with Billy Sheehan, Pat Torpey, and Paul Gilbert to form Los Angeles supergroup Mr. Big. The band combined "shredding" musicianship with melodic vocal harmonies. The reputations of the players generated immediate interest in fellow musicians, and the band was signed to Atlantic Records in 1989. That year, the band released their eponymous debut, which received critical and commercial success in the US and Japan. In June 1990, the group toured America with the Canadian band Rush. The group's 1991 release, Lean into It, featured two ballads that established them as a commercial success: "To Be with You" (number one song in 15 countries) and "Just Take My Heart". The album was followed by a British tour in April and May of the same year, supported by bands The Throbs and Heartland. After another British tour, the band released the Mr. Big Live album in 1992. Mr. Big continued work on a third album as they headlined shows across the U.K. in 1993. In December, the band notably broke away from this run to play as support act for Aerosmith's three-night, sold-out stand at London's Wembley Arena. In 1993, another ballad from Mr. Big's new album Bump Ahead rose to the top 10 of the charts – a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World". Although the band was unable to sustain commercial success in the US, their popularity in Japan continued to soar, leading to several Japan-only live albums as Raw Like Sushi I, Raw Like Sushi II, Japandemonium, and Mr. Big in Japan In 1996, Mr. Big released Hey Man, which sold strongly in the Far East. In 1997, the band released the album Live At Budokan before taking a break from recording and touring. While recording their fifth studio album, Paul Gilbert announced his decision to leave the band, and new guitarist Richie Kotzen was added to the lineup. The new line-up of Mr. Big released Get Over It in September 1999 in Japan. Get Over It yielded "Superfantastic", a number one hit in Japan that went multi-platinum. It proved to be Atlantic's biggest selling release in that territory. Mr. Big put in a 20-date tour of Japan followed by a rousing New Year's Eve 1999 show with Aerosmith at the Osaka Dome in Osaka. Get Over It was released in the U.S. on March 21, 2000, followed by a short club stint at The Roxy Theater in West