June 22: Canadian musician Steven Page, co-founder of Barenaked Ladies – “The Big Bang Theory Theme Song”- is 43-years-old today.

 

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Steven Jay Page was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada on June 22, 1970. Page's father, Victor, was a drummer, as is his brother, Matthew. As a child, Page took ten years of piano lessons and was a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir.

During his childhood, Page had his best friend "stolen" by a schoolmate, Ed Robertson. Even though they went to high school at Woburn Collegiate Institute it wasn’t until they found out they shared a fondness for the same music, that they became friends.

Robertson invited Page to perform with him at a charity show under the name Barenaked Ladies in 1988, and ultimately the show led the pair to full time careers in the band. Page attended York University in the English program with a minor in theory and choral studies, but dropped out to focus on the band's rising success.

Page was a main songwriter from the band's inception. All but one of the songs on the band's first album Maroon (2000) was written by him. In all, 97 of the 113 songs on the band's primary studio albums during his tenure are credited or co-credited to Page. Page had also been the band's main lead singer since the beginning, though he always shared some of the lead vocal duty with Robertson.

Page mostly played acoustic and electric guitar in the band both in the studio and live. By 2004, Page was having reservations about his contributions to the band. He has indicated that he participated in the recordings of Barenaked for the Holidays and Snacktime! despite being opposed to the recording of both albums. In 2007, the band wrote and recorded the theme song for the television series The Big Bang Theory.

On February 24, 2009, it was announced by both Page and the other members of Barenaked Ladies that Page would be leaving the group to pursue other opportunities including solo projects and theatrical opportunities, and that the remainder of the band would continue in his absence.

Following his departure from Barenaked Ladies, Page's first major project was completing his work writing music for the first production of Bartholomew Fair: A Comedy at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Summer 2009.

Page's first solo release was "A Singer Must Die." Page's first original-material album, Page One, was released on October 19, 2010. On January 17, 2012 Page released a new single containing two new songs, "A Different Sort of Solitude" and "Manchild."

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For more about Steven and Barenaked Ladies, visit these Websites-

http://www.stevenpage.com/

http://www.bnlmusic.com/

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