Pino Palladino

Biography

Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A session bassist, he has played bass for a number of acts such as the Who, the John Mayer Trio, Gary Numan, Paul Young, Don Henley, David Gilmour, Go West, Tears for Fears, Nine Inch Nails, Jeff Beck, Adele and D'Angelo.

Early life

The son of a Welsh mother and Italian father (from Campobasso), Giuseppe Henry Palladino was born in Cardiff on 17 October 1957. He was raised Catholic. He began playing guitar at age 14, due to the influence of his parish priest, and bass guitar at 17, after his priest took him to a Ralph McTell concert featuring bassist Danny Thompson. He bought his first fretless bass one year later, influenced by Motown music and playing mostly R&B, funk and reggae with a rock and roll backbeat. He was also drawn to jazz and took classical guitar lessons.

Career

Palladino was influenced in his early years by Led Zeppelin and Yes and started a rock band. In 1982, Palladino recorded with Gary Numan on the album I, Assassin. Following this, he was asked to contribute to Paul Young's debut album. Young's cover version of "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" by Marvin Gaye became a hit in Europe, and Palladino subsequently joined Young's band, the Royal Family. He received offers to record with Joan Armatrading, Go West, and David Gilmour. He cites as early influences James Jamerson, Danny Thompson, and Norman Watt-Roy and also admires Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, Michael Henderson, Anthony Jackson, Marcus Miller, and Rocco Prestia.
In 1988-1989, Palladino played on the Don Henley album The End of the Innocence on three tracks, including the single "New York Minute". In 1989 he participating in the recording of Ryuichi Sakamoto's album Beauty, and was part of the lineup who played with the Japanese musician at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1991.
In 1990, he played on Mike Lindup's first solo album, Changes, with Dominic Miller on guitar and Manu Katché on drums. In 1991, he joined the Law with Paul Rodgers, formerly of Bad Company, and drummer Kenney Jones, who succeeded Keith Moon in the Who after Moon died, and recorded the album The Law.
In the 1990s, Palladino alternated between fretless bass and fretted 4-string and 6-string bass. He played with Melissa Etheridge, Richard Wright, Elton John, and Eric Clapton.

In 1999, he began working with Richard Ashcroft of the Verve on Ashcroft's debut solo album, Alone With Everybody.
Also in the late 1990s, Palladino and the neo-soul artist D'Angelo developed a connection over their mutual love of Motown and other classic soul music. Palladino then became active in the Soulquarians, playing on the majority of their discography and serving as a member of the Soultronics touring band that supported D'Angelo's Voodoo tour.
Palladino played with Simon and Garfunkel on their Old Friends reunion tour from 2003 to 2004.
After the Who's bassist John Entwistle died the night before the start of their first tour in two years, Palladino became the band's bass guitarist on tour. In 2006, he joined the remaining band members on their first album in twenty-four years, Endless Wire. He played with the Who at the Super Bowl XLIV half-time show in 2010 with Simon Townshend on guitar, Zak Starkey on drums, and John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards. In 2012, Palladino toured with the Who on their Quadrophenia revival. He stopped touring with the Who in 2016. However, Palladino is still occasionally involved in studio sessions; he appeared on their 2019 album titled Who.
Palladino met Steve Jordan in the mid-1980s while both were working as session musicians the collaboration blossomed into a friendship. Jordan credits Palladino's apparent ability to "feel" changes in music, through melodies, basslines, and an embrace of genres of nearly every kind. According to Jordan, he had planned to meet up with John Mayer and Willie Weeks in January 2005 to perform Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope for victims of the tsunami that struck southeast Asia. Weeks was unable to make the performance, and Jordan suggested Palladino, who had heard some of Mayer's work and was willing to come. Beginning a set that included the Jimi Hendrix song "Bold as Love", the three found a chemistry together. They recorded an album and toured as a trio.

Palladino and Jordan released the album Try!, on 22 November 2005. The eleven-track live album includes cover versions of "Wait Until Tomorrow" by Jimi Hendrix and "I Got a Woman" by Ray Charles, two songs from Mayer's album Heavier Things, and new songs by Mayer. In addition, Mayer, Palladino, and Jordan are credited as songwriters on three songs: "Good Love Is on the Way", "Vultures", and "Try!". Palladino appeared on Mayer's third album Continuum, fourth album Battle Studies and seventh album The Search for Everything.
In March and April 2006, Palladino toured with Jeff Beck and played with J. J. Cale, and Eric Clapton on their 2006 album The Road to Escondido. In 2009, he formed a trio with keyboardist Philippe Saisse and Simon Phillips.
In January 2011, he entered the studio with D'Angelo to finish recording Black Messiah. In 2013, he played on the Nine Inch Nails album Hesitation Marks and was a member of the touring band. Additionally, he co-produced José James' album No Beginning No End (2013).
In 2024, he appeared on "II Most Wanted", the third single off of Beyoncé's album, Cowboy Carter; additionally, the song featured Miley Cyrus.

Technique and equipment

Palladino is noted for his use of the fretless bass on many albums. While it was typical for a bass in a commercial track to have a rather generic sound and stay "playing the low notes", Palladino preferred a different sound, combining fretless tone with an octaver effect, and basslines that frequently added chords, lead lines, and counter-melodies in the higher range of the instrument. Typical of this style was his playing on Paul Young's "Wherever I Lay My Hat". His equipment at that time included a fretless 1979 Music Man StingRay Bass and Boss octave pedal (OC-2).
From the 1990s onward, Palladino has leaned mainly towards a Fender Precision Bass. He used his 1963 Sunburst Fender Precision on Voodoo, using heavy gauge LaBella strings (tuned down to DGCF), a foam mute, and an Ampeg B-15 amplifier. He has also played Fender Jaguar Bass, Lakland Jazz Bass, and Larry Graham Signature JJ-4B Bass.
The Fender Pino Palladino Signature Precision Bass is modeled after two of Pino's Fender Precision Basses. The body features faded fiesta red paint over desert sand paint, based on Palladino's 1961 Precision Bass, while the neck shape and round-lam rosewood fretboard are based on his 1963 sunburst Precision Bass.
In 2024, Ernie Ball Music Man released a Pino Palladino signature StingRay bass, closely replicating his 1979 sunburst fretless StingRay. It is available as a regular model, and a limited-edition "Icon" version, which is an exact replica of Palladino's original instrument that utilises new-old stock parts.

Personal life

In 1992, Pino married Marilyn "Maz" Roberts, a member of Paul Young's vocal group, the Fabulous Wealthy Tarts. They have three children: Fabiana, Giancarla, and Rocco, who are all involved in the music industry.

As leader

Notes with Attachments (2021) (with Blake Mills)
That Wasn't a Dream (2025) (with Blake Mills)