William Haislip Squier (/ˈskwaɪ.ər/, born May 12, 1950) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who had a string of arena rock and crossover[clarification needed] hits in the early 1980s.

Squier largely stopped recording music after the commercial failure of the 1993 album Tell the Truth, but has continued to perform smaller tours, one-off concerts, and occasional collaborations.

His 1980 song "The Big Beat" contains one of the most-sampled drum breaks, used by artists such as Run-DMC, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, UTFO, and Dizzee Rascal.

Squier's first public performances were in 1968 at a Boston nightclub in Kenmore Square named the Psychedelic Supermarket, where he saw Eric Clapton and the band Cream.

In the early 1970s, Squier played with the short lived bands Kicks, alongside future New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan.

Along with Bobby Chouinard, his backing band consisted of Alan St. Jon on keyboards, Cary Sharaf on lead guitar, and Mark Clarke (who previously had short jobs in Uriah Heep and Rainbow) on bass.

[6] Following a small but fairly successful summer tour with Alice Cooper in 1980, Squier got in contact with Queen guitarist Brian May and asked him to produce his next album.

Don't Say No peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 and lasted well over two years on the chart, eventually selling over 4 million copies in the US alone, making it Squier's most commercially successful album.

[8] Despite the problems, Squier's third album Emotions In Motion was released in 1982 and became very successful, although in the long run, it didn't catch its predecessor in sales.

British newcomer Def Leppard supported him and he helped the band break through in the US, in conjunction with the release of their breakthrough album Pyromania.

[9] Squier began writing songs for his fourth album Signs of Life in late 1983 after finishing his first headlining arena tour.

Squier brought in Jim Steinman, whom he admired for Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell, which he described as "the most passionate and exciting rock record of our time".

[10][11] The resulting album was a departure from Squier's typical guitar-heavy hard rock into a more keyboard-oriented style, with hints of Steinman's Wagnerian producing approach.

The music video for "Rock Me Tonite", which featured Squier dancing in a bedroom wearing a pink tank top, proved a controversial choice by director Kenny Ortega.

[2] Martha Quinn, an MTV VJ when "Rock Me Tonite" was released, commented, "I don’t remember that video being poorly received at the time.

Apart from a few live appearances and a new song, "Shake Down" for the soundtrack of the film St. Elmo's Fire, Squier stayed out of the spotlight for the majority of 1985, taking some time off and preparing his next album with British producer Peter Collins, who was known for his work with Nik Kershaw, Gary Moore, and Rush.

[citation needed] In 1993, Squier released his final album with Capitol Records, Tell the Truth, with different sets of musicians performing the various tracks.

Despite Squier himself comparing it favorably to Don't Say No, Capitol did little to nothing to promote it, which ended up becoming his first album not to chart at all and selling 37,000 US copies, per Nielsen Soundscan.

The album was both stylistically and sonically a departure from his typical hard rock sound, with only Squier accompanied by an acoustic guitar and no overdubs.

In 2006, Squier joined Richard Marx, Edgar Winter, Rod Argent, Hamish Stuart, and Sheila E touring with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

In 2007, Squier appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ronnie Spector, Mitch Ryder, Tone Loc, Deniece Williams, Dr. Hook, and Tom Cochrane.

In 2008, Squier joined Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart, and Gregg Bissonette touring with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

In 2009, Squier launched a nationwide summer/fall tour with a band that included drummer Nir Z, guitarist Marc Copely, long-time bassist Mark Clarke, and keyboard player Alan St. Jon.

During Memorial Day weekend, Squier made a surprise appearance at the John Varvatos store in Easthampton, New York, in support of his friend, rock photographer Rob Shanahan and his new book, Volume One.

In December, Squier headlined a fund-raising concert for "The American Revolution," a documentary on the rock FM station WBCN at the House of Blues in Boston.

They divided their time between a home in Bridgehampton, Long Island and an apartment in The San Remo on Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City.