Profile of Paul Shaffer on Famous Like Me

This article is about Paul Shaffer, the musician. For the German cult leader, see Paul Schäfer.

Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949 in Fort William, Ontario, Canada) is a Jewish-Canadian musician, actor, author, comedian and composer.

Shaffer began his musical career in 1972 as the musical director for a Toronto area production of Godspell. He went on to play piano for a Broadway show called The Magic Show in 1974, then became the musical director for NBC's popular Saturday Night Live television program from 1975 to 1980. SNL gave Shaffer the opportunity to stretch his comedy wings as well, when he eventually started appearing in sketches with the other comedians.

Shaffer occasionally teamed up with the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players off of the show as well, including work on Gilda Radner's highly successful Broadway show, and a time spent as the musical director for John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, whenever they recorded or performed as The Blues Brothers.

Shaffer has appeared in a number of motion pictures over the years, including a role in Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap, Blues Brothers 2000, a scene with Miles Davis in the Bill Murray film Scrooged and as a passenger in John Travolta's taxicab in Look Who's Talking Too. In addition, Shaffer lent his voice to Disney's animated feature and television series, Hercules.

Shaffer has released two solo albums, 1989's Grammy nominated Coast to Coast, and The World's Most Dangerous Party in 1993. Shaffer has also recorded with a wide range of artists, including Grand Funk Railroad, Diana Ross, B.B. King, Cyndi Lauper, Carl Perkins, Yoko Ono, Blues Traveler, Cher, Chicago and Robert Plant. He wrote and produced, with Paul Jabara, the song "It's Raining Men," which was a number one hit for the Weathergirls in the '80s and for Geri Halliwell in 2001.

Shaffer has served as musical director and producer for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony since its inception in 1986. He has also served as musical director for two of David Letterman's variety shows: as leader of "The World's Most Dangerous Band" for Late Night with David Letterman (1982-1993) on NBC, for which he also composed the theme song, and as leader of the CBS Orchestra for The Late Show with David Letterman (1993-present) on CBS.

In 2001, Shaffer hosted "Cover Wars" on VH1 along with a co-host, DJ/model Sky Nellor. The show was a game-show for cover bands and each week Paul would sign off by saying "Just because you're in a cover band, it doesn't mean you're not a star." The show lasted 13 episodes and featured celebrity judges like Kevin Bacon, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, and Ace Frehley.

In 2002, a street which surrounds the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium was renamed "Paul Shaffer Drive"; that year he was also inducted into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame. Shaffer has also received two honorary doctorates. He is currently the national spokesperson for Epilepsy Canada.

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