Little Feat

Formed by two former members of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention; songwriter and guitarist Lowell George, who also provided vocals and slide guitar, and Roy Estrada on bass guitar, along with drummer Richard Hayward and Bill Payne on keyboards.

Their first two albums, Little Feat and Sailin' Shoes, in conjunction with Warner Brothers Records, received good reviews but failed commercially, and the band split up until 1972 when it reformed with Kenny Gradney replacing Estrada (who left to become a computer programmer). This new incarnation also included guitarist Paul Barrere and percussionist Sam Clayton. The group went on to record Dixie Chicken, one of the group's most popular albums, as well as Feats Don't Fail Me Now, also for Warner Brothers Records. In 1978, Little Feat recorded a live album entitled Waiting for Columbus, which is considered by many rock music critics to be one of the best live albums of the decade.

The group disbanded in 1979 after George's death from an apparent heart attack, but reformed yet again in 1988 when Barrere, Clayton, Gradney, Hayward and Payne added guitarists Craig Fuller and Fred Tackett, the former also providing vocals.

In 1995 Fuller's vocals were replaced by those of female singer Shaun Murphy. Miss Murphy began her career working in Detroit, Michigan, most notably in theatre, and received a record contract with Rare Earth Records, a divison of Motown Records, as a member of a duet with notible recording artist Meat Loaf. The duet team later disbanded, and Miss Murphy went on to sing and record with renouned artists such as Eric Clapton and Bob Seger, prior to joining Little Feat as a replacement for Craig Fuller. The replacement was not an easy task for a female in an all-male band, but Murphy adjusted, and soon became one of the band's biggest attractions in their evolution.

In 2002, Little Feat then launched their own record label, Hot Tomato Records.

Some of the prominant musicians and bands to play, record, and cover the music of Little Feat include The Byrds, Garth Brooks, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, Nicolette Larson, Randy Newman, Robert Palmer, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, John Sebastian, Van Halen, Joe Walsh, and Bob Weir.

Little Feat continues to play and tour all over the world in "the new millennium", and are regarded by many rock music critics as a "band's band", and as being one of the greatest rock bands in American rock music history.

Selected discography