{"id":23851,"date":"2025-08-08T22:35:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T22:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/?p=23851"},"modified":"2025-08-08T22:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T22:35:18","slug":"the-credit-was-obscured-and-as-the-years-have-passed-they-have-brought-it-out-into-the-open-tim-pierce-has-recorded-with-michael-jackson-whitney-houston-and-more-but-th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/2025\/08\/08\/the-credit-was-obscured-and-as-the-years-have-passed-they-have-brought-it-out-into-the-open-tim-pierce-has-recorded-with-michael-jackson-whitney-houston-and-more-but-th\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe credit was obscured. And as the years have passed, they have brought it out into the open\u201d: Tim Pierce has recorded with Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and more \u2013 but this song is his crowning achievement"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Session guitar legend <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/search?searchTerm=Tim+Pierce\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/search?searchTerm=Tim+Pierce\">Tim Pierce<\/a> has played on countless records. From <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/tim-pierce-on-how-his-solo-ended-up-on-a-jon-bon-jovi-classic\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/tim-pierce-on-how-his-solo-ended-up-on-a-jon-bon-jovi-classic\">helping launch Bon Jovi\u2019s career with his off-the-cuff <em>Runaway<\/em> solo<\/a> and recording with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, to working with Tina Turner, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/tag\/roger-waters\" data-auto-tag-linker=\"true\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/tag\/roger-waters\">Roger Waters<\/a>, Meat Loaf and more, his guitar talents have afforded him a kaleidoscopic career.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019d think that picking a standout achievement would be difficult, but when asked about his contribution to one late 1990s record, he tells <em>Guitar World, <\/em>right off the bat, that it has a strong claim to be his magnum opus.<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-base\" \/>\n<p>New York alt-rock group Goo Goo Dolls were tapped to write the soundtrack for the 1998 film <em>City of Angels<\/em>. They, in turn, sought out Pierce to help track the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/best-electric-guitars\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/best-electric-guitars\">electric guitar<\/a> and mandolin parts of <em>Iris. <\/em>The song was a huge success, and today it sits just outside the top 10 best-selling singles of all time.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"clear-both pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\"><span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\">You may like<\/span><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s probably the best record I ever did,\u201d Pierce believes. It\u2019s certainly the most popular single he\u2019s ever played on, but he plays down his role in its creation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a situation where they gave me credit,\u201d he says. \u201cBut the credit was somewhat obscured. And as the years have passed, they have actually brought it out into the open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn [Rzeznik, guitar\/vocals] talks about me every time he does an interview about that song. He&#8217;s very open and nice about it. But they didn&#8217;t have a lead guitar player, so nobody was threatened when we were doing<em> Iris<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody was being put on the bench, so I was able to come in, play a big <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/the-50-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/features\/the-50-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time\">guitar solo<\/a>, and overdub some mandolin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> {        window.reliablePageLoad.then(() =&gt; {            var componentContainer = document.querySelector(&#8220;#slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-9QqpXTSQyqaoq6mxtaAq4k&#8221;);            if (componentContainer) {                var data = {&#8220;layout&#8221;:&#8221;inbodyContent&#8221;,&#8221;header&#8221;:&#8221;Get The Pick Newsletter&#8221;,&#8221;tagline&#8221;:&#8221;All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!&#8221;,&#8221;formFooterText&#8221;:&#8221;By submitting your information you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/terms-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms &amp; Conditions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and are aged 16 or over.&#8221;,&#8221;successMessage&#8221;:{&#8220;body&#8221;:&#8221;Thank you for signing up. 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YouTube<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/NdYWuo9OFAw\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"Goo Goo Dolls \u2013 Iris [Official Music Video] [4K Remaster] - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"watch-on-youtube-NdYWuo9OFAw\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/NdYWuo9OFAw\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/NdYWuo9OFAw\" data-hl-processed=\"none\">Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThat record had the most airplay, I think, of any song for, like, 18 months,\u201d Pierce adds with pride. \u201cIt still holds up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pierce\u2019s <em>Guitar World<\/em> chat also found him recalling his experiences <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/session-legend-tim-pierce-on-working-with-michael-jackson\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/session-legend-tim-pierce-on-working-with-michael-jackson\">working with Michael Jackson, who he says is a surprising gear nerd<\/a>, and why, despite the success of Runaway, <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/why-tim-pierce-never-joined-bon-jovi\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/why-tim-pierce-never-joined-bon-jovi\">he was never asked to join Bon Jovi full-time<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To read the interview in full, head to <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/awclick.php?awinmid=2961&amp;awinaffid=103504&amp;clickref=guitarworld-gb-7187426144801504545&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.magazinesdirect.com%2Fuk%2Fguitar-world-subscription%2Fdp%2Fa3cb6acc%3Futm_medium%3DAffiliate%26utm_source%3DAwin%26utm_campaign%3DTechRadar%26utm_content%3D103504%26sv1%3Daffiliate%26sv_campaign_id%3D103504%26awc%3D2961_1747126954_dd13cbf013138795835dfb0aa20d1e4c\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/shop.magazinesdirect.com\/uk\/guitar-world-subscription\/dp\/a3cb6acc?utm_medium=Affiliate&amp;utm_source=Awin&amp;utm_campaign=TechRadar&amp;utm_content=103504&amp;sv1=affiliate&amp;sv_campaign_id=103504&amp;awc=2961_1747126954_dd13cbf013138795835dfb0aa20d1e4c\" rel=\"sponsored noopener\" data-hl-processed=\"hawklinks\" data-placeholder-url=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/awclick.php?awinmid=2961&amp;awinaffid=103504&amp;clickref=hawk-custom-tracking&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.magazinesdirect.com%2Fuk%2Fguitar-world-subscription%2Fdp%2Fa3cb6acc%3Futm_medium%3DAffiliate%26utm_source%3DAwin%26utm_campaign%3DTechRadar%26utm_content%3D103504%26sv1%3Daffiliate%26sv_campaign_id%3D103504%26awc%3D2961_1747126954_dd13cbf013138795835dfb0aa20d1e4c\" data-google-interstitial=\"false\" data-merchant-name=\"Magazines Direct\" data-merchant-id=\"6539\" data-merchant-network=\"AW\" data-merchant-url=\"magazinesdirect.com\">Magazines Direct<\/a> to pick up a copy of <em>Guitar World<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, he took to YouTube to reflect on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/tim-pierce-kicked-out-of-eagles-show\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.guitarworld.com\/artists\/guitarists\/tim-pierce-kicked-out-of-eagles-show\">the time he played the biggest gig in history, and was then kicked out of it halfway through<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Session guitar legend Tim Pierce has played on countless records. From helping launch Bon Jovi\u2019s career with his off-the-cuff Runaway solo and recording with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, to working with Tina Turner, Roger Waters, Meat Loaf and more, his guitar talents have afforded him a kaleidoscopic career. You\u2019d think that picking a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":23852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23853,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23851\/revisions\/23853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}