Mr. Big combined two popular musical trends of the rock scene in the 1980s: a particular brand of hard rock, focused on melodies and listener-friendly choruses, and impressive technical proficiency, then called shredding. The seeds for the group were sown when bass player Billy Sheehan (bass guitarist for guitarist Steve Vai) left David Lee Roth's solo band (also with Vai) in 1988. Almost immediately after his exit, Sheehan began piecing together a new outfit, with the help of Mike Varney from Shrapnel Records, a label specialized in the shredding genre. However, what Sheehan did not know was that he was about to form one of the most revered "supergroups" to come out of America.
The band, now managed by former Journey and Santana manager Herbie Herbert, was composed of Shrapnel artist and former Racer X guitarist Paul Gilbert, Pat Torpey on drums, and singer Eric Martin, who had a number of album releases throughout the 1980s with his Eric Martin Band. By 1989, the newly formed quartet had already inked a recording contract with Atlantic, resulting in the release of a self-titled debut the same year. Despite causing a buzz amongst musicians, the album failed to cross over to a mainstream rock audience stateside; however, Mr. Big was an immediate smash success overseas in Japan.
The band's breakthrough came with their second album, Lean Into It, in 1991. It featured two ballads that established the band as a commercial success: "To Be With You" and "Just Take My Heart", as well as rock songs that remained as staples of their live set for years to come, such as "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind". Other releases followed, Bump Ahead in 1993 and Hey Man in 1996, but the band never replicated its earlier success in the US market. The song "Take Cover" was included on the soundtrack to the cartoon series Mega Man released in 1995, which is based on the best selling video game franchise of the same name by Capcom, and was played during the end credits of the episodes "Bad Day At Peril Park" and "Mega X". In Japan, on the other hand, they continued to sell out tours, resulting in a number of live releases for the Japanese market throughout their career (from Raw Like Sushi in 1990 to Mr. Big In Japan in 2002).
Paul Gilbert left the band in 1997 to pursue a solo career and eventually reform Racer X. Richie Kotzen, another Shrapnel artist and former guitarist for Poison, was brought in to take on guitar duties, also contributing occasional vocals. Two studio albums were released by this lineup: Get Over It in 2000 and Actual Size in 2001, which featured the single "Shine", used as the ending theme in the animation series of Hellsing.
Tensions in the band led to their demise—contractual obligations for yet another Japanese tour were fulfilled in the form of a "farewell tour". The multi-million record-selling band broke up in 2002, many years since their last US hit, but while still enjoying great popularity in Japan. All of the former members have gone on to other projects in the music industry.
The band also contributed the soundtrack to the 1993 Sega Mega CD release of The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.
On May 7, 2008, a Mr. Big "almost-reunion" took place at guitarist Paul Gilbert's solo show at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Paul invited his former MR. BIG bandmates Billy Sheehan and Pat Torpey, along with fellow ex-Mr. Big guitarist Richie Kotzen (he joined the band as Paul's replacement) to his stage and they played two songs: "30 Days in the Hole" (Humble Pie song with Kotzen on vocals), and "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" (with Gilbert and Mike Szuter from Paul's band on vocals).
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