Sebastian Philip Bierk (born April 3, 1968), known professionally as Sebastian Bach, is a Canadian singer who achieved mainstream success as the frontman of the hard rock band Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. He continues his career as a solo artist and since 2026, as the lead singer of Twisted Sister. Bach has also acted on Broadway and has made appearances in film and television such as Trailer Park Boys, The Masked Singer and Gilmore Girls.
Bach was born in the Bahamas, the son of artist David Bierk and was raised in Peterborough, Ontario after the family moved to Canada in the early 1970s for his father's teaching job. His father was a noted painter who painted the cover of Skid Row's album Slave to the Grind and the inside cover art of Subhuman Race, as well as the album cover of Bach's solo effort Angel Down and inside art for its follow-up, Give 'Em Hell. Sebastian is one of seven children. His brother Zac Bierk is a former professional ice hockey player.
Bach decided that he wanted to be a singer after he joined a church choir when he was eight years old. He attended Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ontario.
The members of Kid Wikkid were based in Peterborough, Ontario. Upon hearing of the band and unaware of their ages, 14-year-old Bach auditioned for the group, and was hired by guitar player and band leader Jason Delorme.
Skid Row initially formed in the mid-1980s with lead vocalist Matt Fallon fronting the group, and they began playing at various clubs around the New Jersey area. Fallon left the band in 1987, leaving Skid Row in search of a lead vocalist. Bach was spotted singing at rock photographer Mark Weiss's wedding by Jon Bon Jovi's parents, who subsequently approached him and suggested he get in touch with their son's friend, Dave Sabo, who was looking for a lead vocalist for his band.
Skid Row achieved commercial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with its first two albums, Skid Row (1989) and Slave to the Grind (1991), certified multi-platinum, the latter of which reached number one on the Billboard 200. The band's third album Subhuman Race (1995) was also critically acclaimed.
Following disagreements over musical material and infuriating Bolan, Bach was fired from the band in 1996. However, rumors circulated that he had left the band due to his other bandmates believing they should not play as an opening act for Kiss. Bandmate Rachel Bolan also had a side project, a punk band, Prunella Scales, who were playing at the same time as the planned Kiss show. The rift between Bach and the other band members subsequently led to his leaving Skid Row. Four years later, Skid Row was one of the opening acts for the 2000 Kiss Farewell Tour, without Bach.
Broadway and other projects (1996–2006)
In 1993, Bach shortly toured with Triumph after the release of their album Edge of Excess, providing lead vocals up until the band broke up later the same year.
In 1996, Bach joined The Last Hard Men, an alternative rock supergroup formed by Breeders lead guitarist Kelley Deal, which also included Frogs guitarist Jimmy Flemion and Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The group recorded a full-length, self-titled album for Atlantic Records, who then opted not to release it. In 1998, it was released on Deal's label, Nice Records, with no fanfare and a very limited pressing of 1,000 CDs. The band also recorded a cover of the Alice Cooper song "School's Out" for the soundtrack album of the 1996 film Scream.
In 2000, Bach began performing in Broadway productions. He made his Broadway debut with the title role(s) in Jekyll & Hyde in April 2000. He also appeared as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show in 2001. On November 28, 2001 Bach appeared at New York Steel, a benefit concert held in response to 9/11.
In 2003, Bach tried out for Velvet Revolver before the band found Scott Weiland, but was turned down because, according to Slash, "We sounded like Skid Roses!" From 2003 to 2007, Bach had a recurring role on the WB television show Gilmore Girls as "Gil", the lead guitarist in Lane Kim's band, Hep Alien. Members of Bach Tight Five (a project initiated by Bach in 2004, but dissolved shortly thereafter) lived with Bach and his family as documented on VH1's I Married ...Sebastian Bach, one of the "I Married ..." series. In 2005, Bach collaborated with Henning Pauly to be the singer on the Frameshift album called An Absence of Empathy, released in April 2005. He was recommended to Henning by Dream Theater's James LaBrie.
Reality TV and Angel Down (2006–2010)
Bach starred in the 2006 VH1 reality show Supergroup, in which he, along with Ted Nugent, Scott Ian, Jason Bonham and Evan Seinfeld, were tasked with forming a heavy metal supergroup, with Bach as the lead vocalist. The seven-episode series was filmed during a twelve-day period when the musicians all lived together in a mansion in Las Vegas. The resulting band, originally called "Fist", was eventually named Damnocracy; both names were Bach's ideas. Damnocracy had no recorded output.
In 2007, Bach announced a partnership record label with EMI to jointly create a label owned by him, including his album Angel Down, which was released on November 20, 2007. Bach also recorded backing vocals for the track "Sorry" on Guns N' Roses' long-delayed Chinese Democracy, which was released in November 2008. He spent the summer of 2008 playing with Poison and Dokken.
Bach was the winner of the second season of the CMT reality show Gone Country, which aired in 2008.
Kicking and Screaming and Sterling's departure (2010–2012)
Bach toured as an opening act for Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy Tour" 2009–2010, and performed "My Michelle" with Axl Rose in Quebec City on February 1, 2010. On January 5, 2011, he was featured on NBC's Jimmy Fallon Show in a live performance and a subsequent video of "We Are The Ducks", a power ballad written for University of Oregon Ducks, set to play in the BCS national championship game Monday, January 10, 2011. In 2011, Bach was interviewed by British metalcore band Asking Alexandria in the March/April issue of Revolver. The band are fans of Skid Row and covered two of their songs the preceding year of the interview. The same year, Bach performed "Youth Gone Wild" with the band live at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards and Rock on the Range. Bach was also filmed in their music video "Closure".