Michael Francis Barbiero (born June 25, 1949), is an American record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, mixer, engineer, songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

, and journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

.

Background

Michael Barbiero has worked with a number of artists, such as Metallica

Metallica

Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...

, Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...

, Tesla

Tesla (band)

Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...

, Cinderella

Cinderella (band)

Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...

, Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

, Ziggy Marley

Ziggy Marley

David "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley...

, Belouis Some

Belouis Some

Belouis Some is a British New Wave musician. He had hits in the 1980s with "Some People", "Round Round", , plus "Imagination" which also achieved success on the European and , and can be heard in the films Ghost Chase and The Business...

, Cutting Crew

Cutting Crew

The Cutting Crew is a pop rock band formed in England in 1985, best known for their #1 hit, " Died in Your Arms".-Career:Vocalist Nick Van Eede founded the group along with Canadian guitarist Kevin MacMichael in 1985, and the two made demos that led to a recording contract, before bassist Colin...

, Counting Crows

Counting Crows

Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...

, Scorpions

Scorpions (band)

Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...

, John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...

, Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...

, Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill

Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. Cypress Hill was the first Latino hip-hop group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums, selling over 18 million albums worldwide...

, Three Doors Down, Thrice

Thrice

Thrice is an American rock band from Irvine, California, formed in 1998. The group was founded by guitarist/vocalist Dustin Kensrue and guitarist Teppei Teranishi while they were in high school....

, Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker

John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...

 and Anthrax

Anthrax (band)

Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...

.

He started as a staff producer for Paramount Records

Paramount Records (1969)

Paramount Records was a record label started in 1969 by Paramount Pictures after acquiring the rights to the name from George H. Buck. The previous label with the same name had been unconnected to Paramount Pictures. The new Paramount label reissued pop releases by sister label Dot Records, which...

, earning a Grammy nomination at the age of 23 for his production of the Serpico

Serpico

Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...

movie soundtrack album. He later went on to sign Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Mills

Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...

 to her first recording contract. He then specialized as a remix

Remix

A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

er in the disco era, and employed his engineering talents on 12" remixes and singles for artists like Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston

Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, Jackie Moore, Dan Hartman

Dan Hartman

Daniel Earl "Dan" Hartman was an American singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for such songs as: "Free Ride", "I Can Dream About You", "Instant Replay", "Love Sensation", and "Relight My Fire", all of which had world-wide success.-Career:Born in Pennsylvania's capital, Harrisburg,...

, Gonzales

Gonzales

Gonzales is a variant spelling of the common Spanish González . It may refer to:-People:*Alberto Gonzales, former U.S. Attorney General...

, The Spinners, Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

, The Jacksons, Melba Moore

Melba Moore

Beatrice Melba Smith , known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American disco, R&B singer and actress. She is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis.-Early life:...

, Joe Simon

Joe Simon (musician)

Joe Simon is an American chart-topping, Grammy Award winning, soul and R&B musician. Amongst other chart singles, Simon secured three number one hits on the US Billboard R&B chart between 1969 and 1975.-Career:...

, Madonna

Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

, Earth, Wind and Fire, Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....

 and Simply Red

Simply Red

Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...

.

In 1986, he worked as a studio musician on Alphaville

Alphaville (band)

Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold , Bernhard Lloyd , and Frank Mertens Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name Hartwig Schierbaum,...

's album Afternoons in Utopia

Afternoons In Utopia

Afternoons in Utopia is the second album released by Alphaville in 1986, by Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986, and Alphaville employed no less than 27 guest musicians and singers to record the songs...

.
In 1987, he worked as mixer on the Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...

' debut album Appetite For Destruction

Appetite for Destruction

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...

.

Barbiero was a long-time collaborator with producer Steve Thompson

Steve Thompson (musician)

-Biography:Steve Thompson is an American record producer, Having worked with Guns N Roses, Madonna, John Lennon, Wu Tang, Korn, Cutting Crew, Belouis Some,Public Enemy, Whitney Houston, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers...

. They started working on dance songs and later moved to rock. One of their first rock projects for Geffen Records

Geffen Records

Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

 (which now owns the Paramount Records catalog) was a band called City Kidd, who later became Tesla

Tesla (band)

Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...

.

Since 1995 Michael has produced, mixed and/or engineered projects for The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies, Cowboy Mouth, Shakira, Vallejo, The Counting Crows, Richy Nix

Richy Nix

Richy Nix was born in Windsor, Ontario on December 11, 1985. He learned to play piano at age five. Throughout his childhood he had many problems with family and the law. These factors are a direct influence for many of the songs he has written. In his high school days , he met Kannibalistik , who...

, and Lostprophets among others, plus producing or co-producing with Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...

, eleven projects with Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...

, including the award-winning albums The Deepest End

The Deepest End, Live In Concert

The Deepest End, Live in Concert is a two disc live album and video by Gov't Mule, released on October 7, 2003. It was recorded in New Orleans on May 3, 2003....

and Déjà Voodoo

Deja Voodoo (album)

Déjà Voodoo is an album by the southern rock jam band Gov't Mule. It was the first Gov't Mule album to feature Andy Hess and Danny Louis as permanent members, and it was also the first album that Gov't Mule did not play live before its release...

. He has also co-produced The Allman Brothers' Hittin' the Note

Hittin' the Note

Hittin' the Note is a 2003 studio album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. Released through Sanctuary Records, it was their first studio album to include lead slide guitar player Derek Trucks and bass player Oteil Burbridge and marked the full-time return of guitar player...

studio album and, in 2003, their RIAA platinum certified DVD, Live at the Beacon Theater. Michael has engineered, produced, and/or mixed projects that have been nominated for Grammy awards fourteen times, winning four times for: Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

 ("Run-around

Run-Around

"Run-Around" is a song by American jam band Blues Traveler, featured on the 1994 album Four. Blues Traveler won their first Grammy Award for the song in 1995.The song was the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100....

" - 1994 - Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal), Ziggy Marley (Fallen Is Babylon

Fallen Is Babylon

- Track listing :# "Fallen Is Babylon"# "Everyone Wants to Be"# "People Get Ready"# "Postman"# "Brotherly Sisterly Love"# "Born to Be Lively"# "Long Winter"# "I Remember"# "Day By Day"# "Five Days a Year"# "Notice"# "Diamond City"# "Jah Bless"...

- 1997- Best Reggae Album), Peter Frampton "Fingerprints" - 2006 - Best Pop Instrumental Album, and Cutting Crew

Cutting Crew

The Cutting Crew is a pop rock band formed in England in 1985, best known for their #1 hit, " Died in Your Arms".-Career:Vocalist Nick Van Eede founded the group along with Canadian guitarist Kevin MacMichael in 1985, and the two made demos that led to a recording contract, before bassist Colin...

 (Broadcast

Broadcast (album)

Broadcast is the debut album the English pop/rock band Cutting Crew, released in 1986. It reached #16 on the US charts and #41 on the UK charts. The album was released in Europe with different packaging 8 months before it was released in America...

1986 - Best New Artist). More recently he has mixed songs for Danish recording artist Thomas Helmig

Thomas Helmig

Thomas Helmig is a Danish rock singer and musician, and has been one of the most popular singers in Denmark since the middle of the 1980s.-Biography:...

, Maroon 5

Maroon 5

Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. While they were in high school, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers and released one album...

, Antigone Rising

Antigone Rising

Antigone Rising is an all-female New York City based rock band. Their music is influenced by classic rock from the 1970s such as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, mixed with pop overtones and at times folk and country elements...

, Mike Farris, Roadrunner artists doubleDrive (2003), Alive in Wild Paint and Hinder

Hinder

Hinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma that was formed in 2001 by drummer Cody Hanson, guitarist Joe Garvey, and singer Austin Winkler. The band was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2007.-Formation and early history:...

. In 2005 and 2006, Michael contributed articles to Mix Magazine. He is the president of Ring Bearer Music Ltd. publishing, owner of Ring Bearer Music Studios and a longtime member of ASCAP.