Sebastian Bach is one of the rare rock singers who can still hit the skyscraping high notes of his youth nearly 40 years into his career. It turns out he’s got a specific warm-up routine to keep his voice in tip-top shape — and other famous vocalists, including Axl Rose, have since adopted the same regimen.
Bach broke down his unconventional warm-up methods in a recent interview with Elizabeth Zharoff, professional opera singer and host of the Charismatic Voice, which you can watch below.
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Watch Sebastian Bach’s Interview on the Charismatic Voice
How Sebastian Bach Preserves His 19-Year-Old Voice
“When I joined Skid Row in 1987, Jon Bon Jovi was helping out the band,” Bach recalled. “And he sent me to his personal vocal coach, a man by the name of Don Lawrence.”
Lawrence has worked with singers such as Rose, Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, Bono and others. His father, Martin, was credited with popularizing the classical Bel Canto singing technique among modern pop and rock singers.
“He would make us record our lessons on cassette,” Bach continued. “And so when digitizing came out in the mid-‘90s, the very first thing I did was I digitized all of my vocal lessons, me singing with Don when I was 19, 20. So then I made a compilation of the best vocal lessons that really get my voice going, the right exercises, and I made a half-hour tape back in ’94 that I still sing to every day. … And in effect, I’m keeping my voice where it was when I was 19. I’m doing the same exact lesson.”
Axl Rose, John Bush and Other Singers Use Sebastian Bach’s Vocal Warm-Up
The results speak for themselves, to the point that some of Bach’s peers have asked for his routine.
“People have heard me at shows do my warm-up and have asked for a copy of it. Number one: Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses,” Bach said. “He warms up to me. He has for like 15 years now. He goes, ‘Baz, can I please have a copy of that?’ I go, ‘Yes.’ And his people tell me he does it sometimes two or three times a day and they can hear ‘cause I’m talking between the scales. I’m going, ‘Oh, that’s wild.’ And they can hear me talking and stuff.”
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Rose apparently isn’t the only one who uses Bach’s warm-up tape. “Lita Ford warms up to it,” he said. “Phil Lewis from L.A. Guns. John Bush of Armored Saint, I sent him one. Every one of them [uses it] and it’s me at the age of 19 or 20 doing all the Bel Canto scales. And it just works.”
Bach is currently putting his vocal warm-up to good use as he just launched a North American tour that runs through early April. He released his most recent album, Child Within the Man, in May 2024.
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