Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others.

[10] Sherinian's first professional gig after leaving Boston was in 1988 with ex-Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles touring the Chitlin' Circuit.

"[14] He recorded the albums A Change of Seasons (1995), Falling into Infinity (1997), and Once in a LIVEtime (1998) with Dream Theater before being replaced in January 1999 by Jordan Rudess due to creative differences and turmoil within the band.

During the late 1990s, Sherinian released two albums with the progressive rock supergroup Platypus, which featured Dream Theater bassist John Myung, Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein, and King's X guitarist Ty Tabor.

[19] In January 2012, Sherinian performed at two shows with instrumental supergroup Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, and Tony MacAlpine (PSMS) for the Guitar Center Drum Off, and Sabian Live.

In 2014, PSMS performed two songs at the TAMA 40th Anniversary Party at the NAMM Show on January 25, and also the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise on the Norwegian Pearl February 18–22, co-promoted by Sherinian and Portnoy.

1n 2017, Malmsteen and Sherinian rejoined the Generation Axe Asia Tour, featuring Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abasi.

[21] In 2001, Sherinian teamed with drummer Simon Phillips and guitarists Steve Lukather and Zakk Wylde to record Inertia,[22] followed by Black Utopia (2003).

I think that is how Jeff Beck (who Sherinian stated he hopes to play with in numerous interviews) approached his classic instrumental records and I like to follow in that path.

[30] Derek's fifth solo album, Blood of the Snake (2006), features contributions from Idol, as well as Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, John Petrucci of Dream Theater, and Brian Tichy; Phillips, Franklin and Lukather make return appearances.

[33] Sherinian also worked with duduk master Djivan Gasparyan on the song "Prelude To Battle" on the release, written for his great-grandmother who survived the Armenian genocide.

In September 2011, Sherinian released his seventh solo album titled Oceana, reuniting with Simon Phillips and Steve Lukather, and featuring a guest appearance from BCC bandmate Joe Bonamassa.

[citation needed] In 2022, Sherinian released his 9th solo album Vortex, with Simon Phillips, Michael Schenker, Nuno Bettencourt, Steve Stevens and Mike Stern.

Sherinian was hired by David Coverdale to replace the original keyboards on the previously released Whitesnake albums Slip of the Tongue and Restless Heart.

"[37] April 2004, Sherinian was invited by ex-Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes to play three shows in Japan with Marco Mendoza bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums.

[38] In August 2017, he and Mike Portnoy joined forces to form a progressive metal supergroup named Sons of Apollo and also featuring Billy Sheehan, vocalist Jeff Scott Soto and guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.

[41] July 14, 2009, Sherinian performed a one-off acoustic gig at Ricardo Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood with Alice in Chains to launch their Black Gives Way to Blue album.

On September 13, 2012 Glenn Hughes and Sherinian met Bako Sahakyan, the president of de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and organized a concert there.

March 6, 2013, Sherinian was a special guest keyboardist with Black Label Society for their Unblackened acoustic set at the Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

December 12, 2015, Sherinian co-organized and participated in the Tony MacAlpine Benefit Concert at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. backing up Zakk Wylde along with Mike Portnoy and Billy Sheehan.

In August 2023, guitarist Joe Satriani invited Derek to play four East Coast concerts with him, which included drummer Kenny Aronoff on drums.

Sherinian was personally invited by guitarists Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen to join the Generation Axe Asia / A Night of Guitars Tour also featuring Zakk Wylde, Nuno Bettencourt, and Tosin Abasi.

Sherinian said," When it comes to soloing, I have always been influenced and inspired by the great guitarists, specifically Edward Van Halen, Allan Holdsworth, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Jeff Beck, Michael Schenker.

[45] Sherinian cites Van Halen's guitar playing as having a direct influence on his aggressive unique approach to keyboards in terms of technique as well as tone; his unique signature lead patches contain numerous elements of guitar sounds such as distortion, harmonics, and palm-muting, eventually leading to playing a gig with Eddie for a party at Van Halen's home in 2006, of which Sherinian said "It was the highlight of my career, it was completely surreal."

[7] Sherinian's collaborations with top musicians were featured in a 2007 article in Guitar World magazine, where guitarist Zakk Wylde offered, "People want to play with him because he's that good.

Sherinian often tailors songs for specific guitarists, such as Holdsworth and Wylde for "Day of the Dead" (off Mythology);[14] in this respect, he seeks to take certain aspects of genres and make them "collide in an eloquent way".