Rancho Seco

Biography

John McCrea is a founding member and front man of the band Cake, originated in Sacramento California. He sings and writes many of the lyrics for the band, in addition to playing guitar and vibraslap. He is known for droll, sardonic speak-sing style and unusual vocal delivery. McCrea was born on 25 June 1964 in Berkeley, California. He wrote many future Cake hits while he was in his teenage years. Before Cake was a reality, John McCrea spent the most of the 1980's playing in various other band...

John McCrea is a founding member and front man of the band Cake, originated in Sacramento California. He sings and writes many of the lyrics for the band, in addition to playing guitar and vibraslap. He is known for droll, sardonic speak-sing style and unusual vocal delivery.

McCrea was born on 25 June 1964 in Berkeley, California. He wrote many future Cake hits while he was in his teenage years.

Before Cake was a reality, John McCrea spent the most of the 1980's playing in various other bands, or solo at times. In the later 1980's, he moved to Los Angeles. There he began to play solo-acoustic music in local coffee shops. He formed a group in LA called "John McCrea and the Roughhousers", which performed an early version of the 2001 track "Shadow Stabbing" in 1988. John played his first show in "Cake" before moving back to Sacramento in the summer of 1991. Cake was founded later in the year and modest success followed from their 1994 debut album "Motorcade of Generosity". The album received critical acclaim in Europe and positive reviews stateside. Their sophomore effort "Fashion Nugget" led to an explosion in the band's popularity and a certified gold record. Since 1998, the band have released an additional four studio albums as well as a 2007 non-studio album (b-Sides and Rarities). The band returned with new material for the first time in seven years with an October 2018 single titled "Sinking Ship".

John McCrea is now the vocalist of Cake. He has provided lead vocals for every non-instrumental song Cake has released. McCrea and trumpet player and backup vocalist Vince DiFiore remain the only founding members in the band from 1991. He continues to write lyrics and sing for the band.

John McCrea provided backup vocals to the Ben Folds song "Fred Jones: Part 2" and also perfomed it live with Folds at the Fillmore Theatre in San Francisco, California on 25 March 2002. Additionally, McCrea collaborated with Mexican alternative Band Kinky and provided his iconic vocals for their 2003 single "The Headphonist".
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