Did The Bangles Actually Play Their Instruments?

The Bangles always played their own instruments, inspite of being a girl group.

“We have always played our instruments. Anybody who knows us knows that. We’ve always had additional instrumentalists on the records, but so did the Rolling Stones, and nobody says, ‘Oh, did Keith Richards play that solo?”, The group’s guitarist Vicki Peterson once said.

About The Bangles

The Bangles are an American pop rock band which was set up in 1981, in Los Angeles, California, and became known for several hit singles.

Following the split of the band in 1989, the then bass player, Michael Steele, initially wrote and recorded songs, then later founded the band “Crash Wisdom”, which wasn’t successful either.

Steele eventually relocated to Los Angeles to focus on painting.

The band has gone on to win many awards such as the Brits Awards, Smash Hits Awards, American Video Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards, ASCAP Pop Music Awards, and the She Rocks Awards.

Some of The Bangles singles that ranked tops on the U.S. music charts are “Manic Monday” (1986), “Walk Like an Egyptian” (1986), “Hazy Shade of Winter” (1987), “In Your Room” (1988), and “Eternal Flame” (1989).

The band initially began with Susanna Hoffs, and Vicki Peterson playing the guitar, Debbi Peterson playing the drums and Michael Steele serving as the bass player.

After several ups and downs, splits and reconciliations, the group now consists of Vicki and Debbi Peterson, who are siblings, Susan Hoffs, and bassist Annette Zilinskas.

For music tours, the group often included Abby Travis and Derrick Anderson as bass guitarists, Walker Igleheart and Greg “Harpo” Hilfman as keyboardists.