Tony Levin
Bassist, Chapman Stick player, and photographer whose music with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Stick Men, and BEAT comes with a view from the stage in his road diaries.
At 100 nudges, fangea sends Tony’s team an official invite.
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Latest
Tony’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
- Discipline · King Crimson1981 · Bass, Chapman Stick, and backing vocals
- So · Peter Gabriel1986 · Bass
- Double Fantasy · John Lennon & Yoko Ono1980 · Bass
- Bringing It Down to the Bass2024 · Solo album
- Let’s THRAK Again · Stick Men2026 · Stick, co-writer, and co-producer
- The Book of BEATPhotography from the 2024 and 2025 tours
Overview
- Born
- June 6, 1946 · Boston, Massachusetts
- Grew up
- Brookline, Massachusetts
- Instruments
- Electric bass, upright bass, and Chapman Stick
- Turning point
- Peter Gabriel’s first solo album sessions in 1976
- Online since
- 1996 · Road diaries and tour photography
Mini bio
How it started.
Tony grew up in Brookline and began upright bass at ten. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, played under Igor Stravinsky, and performed with the Rochester Philharmonic. Drummer Steve Gadd introduced him to jazz and rock, helping turn a classical player toward electric bass and New York studio work.
The invitation that changed things.
Producer Bob Ezrin brought Tony to Toronto for Peter Gabriel’s first solo album in 1976. Robert Fripp was also playing on the sessions. Tony chose to tour with Gabriel in 1977, and in 1981 he became part of King Crimson’s new lineup alongside Fripp, Adrian Belew, and Bill Bruford.
A life shared from the stage.
His recorded work includes John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy and Peter Gabriel’s So. Alongside his own albums and Stick Men, he keeps fans close to the touring life through his Road Diary, which began in 1996. His photographs have also become books, including The Book of BEAT.
Creditschronological, newest first
Music
- 2026Let’s THRAK Again · Stick MenStick, co-writer, and co-producer
- 2026Face the Wall · Peter GabrielBass
- 2025Neon Heat Disease: Live in Los Angeles · BEATBassist and band member
- 2025Brutal · Stick MenStick, bowed Stick, and co-composer
- 2024Bringing It Down to the BassSolo artist and composer
- 1986So · Peter GabrielBass
- 1981Discipline · King CrimsonBass, Chapman Stick, and backing vocals
- 1980Double Fantasy · John Lennon & Yoko OnoBass
Photography
- 2024–2025 toursThe Book of BEATPhotographer and author
Awards
Quotes
What hasn’t changed is I’m still trying to get better.Tony Levin, Flatiron Recordings artist biography
Reflecting on a lifetime of playing bass and continuing to learn from other players.
Trivia
- He played tuba in high school and sang in his own barbershop quartet.
- He performed at the Kennedy White House with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra.
- He created Funk Fingers, modified drumsticks that attach to the fingers for playing bass.
- His road diary began in 1996, before the word “blog” was coined.
Find Tony
Follow his music, photographs, and notes from the road.
Are you Tony Levin?
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