 11.Ronin. iTunes. 10 September 2013.
- 12.The Bura. AllMusic.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Bernard Fowler is recorded with the occupation singer-songwriter. Recorded as singer-songwriter, singer, guitarist and musician.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
44,023 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Bernard EdwardsPerson
- Bernard EttéPerson
- Bernard FanningPerson
- Bernard FoccroullePerson
- Bernard GarfieldPerson
- Bernard GérardPerson
- Bernard Germain de LacépèdePerson
- Bernard GilmorePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Bernard Fowler?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.