Marty Casey

lead vocals

b. 1973

Martin Xavier "Marty" Casey (born September 26, 1973) is an American rock musician who is the lead singer, primary songwriter and second guitarist of Lovehammers. After years of building a strong local following in Chicago and the Midwest, Casey achieved international fame on the first season of the reality show Rock Star: INXS. Casey made it to the final two of the competition, finishing as the runner-up to winner J.D. Fortune. Although he was not chosen as the new singer for INXS, he was invited to tour as opening act. In 2006, Marty Casey and the Lovehammers opened on the first leg of the INXS Switched On Tour.

Early life

The youngest of six children, Marty Casey was born in the Chicago suburb of Hickory Hills, Illinois. As a child and youth, he was an avid sportsman, competing in both baseball and wrestling. When he was eight years old he met future Swinging Lovehammers bandmates Bobby and Dino Kourelis while playing together on a local T-Ball team. Casey and the Kourelis brothers formed Lovehammers (initially named The Swinging Lovehammers) in 1988. During this time Casey attended Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois. After receiving a degree in Finance at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, he worked part-time as a real estate appraiser while continuing to record and tour with his band. He was a member of Star Course, a student run organization at the University of Illinois. He was also a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. While touring with artists including Nickelback, Jerry Cantrell, Interpol, New Found Glory, and Cake, Casey and the Lovehammers began to build a small but loyal following. His musical influences include: Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, Cyndi Lauper, Rob Bass, Joe Cocker, and Accept. A number of the band's songs have been included in television shows and movies. The group's DVD, "Live/Raw" charted well on the Billboard musical DVD charts in 2004. …