Matt Sharp

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American musician (born 1969)

title: "Matt Sharp" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1969-births", "living-people", "american-rock-bass-guitarists", "american-male-bass-guitarists", "weezer-members", "american-male-singer-songwriters", "american-rock-songwriters", "american-rock-singers", "the-rentals-members", "power-pop-musicians", "musicians-from-bangkok", "musicians-from-arlington-county,-virginia", "20th-century-american-guitarists", "singer-songwriters-from-virginia"] description: "American musician (born 1969)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Sharp" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American musician (born 1969) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

FieldValue
nameMatt Sharp
backgroundnon_vocal_instrumentalist
imageMatt Sharp photo by Josh Alder.jpg
captionMatt Sharp after a solo tour show at the W.O.W. Hall in Eugene, Oregon, in 2004
birth_nameMatthew Kelly Sharp
birth_date
birth_placeBangkok, Thailand
originArlington County, Virginia, U.S.
genre{{flatlist
occupation{{flatlist
instrument{{flatlist
years_active1985–present
label{{flatlist
current_member_ofThe Rentals
past_member_ofWeezer
::

::callout[type=note] the musician ::

| name = Matt Sharp | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | image = Matt Sharp photo by Josh Alder.jpg | caption = Matt Sharp after a solo tour show at the W.O.W. Hall in Eugene, Oregon, in 2004 | birth_name = Matthew Kelly Sharp | birth_date = | birth_place = Bangkok, Thailand | origin = Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. | genre = {{flatlist|

Matthew Kelly Sharp (born September 22, 1969) is an American musician. Until 1998, he was the bassist for the rock band Weezer, which he co-founded in 1992. He appears on their first two albums, the Blue Album (1994) and Pinkerton (1996). In 1994, Sharp founded the Rentals, who have released five albums. Sharp has also released an EP and an album as a solo artist.

Early life

Matt Sharp was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to American parents on September 22, 1969. The family moved to Arlington, Virginia, when he was one year old. At the age of nine, he made his first musical purchase, a 45 rpm single of the song "Le Freak" by Chic. Joyce, Richard, 2018 and thrash bands like Anthrax,Joyce, Richard, 2018 Suicidal Tendencies, and D.R.I. Despite his love for guitar distortion and heavy metal, he became obsessed with the Moog synthesizer.Joyce, Richard, 2018 He started his own thrash band, named Wreckage, and played bass along with Marcel DeSantos (drums) and Kingsley “King” Fowley (guitar and vocals), founder of Deceased death metal band. Matt went to Washington-Lee High School, thriving in the audio-visual club. Matt lived on North Glebe Road in Arlington, Virginia, at that time.--At sixteen, he moved to San Diego.

In 1989, Sharp started fronting a goth band, the Clique, which lasted less than a year. A few months after the Clique disbanded, Sharp befriended the drummer Patrick Wilson, with whom he created the band 60 Wrong Sausages. The guitarist Jason Cropper soon joined. Around this time, Wilson was also in another band, Fuzz, with the guitarist and vocalist Rivers Cuomo. For a brief period, Cuomo, Wilson and Sharp shared an apartment. During this time, Sharp worked as a telemarketer.

Career

1991–1999: Weezer and the Rentals

In mid-1991, Sharp moved north to Berkeley, California, to pursue what the Weezer collaborator Karl Koch described as "some sorta symphonic keyboard sequencing music". In January 1992, Wilson showed Sharp material he and Cuomo had been working on. Impressed, Sharp returned to Los Angeles to join the band. Sharp became the group's bassist and de facto manager.

Cuomo, Wilson, Sharp and Cropper formed Weezer in 1992. Their first show was on March 19, 1992, closing for Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar. Cuomo gave Sharp one year to get the band a record deal before Cuomo accepted a scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley. In November, Weezer recorded a demo, The Kitchen Tape, including a version of the future Weezer single "Say It Ain't So". The demo was heard by Todd Sullivan, an A&R man at Geffen Records, who signed Weezer in June 1993.

Weezer released their self-titled debut album in May 1994. It was certified platinum in January 1995. In early 1994, Sharp founded the Rentals. They released their debut album, Return of the Rentals, the following year, which featured the radio hit "Friends of P". Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, was released in September 1996. With a darker, more abrasive sound, Pinkerton was a commercial and critical failure, but attained critical acclaim later. Following the mixed response to Pinkerton, Weezer went on a five-year hiatus.

Lush singer/guitarist Miki Berenyi confirmed in several interviews that the third verse of their hit 1996 song "Ladykillers" was about Sharp.

In 1998, Sharp left Weezer due to differences with the band members. In 2016, he said of his departure: "I don't really know how to speak on this because I don't know what should be kept private and what should be shared. I certainly have my view of it, as I'm sure everybody else has their sort of foggy things. When you have a group that doesn't communicate, you're going to have a whole lot of different stories."

In 1999, the Rentals released their second album, Seven More Minutes. Among its contributors were Damon Albarn (of Blur and Gorillaz), Donna Matthews (of Elastica), Miki Berenyi (of Lush), and Tim Wheeler (of Ash). Maya Rudolph (later of Saturday Night Live) was a member of the touring band during this time. The track "My Head is in the Sun" was co-written with Cuomo. The album sold considerably less than Return of the Rentals, and the Rentals went on hiatus in late 1999.

2000–2003: Solo records and Weezer lawsuit

Sharp moved to the town of Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, and began recording. In an interview with MTV News, Sharp said he was trying to cut ties to the music world. Sharp went on an acoustic tour in 2002 with former Cake guitarist Greg Brown. In 2003, after a four-year hiatus, Sharp returned with an EP, Puckett's Versus the Country Boy.

On April 19, 2002, Sharp filed a five-count federal lawsuit against Weezer. He alleged he was owed royalties for co-writing Weezer's first hit, "Undone – The Sweater Song", and that he owned a 25% interest in the first nine tracks of Pinkerton, which had been credited solely to Cuomo despite all four band members working on the album. Sharp also said he had handled most of Weezer's business affairs during their early success, including the hiring of accountants and attorneys and securing their record deal. The lawsuit also stated that Cuomo was going to ask Sharp to appear in the music video for their 2001 song "Island in the Sun". Finally, Sharp additionally charged his former bandmates Patrick Wilson and Brian Bell with breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, dissolution of partnership, and declaratory relief. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

2003–present: Reunion with Cuomo, re-formation of the Rentals

::quote

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| quote = People come up to me and say, "By the way, the last two Weezer records really sucked," and they're always saying it to get in good with me. And I haven't heard them. But if they were bad, they'd probably be just as bad if I was there. | source = – Sharp in 2006 | align = right | width = 25% | salign = right ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Berri_Txarrak_Lagunartean_-Kobetamendi-2019-07-14-_185.jpg" caption="access-date=20 May 2019}} In 2005, six years after 1999's ''Seven More Minutes'', the Rentals re-formed; the new lineup included original backup vocalist [[Rachel Haden]], Sara Radle, Ben Pringle of [[Nerf Herder]], Lauren Chipman, and Dan Joeright. Sharp and the Rentals toured North America in the summers of 2006 and 2007."] ::

The Rentals released The Last Little Life EP on August 14, 2007. Between Rentals tours, Sharp returned to work in early 2007 with Tegan and Sara on their next album, The Con, later appearing at their concerts in 2008 to play bass in a cover of Weezer's "Tired of Sex".

After the three releases in the Songs About Time series in April, July, and October 2009, Sharp and the Rentals went on hiatus. In October 2010, Sharp sold most of his equipment from his Weezer and Rentals days on eBay. His Orange Matamp Lead 200 was purchased by Greg Veerman, bassist of Canadian rock band San Sebastian. In November 2010, Cuomo mentioned in an interview with Spin that "the idea came up" of having Sharp rejoin the band for their "Memories Tour", in which they play The Blue Album and Pinkerton. Cuomo said: "I think we left that idea behind pretty early on. I don't remember. I wasn't involved in the discussion so I don't know what the issues were."

In 2011, Sharp provided guest vocals on the song "FAQ" by Berri Txarrak, a Basque band whose live album Zertarako Amestu (2007) had significant influence on Songs About Time.

Discography

Weezer

The Rentals

Solo

With Homie

With Tegan and Sara

With Berri Txarrak

  • 2011 – "FAQ"

References

Bibliography

  • .

References

  1. (March 2005). "Contemporary Musicians: Profiles of the People in Music". Cengage Gale.
  2. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 50
  3. Joyce, Richard, 2018
  4. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 51
  5. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 53
  6. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 55
  7. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 56
  8. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 62
  9. Hiatt, Brian. (2019-08-28). "The Strange Birth and Near Death of Weezer".
  10. "Gold and Platinum: Searchable Database". RIAA.
  11. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 150
  12. "The Rentals: Artist Chart History". [[Billboard (magazine).
  13. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "''Pinkerton'' – Weezer : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". [[AllRovi]].
  14. (2006-02-16). "Student With a Past". The New York Times.
  15. Rampton, Mike. (February 28, 2020). "10 songs bands have written about other artists".
  16. (April 24, 2002). "Former Weezer Bassist Matt Sharp Sues Band Over Royalties". [[MTV]].
  17. Braun, Laura Marie. (23 September 2016). "How Weezer's 'Pinkerton' Went From Embarrassing to Essential". Rolling Stone.
  18. ''Seven More Minutes'' booklet and [[liner notes]]
  19. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 257
  20. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 273
  21. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 470
  22. Montgomery, James. (24 September 2004). "Matt Sharp Says LP With Rivers Cuomo May Never Come Out". [[MTV News]].
  23. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 469
  24. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 472
  25. Yago, Gideon. (24 April 2002). "Former Weezer Bassist Matt Sharp Sues Band Over Royalties". [[MTV News]].
  26. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 423
  27. Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 424
  28. Hyden, Steven. (2014-10-07). "Overrated, Underrated, or Properly Rated: Weezer".
  29. Hargreaves, Trevor. (8 November 2006). "Matt Sharp Talks About Rivers Cuomo's Etiquette Fetish And Tegan And Sara". [[Chart Attack]].
  30. Sharp, Matt. (12 February 2004). "Matt Sharp and Rivers Cuomo - Mrs Young (Live)".
  31. Sharp, Matt. (12 February 2004). "Matt Sharp and RiversCuomo - Time Song (Live)".
  32. Sharp, Matt. (4 August 2004). "Note To Fans From Matt Sharp". In Music We Trust.
  33. Sharp, Matt. (24 October 2005). "Diary: Day One 10-24-05". TheRentals.com.
  34. Phillips, Amy. (12 May 2006). "Exclusive: Matt Sharp Talks Rentals' Return".
  35. Machkovech, Sam. (18 May 2006). "The New Friend of P".
  36. Parker, Chris. (12 September 2007). "Back in residence".
  37. Tegan and Sara. (18 October 2008). "Tired Of Sex w/ Matt Sharp + Sexy Time Please".
  38. O'Donnell, Kevin. (2 November 2010). "Rivers Cuomo: 'There's So Much Pain in My Voice'".
  39. Sharp, Matt. (15 September 2009). "From the Desk of the Rentals' Matt Sharp: Berri Txarra".

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1969-birthsliving-peopleamerican-rock-bass-guitaristsamerican-male-bass-guitaristsweezer-membersamerican-male-singer-songwritersamerican-rock-songwritersamerican-rock-singersthe-rentals-memberspower-pop-musiciansmusicians-from-bangkokmusicians-from-arlington-county,-virginia20th-century-american-guitaristssinger-songwriters-from-virginia