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{{Hatnote|Corresponding Wikipedia article: [[Wikipedia:Jerry Harrison|Jerry Harrison]]}}

{{Short description|Talking Heads guitarist and keyboardist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| background        = person
| name              = Jerry Harrison
| image             = Jerry Harrison Talking Heads Atmos Teaser 2023 (cropped).jpg
| alt               = close-up of Jerry Harrison wearing a dark sleeveless top, looking left of camera with a set facial expression
| caption           = Harrison in 2023
| birth_name        = Jeremiah Griffin Harrison
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1949|2|21}}
| birth_place       = [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin, US
| instrument        = {{hlist|Vocals|keyboards|guitar|bass}}
| genre             = {{hlist|New wave|proto-punk|post-punk|art rock|pop|rock}}
| occupation        = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter|record producer}}
| years_active      = 1971–present
| label             = [[EMI]], [[Sire Records|Sire]]/[[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]]
| current_member_of = 
| past_member_of    = [[The Modern Lovers]], [[Talking Heads]]
}}

'''Jerry Harrison''' (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band [[the Modern Lovers]], before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for [[Talking Heads]] in 1977. In 2002, Harrison was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] as a member of Talking Heads.

After Talking Heads disbanded in 1991, Harrison focused more on producing other bands, a role he started while still with Talking Heads, first producing the album [[Milwaukee (album)|''Milwaukee'']] with [[Elliott Murphy]], and then later working with [[Violent Femmes]] on their third album, ''[[The Blind Leading the Naked]]'', in 1986.

During the 1990s, he produced a number of hit albums for bands such as [[Live]], [[The Verve Pipe]], [[Big Head Todd and the Monsters]], and [[Kenny Wayne Shepherd]] among others. He has also released three albums of solo music (all while Talking Heads were still active) and has participated in a number of partial reunions of Talking Heads. In 1999, he helped found the online music community [[GarageBand.com]].


== Early life and education ==
Harrison graduated from Harvard in 1972 with a degree in Visual and Environmental Sciences.<ref name=":0">Seaman, Barrett. “Talking Heads Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew Bring “Remain in Light” Retrospective to Music Hall.” ''The Hudson Indy Westchester’s Rivertowns News -'', 17 July 2024, thehudsonindependent.com/talkingheadsjerryharrisonandadrianbelewbringremaininlightretrospectivetomusichall/. Accessed 23 July 2024.</ref>

== Career ==

=== Modern Lovers Era ===
In 1971, Harrison was living an apartment with [[Ernie Brooks]] while both were attending [[Harvard]]. The two were both performing as part of an iteration of [[The Modern Lovers]] after members [[Rolfe Anderson]] and [[John Felice]] had left the project.<ref>Moss, Charles. “50 Years Ago, New York City’s Punk Scene Was Born.” ''SPIN'', 8 July 2024, www.spin.com/2024/07/50-years-ago-new-york-citys-punk-scene-was-born/. Accessed 11 July 2024.</ref>

=== Beginnings with Talking Heads 1975-1977 ===
Harrison was approached to audition for Talking Heads as a keyboardist, although he came to his first audition with a guitar instead. While the band was looking at a few different people, they chose Harrison because, as Harrison says, "they’d all tried to show off. I think the other members of the band were going, ‘Yeah, that guy was really great but I don’t get the feeling he was appreciating what we did."<ref name=":0" />

=== Post Talking Heads 1989-Present ===
Harrison would begin again work with guitarist Adrian Belew in 2022 on the [[Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew: Remain in Light]] tour.

== Discography ==
{{Main|Jerry Harrison discography}}
* [[The Red and the Black]] (1981)
* [[Casual Gods]] (1988)
* [[Walk on Water (album)|Walk on Water]] (1990)

Harrison has played on nearly all releases by [[Talking Heads]], with the exception of early recordings in 1975 and 1976.
{{See|Talking Heads discography}}
He also notably played on ''[[The Modern Lovers (album)|The Modern Lovers]]'' before joining Talking Heads.

[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Musicians]]
[[Category:Guitarists]]
[[Category:Keyboardists]]