Tom Scholz first started writing music in 1969 while he was attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he wrote an instrumental song, "Foreplay".
[1] While attending MIT, Scholz joined the band Freehold, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea,[2] 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.
[13] 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.
[25][26] 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).
[28] 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.
[29] 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.
[30][31] 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.
[32] 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.
In his stead, Siobhan Magnus joined the tour as a guest vocalist in July, performing lead vocals on Walk On.
[33] 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.