Paul Shaffer

This article is about Paul Shaffer, the musician. For the German cult leader, see Paul Schäfer.

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Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949 in Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian-American musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian and composer currently seen as the bandleader on the Late Show with David Letterman. He is also remembered as the first person to introduce The Blues Brothers. Since 1990, he has been married to Cathy Vasapoli, with whom he has two children: Victoria (born 1993), William (born 1999).

Musical career

Shaffer began his musical career in 1972 as the musical director for the Toronto production of Godspell, which starred the likes of Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin. 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, though briefly leaving the series in 1977. Though Shaffer was at the piano and appeared to actually be directing the bands actions, Howard Shore was credited as musical director on SNL during the 1975-1980 time frame. SNL gave Shaffer the opportunity to stretch his comedy wings as well, when he eventually became a cast-member.

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 also appeared in Blues Brothers 2000 movie from 1998. He was to appear in the original The Blues Brothers in 1980, but he was appearing with Gilda Radner in Gilda Live! at the time of filming.

Since 1982, Shaffer has served as musical director for David Letterman's late night 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—) on CBS. Letterman consistently maintains that the show's switch to CBS was because NBC "fired Paul for stealing chalk". Shaffer has also guest-hosted the show a few times when Letterman was unavailable, including during Letterman's January 2000 medical leave that resulted from his quintuple heart bypass surgery, and during the birth of Letterman's son, Harry Joseph, in November 2003.

Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986 and filled the same role for the 1996 Olympic Games closing ceremonies from Atlanta, Georgia.

Shaffer has released two solo albums, 1989's Grammy nominated Coast to Coast, and 1993’s The World's Most Dangerous Party. 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, Robert Burns, Robert Plant, Scandal, and Earl Scruggs. He wrote and produced, with Paul Jabara, the song "It's Raining Men" which was a #2 hit in England for the Weathergirls in 1984 and a UK #1 remake for Geri Halliwell in 2001. The Weathergirls single only reached #46 in the United States, but has more than made up for its middling chart position with a durable shelf life.

Other activities

Shaffer has appeared in a number of motion pictures over the years, including a major 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.

In 1977, Shaffer left SNL for a few months to co-star with Greg Evigan in A Year at the Top, a short-lived CBS sitcom in which Shaffer and Evigan play two musicians from Idaho who relocate to Hollywood where they are regularly tempted by a famous promoter (who is actually the devil's son) to sell their souls in exchange for a year of stardom. Though the series only lasted a few episodes, a soundtrack album was released nevertheless; CBS apparently having expected that the series would be a far bigger hit than it was. Following the series' cancellation, Shaffer returned to SNL, and Evigan's next series, B.J. and the Bear, proved far more successful for him as well. In 1977, Shaffer was also present on the Mark & Clark Bands hit record Worn Down Piano.

In 2001, Shaffer hosted the VH1 game show "Cover Wars" along with a co-host, DJ/model Sky Nellor. In this show, cover bands would compete against each other to become the ultimate winner of the series. Each week Paul would sign off by saying "Just because you're in a cover band, it doesn't mean you're not a star." The show lasted thirteen episodes and featured celebrity judges like Kevin Bacon, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, and Ace Frehley.

In 2002, a street which surrounds the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium in his hometown was renamed "Paul Shaffer Drive". Shaffer has also received two honorary doctorates.

Since 2002, he has been the national spokesperson for Epilepsy Canada.

On September 29, 2005, Paul Shaffer made a major contribution to Lakehead University to dedicate the 5th floor ATAC boardroom to his father Bernard Shaffer, inaugural member of the Board of Governors.

In June of 2006, he received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

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