Stephan Ellis (69) – Survivor – was born on June 10, 1951 in Los Angeles County, California.
Survivor formed in 1978, but Ellis didn’t join the band until the early Eighties. The bassist arrived in time to help the group record their 1981 album, Premonition, which featured their first Top 40 hit, “Poor Man’s Son.” One year later, Sylvester Stallone approached Survivor to record a song for Rocky III, resulting in the band’s signature smash, “Eye of the Tiger.”
“Eye of the Tiger” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 1982, spending six weeks at the position and 25 weeks on the charts, while the band’s 1982 LP of the same name peaked at Number Two on the albums chart. The track won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group and was even nominated for Best Original Song at the 1982 Oscars.
Ellis continued to record and perform with Survivor throughout their prolific Eighties heyday. Between 1983 and 1987 Survivor released three more albums and notched a string of Top 10 hits including “High On You,” “The Search Is Over,” “Is This Love” and “Burning Heart.” The latter – off the Rocky IV soundtrack – became the band’s second biggest hit, peaking at Number Two.
While Ellis performed on ‘Eye of The Tiger’, he also contributed on hits such as ‘Burning Heart’ (from the Rocky IV soundtrack), ‘The Search Is Over’, ‘High on You’, and more. He was a member of the band from 1981 until 1987, when Ellis was forced to leave the group for medical reasons, during which period, the band released three albums, earning chart-topping hits “High On You,” “The Search Is Over,” “Is This Love,” and “Burning Heart.”
Guitarist Sullivan and singer Dave Bickler reminiscing on how Ellis joined the band said the following:
When Frankie and I traveled to the west coast soon after our first album in late 1980 to audition a new rhythm section, our pal, the late great Fergie Fredericksen suggested we cool our heels at Flipper’s Roller Disco on La Cienega just off of Sunset Strip. As we had a beer and watched the gals in satin short shorts skate around we noticed a band playing in the center of the rink. It was a band called Baxter playing good original music.
Frankie leaned over to me and said “That’s the kind of bass player we need”. I said “How ’bout that bass player?” Stephan was the genuine rock & Roll article: he had the look, the attitude and his aggressive style on his Fender Precision bass that helped define what would become the signature sound of Survivor.
We waited till Baxter took a break and I dodged the skaters to reach the band. I introduced myself to the blond bass player who was taking off his bass. I told him that me and Frankie were holding auditions for Survivor at SIR tomorrow morning, would he like to come? He had never heard of us, but when I told him we were signed to Scotti Brothers/Atlantic he readily agreed. He mentioned that he had just auditioned for the Babys but “there was not enough pixie dust on it” and he didn’t get the gig.
Next morning he showed up promptly at 9:30 along with the drummer Frankie had set up to audition – Marc Droubay. What a fortunate coincidence because from the downbeat of a new song we were working on called “Hearts of Stone” we knew we had found in this rhythm section the sound we were looking for: solid, pounding and totally locked as a unit. We soon started working up songs that became the pivotal album in Survivor’s history, the one that famously caught the attention of one Sylvester Stallone. It was called ‘Premonition’. It was indeed.
Stephan was a true rocker. Nothing mattered to him as much as his bass guitar and a cold Heineken in his hand. His unflappable countenance was a lesson to us all. He weathered every storm with us through the next 5 Survivor albums.
After leaving Survivor, Ellis and the band’s ex drummer, Marc Droubay, formed a group with guitarist Rod McClure called Club M.E.D. that released an album, Sampler, in 1990. In 1996, Ellis and Droubay rejoined the group, though the bassist left again in 1999. Over the next few decades, Ellis would periodically play a few shows with Survivor, but otherwise remained busy with other projects. Per AllMusic, he played bass on David Glen Eisley’s 2000 album, Stranger for the Past, while he also produced British singer Samantha Fox’s 2005 LP Angel With an Attitude.
He died on February 28, 2019 in Venice, California, He will be remembered for his musicianship, his dedication to the art of Rock & Roll, his mischievous smile and the friend he was to so many. Stephan Ellis – you are a classic. Rock in Peace.
“This was Stephan Ellis to me –Underrated yet never dated. Well dressed and on a consistent basis. Gargoyles and all and he was cool enough to pull off. Stephan was well-coifed, always ready and Stephan Ellis lived his own life in his own way and on his own terms. “We Love you Steph!”
