Paul Shaffer is a musician, comedian
and composer.
Shaffer began his musical career in 1972 as the musical
director for a Toronto area production of Godspell.
He went on to play piano for a Broadway show called
The Magic Show in 1974, then became the musical director
for NBC's popular Saturday Night Live television program
from 1975 to 1980. SNL gave Shaffer the opportunity
to stretch his comedy wings as well, when he eventually
started appearing in sketches with the other comedians.
Shaffer occasionally teamed up with the Not Ready
for Prime-Time Players off of the show as well, including
work on Gilda Radner's highly successful Broadway show,
and a time spent as the musical director for John Belushi
and Dan Aykroyd, whenever they recorded or performed
as The Blues Brothers.
Shaffer has appeared in a number of motion pictures
over the years, including a role in Rob Reiner's This
is Spinal Tap, Blues Brothers 2000, a scene with Miles
Davis in the Bill Murray film Scrooged and as a passenger
in John Travolta's taxicab in Look Who's Talking Too.
In addition, Shaffer lent his voice to Disney's animated
feature and television series, Hercules.
Shaffer has released two solo albums, 1989's Grammy
nominated Coast to Coast, and The World's Most Dangerous
Party in 1993. Shaffer has also recorded with a wide
range of artists, including Grand Funk Railroad, Diana
Ross, B.B. King, Cyndi Lauper, Carl Perkins, Yoko Ono,
Blues Traveler, Cher, Chicago and Robert Plant. He
wrote and produced, with Paul Jabara, the song "It's
Raining Men," which was a number one hit for the
Weathergirls in the '80s and for Geri Halliwell in
2001.
Shaffer has served as musical director and producer
for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony
since its inception in 1986. He has also served as
musical director for two of David Letterman's variety
shows: as leader of "The World's Most Dangerous
Band" for Late Night with David Letterman (1982-1993)
on NBC, for which he also composed the theme song,
and as leader of the CBS Orchestra for The Late Show
with David Letterman (1993-present) on CBS.
In 2002, a street which surrounds the Thunder Bay
Community Auditorium was renamed "Paul Shaffer
Drive"; that year he was also inducted into the
National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Shaffer has also received two honorary doctorates.
He is currently the national spokesperson for Epilepsy
Canada. |
