Bruce Hornsby celebrates his 64th birthday today. The exceptionally talented keyboardist, accordionist and dulcimer player born in 1964 in Williamsburg, Virginia has been impressing listeners and fellow musicians alike since his start as a professional musician in the late-1970s.
Hornsby has taken on numerous projects over the past several decades. Following early session work, Hornsby broke out in the 1980s while leading the popular and successful outfit Bruce Hornsby & The Range. Hornsby spent September 15, 1990 through March 24, 1992 as an official member of the Grateful Dead. Later, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers established themselves as Hornsby’s central creative outlet.
Bruce has shared the stage and studio with a variety of renowned musicians such as the Jerry Garcia Band and Bob Weir’s RatDog, Bonnie Raitt, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck, Justin Vernon and many, many others. In honor of Bruce’s b-day, below is footage from a collaboration with Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters on October 18, 1991. The performance occurred at Auditorio de la Cartuja in Seville, Spain as part of the Expo Seville 1992 celebration. The event was staged to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 arrival in the West Indies.
Hornsby came out for the final song of the set, adding piano and vocals to a moving rendition of “Comfortably Numb” from Pink Floyd’s landmark album The Wall. Watch Roger and Bruce performing together below:
