One of rock’s most beloved bassists is celebrating a birthday.
Scott Shriner, the bassist of rock band Weezer, turns 61 today. The musician was born on July 11, 1965, in Toledo, OH.
Prior to his career in music, the “Beverly Hills” hitmaker served in the United States Marine Corps for two years. He joined Weezer in 2001 as the band’s third bassist, and has played with them ever since — making him the band’s longest-running bassist since they formed in 1992.
“Music has been running around in my head since I was 8 years old. It has always been the consistent force that makes me feel that I belong on this planet,” Shriner said of his desire to pursue a career in music. “Once I became good enough to play along with a couple of my favorite albums I was hooked. No better feeling than that for me. I never looked back.”
Shriner has lent his musical talents to 16 out of 19 of the band’s albums. His recording debut, March 2002’s Maladroit, features some of the band’s biggest hits. The first single, “Dope Nose,” peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart. It’s follow up single, “Keep Fishin'” landed at No. 15.
In 2009, Weezer took home a Grammy, with the viral “Pork and Beans” music video winning the award for Best Short Form Music Video. The song was featured on the band’s 2008 record Red Album, and the video, directed by Matthew Cullen, is an epic celebration of internet culture and early YouTube memes.
“This aged great,” wrote one fan in a comment on the YouTube video. “It’s better now than when it first came out in my opinion.”
“The fact that they were able to get so many people to showcase the golden age of YouTube is still amazing.” a second wrote.
A third mused, “This like legitimately belongs in the Library of Congress, Weezer did an incredible job of archiving an entire era of culture in this video.”
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