Tom Scholz
On 10/03/1947: Tom Scholz was born in Toledo, Ohio. His full birth name was Donald Thomas Scholz. He was raised in the suburb of Ottawa Hills. As a child, Scholz learnt to play classical piano. He would often be building or designing thing such as go carts of model aeroplanes.In 1965, he graduated from Ottawa Hills High School.
In 1969, Scholz received a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1970, he received his master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He would then go to work for the Polaroid Corporation as a senior product design engineer and lived in Boston.
Whilst at Polaroid, Scholz had a keen interest in music and began recording demos in his home studio. The demos impressed Epic Records who signed Scholz and singer Brad Delp. Scholz believed the demos were good enough to release as the debut album for the new group known as Boston. Epic disagreed and told Scholz to re-record the demos. Scholz recorded most of the guitar, bass and keyboards. Though some other players were involved occasionally in the recordings. Epic did not want the album to all be recorded in Scholz's home, but most of what ended up on the album was recorded there.
In 1976, the album "Boston" was released. It was the biggest selling debut album by any artist at the time.
In 1978, the follow-up album "Don't Look Back" was released. It was delayed by Scholz's perfectionism. It was only released after pressure from the record company and Scholz was not happy with the final product. There would be a delay before the next album as a consequence.
In 1986, Boston released their third album called "Third Stage". It was certified 4x platinum and the song "Amanda" from the album reached number one on the singles chart. Scholz and Delp were the only original group to appear on the album.
In 1987, Scholz set up the charity the DTS Charitable Foundation. The foundation was there to support animal protection, provide vegetarian resources, help stop world hunger, create homeless shelters, food banks, animal rescues and advocate for children's rights. Scholz has been a vegetarian for over thirty years.
Scholz also developed his own guitar effects under the name Rockman. He would also develop the portable guitar amplifier under the name.
In 1994, Boston released the album "Walk On". It featured Fran Cosmo on vocals after Delp had left the band in 1990. Delp would return to the band later in 1994.
In 2002, Boston released their fifth album "Corporate America". It was the first time Boston had created political songs and the first album to include the singer Anthony Cosmo (Fran Cosmo's son) and Kimberley Dahme on bass and vocals. It would be the last album to feature Brad Delp.
In March 2007, Brad Delp died after committing suicide. Scholz appeared at the concert dedicated to his memory organised by Delp's children. Fran Cosmo was unable to sing at the event due to a vocal injury so Scholz invited guest singers to take his place including Michael Sweet from Stryper and Tommy De Carlo a Boston fan who auditioned for Scholz.
In 2013, PETA awarded Scholz their Compassionate Action Award.