Robert Wayne Birch (July 14, 1956 – August 15, 2012) was an American session musician, playing bass guitar as a sideman to a variety of notable artists.

Birch began playing the alto saxophone and mirroring the styles of Paul Desmond and Cannonball Adderley.

Around seventh grade, he tried the electric bass because of his fascination with the Motown sound, and groups like Chicago and Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

Birch met keyboardist Guy Babylon when they worked on the Luis Cardenas's 1986 album, Animal Instinct.

At that point, John had been working with different bass players, including Romeo Williams,[8] David Paton and Pino Palladino, but he had yet to settle on one musician.

He worked with Bonilla on Bobby Gaylor's comedy album, Fuzzatonic Scream, and on the soundtracks of the films The Replacements and The Scorpion King.

[13] He also built a relationship with producer and songwriter David Harris, through which he did session work on several Contemporary Christian music albums.

"[17] At the beginning of his final Elton John tour, Birch had a fall which exacerbated his back pain; he had to peform while seated.

During the last weeks of his life, he struggled with severe gastrointestinal issues brought on by his injury, losing over 20 pounds in a short period of time.