The vocal talents of
Danny Vaughn have graced such hard rock acts as
Waysted,
Tyketto, and his own Vaughn since the mid-'80s. In addition to working with artists like
Yes,
Riot, and Rage of Angels,
Vaughn's catalog of work has seen him deliver numerous albums such as 1986's Save Your Prayers, 2007's Traveller, and 2019's Myths, Legends and Lies.
Born a natural performer,
Vaughn grew up singing along to his parents'
Beatles collection before joining the school choir at 11. Realizing that people were taking notice of his vocals, he secured himself a guitar at 14 and quickly started a band. Over the next few years, he cut his chops in numerous cover bands, played his fair share of dive bars, and in 1984 was picked up by
UFO guitarist Paul Chapman to work on his solo project D.O.A. After recording demos,
Vaughn suddenly found himself without a band when Chapman went back to the U.K. to join up with fellow
UFO member
Pete Way in his group
Waysted. In 1985, Chapman contacted
Vaughn again, this time offering him the vocalist spot in
Waysted after the band fell out with original singer Fin More. Following a quick trip to Wales to rehearse with the group, he played his first show with them in Israel two days later. After worldwide tours with
Iron Maiden and
Status Quo,
Waysted's debut album, Save Your Prayers, came out in 1986. However, the group disbanded as quickly as they had formed, and
Vaughn once again found himself without a group to play with just a year later.
Moving back to Brooklyn in 1987, he decided to form his own band,
Tyketto. After signing to Geffen, the group's debut album,
Don't Come Easy, appeared in 1990. It was followed by 1994's Strength in Numbers and 1995's Shine, but by then hard rock had fallen out of fashion, with grunge and Brit-pop dominating the musical landscape.
Vaughn spent the next few years singing guest vocals for Flesh and Blood and other bands, and returned in 2000 with his own group, simply titled Vaughn. Two albums followed -- 2000's Soldiers and Sailors on Riverside and 2001's Fearless -- and then he joined From the Inside, supplying vocals on two of their albums.
Vaughn released his first proper solo album, Traveller, in 2007, and formed the tribute act the Ultimate Eagles in 2009. Over the next few years, he brought back
Tyketto, delivering two albums -- 2012's Dig in Deep and 2016's Reach -- as well as supplying lead vocals for
Burning Kingdom. By 2019,
Vaughn had returned to his solo project, issuing the album Myths, Legends and Lies on his own label. ~ Rich Wilson