Crystal Taliefero Biography, Age, Net worth, Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Billy Joel, Early l
Crystal Taliefero (Crystal Taliefero-Pratt) is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. She grew within a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years, she was discovered by John Mellencamp, who helped guide her to a career as a professional musician.
She performed with several artists throughout the 80s and 90s. In 1989 she was hired as a studio musician for the Billy Joel Band, and she has been touring and recording with them ever since.
Crystal Taliefero Age
Crystal Taliefero was born in 1963 in Bourne, Massachusetts, United States. She is 56 years old as of 2019.
Crystal Taliefero Net worth
Crystal Taliefero earns her income from her businesses and from other related organizations. She also earns her from her work as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. She has an estimated net worth of $ 3 million dollars.
Crystal Taliefero Early life | Education
Crystal Taliefero spent most of her childhood in Hammond, Indiana. By the age of 11, she had begun performing rhythm and blues around Hammond and nearby Gary, Indiana, where her family moved two years later. She joined her brother Charles in the singing group Black Mist (later renamed Magic Mist), who performed in the Chicago area.
She attended William A. Wirt High School where she was a top athlete and graduated in 1981. She studied music at Indiana University, eventually making the dean’s list. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Crystal Taliefero Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist
Crystal Taliefero began performing rhythm and blues around Hammon and nearby Gary, Indiana, where her family moved two years later. While in college she performed in a band called Kilo, which included other now-notable artists such as Saturday Night Live drummer Shawn Pelton, former Tonight Show bassist Robert Hurst, and trumpeter Chris Botti.
John Mellencamp’s drummer Kenny Aronoff often sat in on drums, and in 1986 after hearing the first song of a live performance, Mellencamp invited Taliefero to join his touring band. She credited her experience with Mellencamp as the fundamental training that “changed the whole course of [her] life”.
In 1989, Mellencamp took time off as a musician to focus on painting. When asked, he lent Taliefero $3000, and with that, she headed to New York City to pursue more musical opportunities. Two and a half months into living in New York, she received a phone call from a Mellencamp associate, asking her to play drums and sing for 1989’s Storm Front, the upcoming album from Billy Joel.
After a successful audition, she was invited to join the Billy Joel Band, who she has been with ever since. With time, Taliefero claimed the role as background vocal arranger, which she is credited with on 1993’s River of Dreams.
In 1991 Taliefero accompanied Bee Gees in their tour. A show in Europe needed an opening act, and they asked if she could perform some of her own material. She then formed a one-off band called Bonzai for the opening show which featured Pat Peterson, a Mellencamp backup singer, backed by the Bee Gees band.
1992 saw Taliefero taking a lead role in Bruce Springsteen’s extensive 107-date world tour, ending in June 1993. The tour landed Taliefero a number of press hits. The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles described Taliefero as a “sassy female foil”, while Edna Gundersen of USA Today praised her performance alongside Springsteen.
Taliefero’s collaboration with Springsteen also includes a 1992 MTV Unplugged documentary performance. However, Gary Graff, writing in the Detroit Free Press, lamented that Taliefero only played saxophone on “Born to Run” and missed longtime E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who was not invited on the tour.
She has performed with a wide range of other artists, including Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, Joe Cocker, Tina Arena, Bob Seger, Brooks & Dunn, Richie Sambora, Elton John, Enrique Iglesias, Natalie Merchant, Meat Loaf, and Michael McDonald.
Crystal Taliefero Musicianship
Crystal Taliefero credits as a musician are chiefly as a vocalist and percussionist. Instruments in her percussion kit include bongos, cabasa, mark tree, congas, cowbell, güiro, hand percussion, jam block, shaker, tambourine, timbales, triangle, Djembe, and wood block.
She accomplished on the guitar, keyboards, harmonica, and saxophone, among other wind instruments. She is known for her energetic stage performances. In its 2008 article “The 125-Plus People, Places and Things Ruling the Rock & Roll Universe”, Rolling Stone magazine declared Taliefero the “Best Secret Weapon”.
Crystal Taliefero Awards | Illness
In 1986, she suffered a ruptured appendix while touring with Bob Seger. She was hospitalized for several weeks. Taliefero’s goal is to establish the Taliefero Music Foundation that will inspire and shape young upcoming lives in the world of live entertainment. As part of her purpose to inspire young musicians, she visited Central High School in East Chicago, Indiana (her home state), in 2009.
She was awarded the Indiana University African-American Arts Institute’s Herman C. She was also awarded the Hudson Alumni Award on April 19, 2011. In a congratulatory statement, Billy Joel noted that some of his songs would not have been written without her inspiration.
Crystal Taliefero Billy Joel
Crystal Taliefero has been an integral part of Billy Joel’s live band since 1989. She chatted with Digital Journal. Throughout her illustrious career in the music business, Taliefero has worked with such esteemed musicians as Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, Dunn, Garth Brooks, Bob Seger, Joe Cocker, Michael McDonald, the Bee Gees, Richie Sambora, Elton John, and Enrique Iglesias, among many others.
On July 18, 2018, Billy Joel will be celebrating his 100th career show at the “World’s Most Famous Arena” Madison Square Garden in New York, and Taliefero is stoked to be a part of it. “Words can’t describe how I am feeling right now,” she admitted. “It feels like a time warp. I want to pinch myself. Nobody has ever done that before, and we are going to be there.
It’s a nice flashback over the last 30 years being with him and thinking about the life, growth, and experiences that I was blessed to have been a part of. It is like a family.” One of the highlight performances in any Billy Joel live show in his live rendition of “River of Dreams,” where Joel allows Taliefero to display her prowess on percussion. “That was fun recording the vocals in the studio,” she recalled.
She had nothing but the greatest words about Mike DelGuidice, fellow band-mate in Billy Joel’s band (who plays rhythm guitar and background vocals), and who also fronts the Billy Joel tribute band Big Shot. “That’s my baby boy,” she said, with a sweet laugh. “He reminds me of when I first came in the band. He’s the new guy in, and he is doing great. Mike is very talented. He and I are really close. We’re good.
We laugh all the time, and I did one of his ‘Porch Sessions’ series from his hotel room. It was funny. We have a good rapport with one another. Our vocals singing together comes along great as well. He also does ‘Nessun Dorma’ amazing. He reminds me of a Welsh singer. He has some powerful pipes.” Each day, she is motivated by her daughter. “First of all, I am motivated by God.
Also, when I look at my daughter, I look at how much I need to do what I do to give her all that I could possibly give her,” she said. For young musicians, she encouraged them to “stop being so serious.” “The reason we got into music in the first place is because it is fun, and that’s what kept it alive, and you could hear it in the music,” she said. “Continue to be happy and enjoy what you do in this business.”
She defined the word success simply as contentment and peace. “The ability to share some of your successes with somebody else less fortunate, that’s the success to me,” she said. She also opened up about the impact of technology on the music business. “It’s the way for the future. Back in the day, everybody was freaking out when they had an 8-track tape. It needs to change and evolve, the same as the music does.
Today, kids are coming well equipped, well educated and well trained. It is interesting to see where it is going to go in the next 15 to 20 years. There is a lot of content these days. Technology is going to boost the human to increase its game. Everything is so fast,” she explained. She noted that she is thrilled for the resurgence of vinyl. “Thank God that it is coming back. I love vinyl. I need to pull out my old stack,” she said. “I love the warmth and analog.”
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