Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1979 under the name "Stereo", the group was originally a trio composed of former Rubicon members Jack Blades (bass, lead vocals), Kelly Keagy (drums, lead vocals) and Brad Gillis (guitar, backing vocals).[1] In 1980, the group expanded to a five-piece with the addition of keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald and second guitarist Jeff Watson, as well as changing its name to "Ranger" and later Night Ranger.[2] After four commercially successful albums, the band experienced its first lineup change in early 1988 when Fitzgerald left prior to the recording of Man in Motion.[3] Jesse Bradman, one of the substitute performers on the album, subsequently joined the group full-time.[1] After Blades announced his departure, Night Ranger officially broke up in April 1989.[4]
Two years after disbanding, Night Ranger was reformed by Keagy and Gillis, who recruited Gary Moon as the replacement for Blades.[5] In 1993, David Zajicek joined the band as touring guitarist and keyboardist.[6] Following the release and touring of Feeding off the Mojo, Blades, Watson and Fitzgerald all returned to mark a reunion of the original five-piece lineup of Night Ranger, after being invited to tour Japan.[7] Two more studio albums followed, before Fitzgerald was replaced in 2003 by Michael Lardie of Great White.[8] Watson also left in April 2007, with Whitesnake's Reb Beach taking his place for subsequent tour dates.[9] Following a Japanese tour shortly after Beach's arrival, Lardie was replaced by Christian Matthew Cullen.[10] In January 2008, Joel Hoekstra joined the band full-time, as Beach returned to Whitesnake.[11] [12]
Following the addition of Hoekstra, the Night Ranger lineup remained stable for three years, until Eric Levy replaced Cullen on keyboards in March 2011.[13] Hoekstra remained for two studio albums and one live release, before it was announced in August 2014 that he was leaving to join Beach in Whitesnake.[14] He was soon replaced by Keri Kelli, who had previously substituted for Hoekstra during shows in 2012 and 2013.[15] [16]
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly Keagy | all Night Ranger releases | ||||
| Brad Gillis | |||||
| Jack Blades | all Night Ranger releases, except Feeding off the Mojo (1995) | ||||
| Eric Levy | 2011–present | all Night Ranger releases from Somewhere in California (2011) onwards | |||
| Keri Kelli | 2014–present |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Fitzgerald | all releases from Dawn Patrol (1982) to Big Life (1987), and from Neverland (1997) to Seven (1998) | ||||
| Jeff Watson | all releases from Dawn Patrol (1982) to Live in Japan (1990), and from Neverland (1997) to Hole in the Sun (2007) | ||||
| Jesse Bradman | 1988–1989 | ||||
| Gary Moon | 1991–1996 | Feeding off the Mojo (1995) | |||
| Michael Lardie | 2003–2007 | ||||
| Christian Matthew Cullen | 2007–2011 | none | |||
| Joel Hoekstra | 2008–2014 |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Zajicek | 1993–1996 | Zajicek joined Night Ranger's touring lineup in 1993, as well as contributing guitar to Feeding off the Mojo. | |||
| Reb Beach | 2007–2008 | After Watson was fired, Beach replaced him in the band for 2007 dates, appearing on Rockin' Shibuya 2007. | |||
| Deen Castronovo | Castronovo substituted for Keagy in 2011, and again during 2017 after the drummer had a heart operation.[17] | ||||
| Brandon Ethridge | 2012 | Ethridge substituted for Levy for one show on September 1, 2012, as his wife was giving birth. | |||
| Fred Coury | 2017 | drums | Coury substituted for Keagy alongside Castronovo, while the regular drummer was recovering from surgery. |
| Period | Members | Releases | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979–1980 |
| none | |
| 1980 |
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| 1980 – early 1988 |
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| Early – mid-1988 |
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| Late 1988 – April 1989 |
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| Band inactive April 1989 – mid-1991 | |||
| Mid-1991 – mid-1996 |
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| June 1996 – early 2003 |
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| Early 2003 – April 2007 |
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| April – June 2007 |
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| June 2007 – January 2008 |
| none | |
| January 2008 – March 2011 |
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| March 2011 – August 2014 |
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| September 2014 – present |
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