Biography
The BusBoys are one of America's premiere Roots, Rock & Soul bands. Having created an American rock classic, "The Boys Are Back In Town," The BusBoys have taken the lyric line from that song literally and are ready to let the world know that they are indeed 'back in town," ready to rock.
With the release of their fifth album “In My Heart,” The BusBoys come full circle. The new record features insightful, socially relevant, fun songs that both reflect our times and comment on our here and now.
The BusBoys’ step into the future is based on their past: it was in the early months of 1980, with the legendary Whisky A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip as the site, that a group of teenagers forever changed the direction of Rock and Roll. With a nod to past rock pioneers Chuck Berry and Little Richard, The BusBoys took a foray into the future. They were Black, bold, irreverent, and they rocked. It was an auspicious debut for the group who laid the foundation for acceptance of black rock and rollers who have since become household names.
The BusBoys took rhythm and blues roots and fireballed them into a blazing, amazing, multi-dimensional rock and roll career trail. Under the creative and musical leadership of founder Brian O'Neal, they lit up the big and small screens, full-tilted the concert stage and collected multitudes of fans.
Their work has been released on four major label albums, including the multi-platinum soundtrack for "Ghostbusters" which earned a Grammy nomination. The group toured extensively, either headlining or co-headlining with many top acts, including Linda Ronstadt, Brian Setzer and The Stray Cats, ZZ Top and Eddie Murphy. During their many television appearances, they rocked "American Bandstand," "Soul Train,"
"Rock Concert," “Fridays” and "Saturday Night Live."
But they are no doubt best known for their internationally acclaimed on-screen performance in the Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte Paramount Pictures blockbuster, "48 HRS." Their performance of several original songs lit up the film, most notably the song destined to become a classic: "The Boys Are Back In Town."
In the mid-90s, the band reduced their performing schedule, but continued to place songs on soundtrack albums for major Hollywood studios including Paramount, Tri-Star, Disney, and Columbia Pictures. They also contributed their musical talent to a series of national television commercials for Anheuser Busch, Electronic Arts, Major League Baseball and the NBA.
The Boys also collaborated with singer/songwriter Brian O'Neal for an on-screen performance in the critically acclaimed Denzel Washington/Jennifer Beales Tri-Star film, "Devil In A Blue Dress."
In the mid 2000’s The BusBoys continued to tour and record new singles including the upbeat fun “It Must Be Saturday Night.”
Brian and the band have continued adding to their career resume. They worked recently on two films, "Ghostbusters: Cleanin’ Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters,"
www.facebook.com/CleaninUpTheTown
and "Freeway City: The Story of an L.A. Suburb." With “Freeway City” Brian acted as Executive Producer, Composer and Music Supervisor. The single featured in the film "City’s On Fire" is exactly that. The film can be viewed at www.freewaycity.org.
The new album “In My Heart” has already served up two special singles with accompanying videos.
“Civil Rights” was released July 4th, 2020. It is an attention grabbing, aggressive commentary on the civil rights commitment of America since its inception, that “all men are created equal.” The video illuminates the history and some of the ongoing challenges our nation’s ideals present.
The single and video “Love On My Mind” was the second song from the album, released on Valentine’s Day 2022. The video features a live performance setting of the band singing as only The BusBoys can about the joys of discovering unexpected love.
The full “In My Heart” album was released January 27, 2024, launched from The Whiskey A Go Go, the same stage from which The BusBoys made their debut. The songs have varied themes, spoken from the voice of their composer, Brian O’Neal. “I think of myself as a multi-dimensional person and the record is inspired by my thoughts and experiences. While the compositions are personal, I believe they reflect much of our universal human endeavors; life, loss, love and the potential for joy from it all.”
The BusBoys continue to increase their digital footprint, making for easy, minimum wage access to the band. You can find the new singles and album, classic catalogue material and alternate, never before released selections of BusBoys music at this ever-growing website, www.busboys.com.
The best news of all is this band, which has been called "the most exciting act in rock and roll," is now performing live, rocking stages large and small across the country and around the world. So put on your dancing shoes and get ready for the mad rise, all world, big school, butt bumpin’, rock & roll, rhythm and blues of Brian O'Neal and The BusBoys - - spread the word: THE BOYS ARE BACK!!