American musician (born 25.10.1957)
Warren Ham
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Ham performing with Ringo Starr in 2018
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Born
| 1952 (age 71–72)
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Origin
| Fort Worth, Texas
, United States
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Genres
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Occupation(s)
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Instrument(s)
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Member of
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Formerly of
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Musical artist
Warren Ham
(born October 1952)
[1]
is an American musician. He is best known for playing with
Kansas
(1982),
Toto
(1986-1988, and since 2017) and
Ringo Starr
(since 2014).
During the early '70s, Warren and his brother Bill formed The Ham Brothers Band and included Ira Wilkes on bass, Red Young on piano and organ and Dahrell Norris on drums. The group recorded for Texas producer
Huey P. Meaux
. Despite critical acclaim for the work, the album never made it in the marketplace. It was soon taken out of print.
In 1978 The Ham Brothers band had replaced Wilkes and Young with Bob Parr and Ken Rarrick, both from the acclaimed jazz education program at the
University of North Texas
. Later that same year,
David Gates
, of
Bread
fame, hired the Ham Brothers to tour as part of Bread. The act was then billed as David Gates and Bread. A year later pop diva
Cher
secured the services of the same band. When Cher recorded the project album
Black Rose
, Warren joined the band for the recording and the subsequent supporting tour.
In his early years, Ham was a vocalist and played the reeds for the Fort Worth, Texas based
Bloodrock
[2]
(1972?74). Ham appeared on the last two Bloodrock albums:
Passage
and
Whirlwind Tongues
.
Warren Ham has also toured with
Kansas
in the
John Elefante
era (in 1982, played additional keyboards, flute, alto and soprano saxophones, harmonica and backing vocals),
Toto
(1986-1988, and since 2017), and
Donna Summer
(1983). He toured with
Olivia Newton-John
in 2006 as an instrumentalist and vocalist performing
John Travolta
's part with Newton-John on her No. 1
Grease
hit, "You're The One That I Want", as well as backing vocals.
When
Kerry Livgren
left Kansas to form his own
Christian rock
band
AD
, Ham went with him as the new band's lead singer. Ham appeared on the first, second and fourth of AD's four albums: 1)
Timeline
2)
Art of the State
and 3)
Prime Mover
.
Ham was a featured vocalist and instrumentalist for the Maranatha! Promise Band - the worship band for the
Promise Keepers
men's movement put together by
Maranatha! Music
from Promise Keepers' incarnation in 1993 to 1996. He appeared on their 1993 album,
Face to Face
with the song "This Is What I Believe", and on their 1996 album,
Break Down the Walls
, on the song "Send Me" along with Steven Jackson and Leonard Tucker. He was also a part of the live touring version of the Promise Band for the 1995 Promise Keepers conference season where he played harmonica, saxophone, trumpet, flute, and other wind instruments along with backup vocals. This was documented in the VHS video and CD "Live Worship With The Maranatha! Promise Band" where he most famously played an intro to "Man Of The Spirit, Man Of The Word".
Since the demise of AD, he has released solo recordings in the
contemporary Christian music
genre "Come on Children" and is the author of
Beginning Blues/Rock Harmonica
(
ISBN
0-8256-1154-7
). From 1996 to 2000, Ham toured as part of
Frankie Valli
and
The Four Seasons
.
Warren Ham also appeared as an integral member of
Donna Summer
's live band on her 2008 tour (having first appeared as part of her 1983 touring group) supporting her 2008 release
Crayons
. Warren Ham toured with
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band
in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022.
[3]
In the mid-eighties and from 2017 on, he tours with
Toto
.
[4]
References
[
edit
]
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Studio albums
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Live albums
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Compilation albums
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Soundtracks
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Notable songs
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Related people
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Related articles
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