THE BIG GOODBYE

As Mr. Big calls it a day, Paul Gilbert reflects on hearing loss, his vintage Ibanez guitars and the good times ahead.

- ANDREW DALY

MR. BIGHAS always blended dysfunction with virtuosity. That probably wasn’t the intent when bassist Billy Sheehan, vocalist Eric Martin, drummer Pat Torpey and guitarist Paul Gilbert got together in Los Angeles in 1988. In the years since, the hard-rock group has navigated music’s changing styles, from the shred badassery of their 1989 self-titled debut and 1993’s Bump Ahead to their hit power ballads “To Be With You” and “Just Take My Heart.” At the same time, they’ve endured more than their fair share of inner turmoil. Gilbert left in 1999 and was replaced by Richie Kotzen before Mr. Big called it quits for the first time, in 2002.

But there’s something about the original quartet’s “occasional dysfunction” (as Gilbert calls it) that has kept them coming back for more. They reunited in 2009 and toured Japan, where — true to the phrase — they remained big. The group went on hiatus in 2018 following Torpey’s death from Parkinson’s-related complications, but they regrouped in 2023 with Nick D’Virgilio on drums. That resulted in their latest album, Ten, which the band intends to make their last. It’s quintessential stuff, but like most of Mr. Big’s records, it took work.

“There’s a price to being in a band,” Gilbert tells Guitar Player. “You get great things from it, like the irreplaceable characters of these various musicians. But sometimes it can be really stressful on the heart. So I look forward to a calmer heart and doing my own stuff.”

Ten maybe Mr. Big’s final record, but there’s still a slate of shows to wrap up on the Big Finish tour. From there, no one knows if additional dates will be added or if the band plans to walk away quietly. Regardless, Gilbert is at peace. “This is a nice way to finish it,” he says. “Everybody has pulled together for one last time to do something where there are no apologies. I’m very proud of what we’ve done as Mr. Big.”