Their best-known songs include "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Be", "Hitch a Ride", "Party", "Amanda" and "Feelin' Satisfied".
Other current members of the band include guitarist Gary Pihl, bassist Tracy Ferrie, drummer Jeff Neal and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Beth Cohen.
[6] Tom Scholz first started writing music in 1969 while he was attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he wrote an instrumental song, "Foreplay".
[7] While attending MIT, Scholz joined the band Freehold, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea,[8] who would later become members of Boston.
The duo recruited Goudreau on guitar, bassist Fran Sheehan, and drummer Sib Hashian to create a performing unit that could replicate Scholz's richly layered recordings on stage.
[14] Scholz stated that "The night before we auditioned I was going over a few things, trying to get everybody psyched up, and this guy says, 'You know, I don't think we're going to get this contract unless we have something flashy like a good drum solo right in the middle.'
[17] After opening for Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Foghat, and others in the fall, the band embarked on a headlining tour in the winter and spring of 1976–1977 to support the album.
[18] This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time, being nominated for a Grammy Award as a "Best New Artist".
[23] Another tour followed (playing with the likes of AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, and the Doobie Brothers),[24][25][26] and the album's title track became a top-five hit.
[22][29] Scholz objected to the ad copy, but it became irrelevant when Epic dropped promotion on Goudreau's album citing lack of interest.
Brad Delp, at the same meeting voiced his disapproval and told Scholz that he was quitting Boston but that he would record and complete the tour for that album.
After the tour for "Third Stage" ended in 1988, Delp teamed up with Goudreau and recorded the Return to Zero LP While Scholz and Delp were recording new material for the third Boston album, CBS filed a $60 million lawsuit against Scholz, alleging breach of contract for failing to deliver a new Boston album on time.
[31] In 1985, guitarist Gary Pihl left Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Scholz as both a musician and an SR&D executive.
Boston opened with "Rock and Roll Band" and brought back the original drummer, Jim Masdea, to play drums for this one song.
[18] After the Third Stage Tour in 1988 Delp left Boston and formed RTZ with Barry Goudreau, releasing the Return to Zero LP in July 1991.
Before he left, Delp co-wrote with Scholz and David Sikes the song "Walk On", which eventually became the title track of the new album.
The title track of "Corporate America" was uploaded by Tom Scholz to MP3.com under the pseudonym of "Downer's Revenge" in early 2002 in order to test the album's appeal to a younger demographic.
The concert included Ernie and the Automatics, Beatlejuice, Farrenheit, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Orion the Hunter, and finally the current version of Boston.
In the spring of 2008, Scholz and Sweet introduced a new Boston lineup, which subsequently did a North American summer tour, playing 53 dates in 12 weeks (on a double bill with Styx).
[46] In 2012, guitarist and vocalist David Victor joined the band, beginning in the studio, where he contributed vocals to several tracks on the album in progress.
[47] Scholz and Pihl led the band on a 2012 North American tour, beginning on June 28, 2012, at the Seminole Hard Rock Live arena in Hollywood, Florida and ending on September 8 at the U.S. Cellular Grandstand in Hutchinson, Kansas.
[48][49] Victor and DeCarlo shared lead vocals, with drummer Curly Smith returning for the first time in over a decade, and former Stryper member Tracy Ferrie on bass.
Boston's sixth album, Life, Love & Hope, was released on December 3, 2013, by Frontiers Records; it includes lead vocals from Brad Delp, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, David Victor, and Tom Scholz.
In 2014 Boston embarked on the "Heaven on Earth Tour" spanning the United States and Japan with a lineup including Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Victor and Ferrie.
[52] In 2015, Boston launched another tour with a lineup consisting of Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Ferrie and new member Beth Cohen, who performed keyboards, rhythm guitar and vocals.
The 2016 tour marked the group's 40th anniversary and included shows in Boston's Wang Theatre, their first full performances in their namesake town since 1994.
The original spaceship was designed in 1976 by Paula Scher and illustrated by Roger Huyssen with lettering by Gerard Huerta for Epic Records.
[60] It is also thought that the Boston logo could represent a front view of the spaceship, with the top being shaped similarly to the city dome and the left and right "fins" corresponding to the edges of the ship.
[37][62][63] Boston founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter Tom Scholz's blend of musical styles, ranging from classical to 1960s English pop, has resulted in a sound characterized by multiple lead and blended harmonies guitar work (usually harmonized in thirds), often alternating between and then mixing electric and acoustic guitars.
[64] Scholz developed complex, multi-tracked guitar harmonies, using handmade, high-tech equipment, such as the Rockman, used by artists such as Journey guitarist Neal Schon and the band ZZ Top.