Billy Squier

Billy Squier is an influential American rock musician who had hit albums and singles in the 1980s with rhythm and drum tracks featuring the late drummer Bobby Chouinard that have been sampled on around 200 hip-hop tracks starting with Run-D.M.C.'s 'Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)' in 1983. He had 21 singles on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Songs Charts including 'The Stroke' (1981) which went to number three and 'Everybody Wants You' (1982) and 'Rock Me Tonite' (1984) both of which topped the chart. 'The Big Beat', lead track on his 1980 debut album 'Tale of the Tape', was sampled by Jay-Z on his '99 Problems' and other hip-hop artists who have sampled his recordings include Eminem, Kanye West, Dizzee Rascal, Puff Daddy, Ice Cube and Alicia Keys.

Born near Boston, he learned to play the guitar and piano as a child and began performing at local venues in his late teens and after his recording his debut in 1980 he had success with the albums 'Don't Say No' (1981) and 'Emotions in Motion' (1982), both of which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and 'Signs of Life' (1984) which went to number eleven. He had 12 singles in the top 20 on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart including 'In the Dark' (1981) which went to number seven, 'All Night Long' (1984) which hit number ten, plus 'Don't Say You Love Me' (1989) and 'She Goes Down' (1989), both of which went to number four.

His career stumbled in 1984 when the flamboyant video for his 'Rock Me Tonite' single was viewed as over the top and the MTV generation turned its attention to other rock bands. His song 'Shake Down' appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 feature film 'St. Elmo's Fire', which was nominated for a Grammy Award. He performs with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and the samples of his tracks by hip-hop artists provide him with a lucrative income.