Chuck Burgi has been performing and recording internationally since teaming up with jazzrock guitarist Al Di Meola for his first solo venture, the Elegant Gypsy Tour. This opportunity led to his joining the English fusion group Brand-X. As a member of Brand-X, he replaced Phil Collins and recorded and toured for the classic album Masques.
Returning to his rock and pop roots, Chuck joined Hall and Oates and recorded two platinum albums and did two world tours with the hit writing duo. Subsequent albums with Michael Bolton, Diana Ross, Balance and Bon Jovi followed. He next joined forces with Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, recording two albums and hitting the road for another two world tours.
After Rainbow, Chuck toured and recorded with various artists including Joe Lynn Turner, Glen Burtnick and the powerhouse vocalist Meat Loaf. Chuck toured extensively with Meat Loaf and recorded the Live at Wembley album. Directly after Meat Loaf, Chuck began working with Blue Oyster Cult, during which time he recorded the Cult Classics and Heaven Forbid albums, and began playing on national TV commercials. After Blue Oyster Cult, he was once again reunited with Ritchie Blackmore for sold out tours of Europe, South America and Japan for the album Stranger in Us All.
In 2001, Chuck completed a three-year commitment to the Latin pop sensation Enrique Iglesias. Beginning with an extensive world tour for the album Vivir, he returned as musical director for the Cosas del Amour world tour and finished with a dense schedule of TV shows and concerts promoting Enrique’s first English album, Enrique.
In 2002, Chuck debuted on Broadway drumming for the smash musical Movin’ Out, which featured the music of Billy Joel and the choreography of Twyla Tharp. Movin’ Out garnered rave revues and a Tony award. It had an incredibly successful three-year run playing to packed houses before closing in 2005. While playing the final shows of Movin’ Out, Chuck was approached by Billy Joel to join him for a world tour in support of his My Lives album. Since the day he accepted Billy’s invitation, Chuck has continued performing sold out shows throughout the world with The Piano Man. Some of the highlights of the past six years have been recording the 12 Gardens Live album and Billy’s first song in fifteen years entitled Christmas in Fallujah. Chuck also performed the historical Shea Stadium shows, and completed an unprecedented fourteen month tour of sellouts with the Elton John and Billy Joel Face-2-Face Tour. The two concerts that closed Shea Stadium featured a forty-piece orchestra, and guest performances by Tony Bennett, Garth Brookes, Steven Tyler, Roger Daltry, John Mellencamp, Don Henley and Sir Paul McCartney.
Sixty thousand people each night attended those historic shows, and there are two outstanding movies of these events. The first is a documentary that ran throughout 2011 on cable’s Showtime called The Last Play at Shea. This is a story of the history of the venue, the Mets baseball team and Billy’s early years, interspersed with concert footage. The second is a full-length video and double CD set of the performances entitled Billy Joel–Live at Shea.
During a long touring break, Chuck recorded an album for Sony with American Idol’s runner-up Crystal Bowersox, and performed on The Ellen Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in support of her first record, Farmers Daughter. He also recorded teen model Kaile Goh’s debut album for Universal, and began performing around the New York area with his city/country band Shotgun Wedding. Chuck has also been playing select shows with the powerhouse tribute band Big Shot, which is fronted by Mike Delguidice, who recently became the newest member of the Billy Joel Band. In January of 2014, Billy Joel became the house band at Madison Square Garden, performing one show a month at the famous venue. Billy has gone down in musical history as the first artist to become a part of the MSG franchise, along with the New York Rangers and the Knicks, and there is no end in sight to his MSG residency. In between playing the monthly shows with Billy at Madison Square Garden and other major venues around the world, Chuck fills his calendar playing live, doing recording sessions, and teaching privately. He is also creating motivational presentations and workshops, for various age groups, that have at their core his passion for drums and drumming.
