James Hardwick's Extreme Page

In 1985 Nuno Bettoncourt was introduced to Gary Cherone, frontman of a band called 'The Dream' which featured Paul Geary on drums. Gary immediately asked Nuno to join his band before even hearing him play! 'The Dream' became 'Ex-Dream', before 'Ex-Dream' finally became 'Extreme'... and the rest is history.

   Bunrattys (Allston, Massachusetts) was the venue for Nuno's debut gig with Extreme, which took
place on September 14th 1985. The month following Nuno's debut gig with Extreme, various
Boston bands took part in the Heavy Metal Halloween Bash at Celebrations in Kenmore Square.
Extreme posed as an Aerosmith Tribute Band which featured Pat Badger on bass. This was the
first time that Nuno, Gary, Paul and were to play together even though they were not yet a band.

   In October of that year Pat Badger became Extreme's bass player (their first show together took
place again at Bunrattys). Extreme spent the next few months playing around the New England
area, in places such as The Channel, Club 111, and The Living Room, in Providence, RI. At the
1987 Boston Music Awards, Extreme took home the award for 'Outstanding Hard Rock Act', they
also won an MTV video contest, which was seen by an A&M scout. Later in the year they showcased for some major labels at the Paradise Club (Commonwealth Ave, Boston).

                                                 Three months later, in November 1987, Extreme signed up with A&M. After spending                                                       January and February of '88 recording their first album, Extreme received a big break in the                                                    form of their first arena show. Paul had convinced Tim Collins (Aerosmith's management) to                                                    let Extreme open for them and he arranged for them to play at the Portland Civic Center in                                                      Maine in front of a crowd of 14,000.

                                                 For the second year in a row, the BMAs named Extreme as the 'Outstanding Hard Rock                                                  Act', in 1989 they went on to also collect the 'Rising Star' award. Finally, March '89 saw the                                                     release of Extreme's self-titled debut album. It reached No:80 on the US album chart, reviews were good, but received little of the attention it deserved. 'Kid Ego', 'Little Girls' and 'Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today)' were all released as singles, and guitar magazines began to sit up and take notice of Nuno, describing him as "the next Eddie Van Halen".

   Extreme embarked on their first major tour, which took them to North America and Japan. In the same year, 'Play With Me' was featured in 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and was also included on the movie soundtrack. In the same year Nuno also worked with Janet Jackson, playing rhythm guitar on 'Black Cat'.

   In 1990, 'Pornograffitti' ('Extreme ll: A Funked Up Fairytale') was recorded at studios in Los
Angeles and Hanson, Massachusetts. The album received its launch in September at Hollywood's
Spice NYC Club, amongst the celebrities who attended were Dweezil Zappa and Sebastian Bach
(Skid Row). 'Decadence Dance' and 'Get The Funk Out' were both released as singles.

   In December of 1990 Washburn unveiled the Nuno Bettencourt Signature Series. Up until then,
Nuno had been pictured in Washburn adverts holding a woodstone finish KC40, and an EA4012.
The N4 proved to be a great seller and continues to be very popular now. Extreme triumphed in
the 1991 BMAs, claiming the awards for: 'Outstanding Rock LP on a Major Label; and 'Rising
Star'; Nuno also won the 'Best Guitarist' crown. He and Gary played 'More Than Words' at the ceremony, whilst Paul and Pat presented an award. Just two days later, Nuno appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone's 'New Faces' issue. 'The Extreme Empire' - The Official Extreme Fan Club was set up in the states to accommodate the band's rapidly increasing fan-base. Unfortunately, the club folded in 1993. The "YouraPeon' tour (Extreme's first ever tour of Europe) began in mid-1991, which included an appearance at the Dynamo Festival in Holland. The band took advantage of any free time during the tour to continue writing for their third album, believing Pornograffitti to have run its course. It was at this time that A&M released 'More Than Words' as a single. The incredible reaction only took a couple of days - Extreme were still in Europe when it went gold! The single reached #1 in places such as the US, Israel and Holland, #2 in the UK charts (beaten only by Bryan Adams with 'Everything I Do (I Do It For You)). Following this success, 'Get The Funk Out' was re-released by A&M; it reached #19 in the UK charts.

                                                             After returning to the States, the band played a show in Miami, part of which was                                                                 filmed by a video crew who also interviewed 'Nuno for the Hot Guitarist Video                                                                          Magazine' (December '92), which features him on the cover. Half way through the                                                                    show, after being plagued by technical difficulties, Nuno threw his guitar off-stage and                                                             continued the song ('More Than Words') acapella. An arena tour with David Lee Roth                                                             and Cinderella ran from July until August. Their last show was made more memorable                                                             as Extreme added backing vocals on Cinderella's 'Shake Me' - "wearing towels and                                                                 smiles"! They returned on stage during Roth's 'California Girls' wearing dresses and                                                                high heels! The band continued touring, opening for ZZ Top on their 'Recycler Tour'                                                               which began in August. The following month, Nuno's hand was insured for $5 million with Lloyd's of London.

   Around this time, Nuno teamed up with Steve Perry (also a native of the Azores) to write some songs and record together. Unfortunately none of them were released. On October 19th Nuno was invited to join other guitar legends (Brian May, Joe Walsh, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani...) onstage at the 'Guitar Legends' show in Seville, Spain. Gary joined him onstage to perform 'More Than Words' and Queen's 'Now I'm Here'. Extreme's popularity continued to grow, particularly in Japan, where they embarked on a successful arena tour in December. On the 26th January 1992, Extreme played to a crowd of 60,000 at the Hollywood Rock Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazilian press had falsely accused Extreme of using tapes on stage and Nuno made his feelings towards them clear during the show, which was also televised.

   Awards continued to roll in, with Nuno winning every category he was nominated for in the Guitar For The Practicing Musician readers' poll (including 'Songwriter of the year' and 'Solo of the Year' (for 'Flight Of The Wounded Bumblebee'). Having won the 'Best Rock Outfit' category at the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party '91 (which they also attended and performed 'Hole Hearted' and 'More Than Words'), Extreme went on to take part in the 11th annual BRIT Awards at London's Hammersmith Odeon on February 12th. They were nominated for two awards: 'Best International Newcomer' and 'Best International Group'.

   Soon after, they flew to Florida where recording began for their third album, 'lll Sides To Every Story' at New River Studios, Ft. Lauderdale. The main source of entertainment in the studio was a pinball machine. A scoreboard was kept next to it, and on the floor beside the machine they drew a 'Heckle Line' which people were forbidden to cross when someone else was playing! Shouting and heckling in an attempt to distract the player were allowed, but only from behind the line! Recording continued until mid-June.

   Nuno and Gary appeared in the April issue of 'Vogue Magazine' in a fashion feature called 'Gypsy Soul'. They are pictured in a Romany setting with a variety of female models draped all over them. The band won five awards (they were nominated for eight) at the BMAs that year, including: 'Act of the Year', 'Outstanding Rock Single on a Major Label' (Hole Hearted), 'Outstanding Song/Songwriter' (Cherone/Bettencourt for 'More Than Words' and 'Outstanding Instrumentalist' (Nuno). Paul and Pat accepted the awards on behalf of the whole band, as Gary and Nuno were still recording in Florida.

   Following Freddie Mercury's death on November 24th, 1991, the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert For Aids Awareness was held at 'Freddie's Home', otherwise known as Wembley Stadium, on April 20th '92. Extreme were the second band to perform (following Metallica); Brian May introduced them as: "....real friends, and, possibly more than any other group on this planet, the people who understand exactly what Queen have been about all these years, and what Freddie was about all these years...". The band played a twenty minute Queen medley, which included parts of 'I Want To Break Free', 'Radio Gaga' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody', amongst others; this was followed by 'Love Of My Life' and 'More Than Words'. Gary also returned to the stage later in the evening to perform 'Hammer To Fall' with the remaining members of Queen and Tony Iommi. Extreme's performance at the concert was a moving tribute to a man and a band whom they frequently acknowledged as being one of their biggest influences. The reaction they received from the 70,000 capacity crowd said it all. Seven years on, their performance at the Freddie Tribute is still talked of as being the most outstanding of the day and has left a lasting impression on those who saw it.

   Whilst in London, they spent time at Abbey Road Studios, recording with a 70-piece orchestra for the incredible 'Third Side' of their next album. All the orchestration was done by Nuno, with Mike Moran. A few days after, 'Song For Love' was released as a single in the UK. A cover of 'Love Of My Life' that they recorded with Brian May appeared on the B-side, with all proceeds of the single going to the Terrence Higgins Trust. A 'Song For Love' video exists, featuring live clips of the band plus backstage footage, however it is not an official video and the band had little input into the making of it.

   Later in the year, Nuno recorded guitar on 'Maubere' by Rui Veloso. The song was written for the people of East Timor, a former Portuguese colony where thousands of residents were being killed. Extreme were receiving attention from all quarters. Weird Al Yankovic revealed a funny parody video of 'More Than Words'; shock-jock Howard Stern gave Pornograffitti a big thumbs up on his show; 'It's (A Monster)' appeared in the Stephen King movie 'Sleepwalkers' and Nuno recorded 'Too Much of a Good Thing (Where's the Hook?)' for Guitar's Practicing Musicians Vol.2 Compilation CD. 1991 also saw the release of Dweezil Zappa's 'Confessions' album (that was actually recorded in April/May 1990). Nuno played guitar, sang backing vocals (and lead on 'The Kiss') and co-produced and co-mixed the album. From June through September, Extreme opened for Bryan Adams on the 'Waking Up The Neighbours' tour which saw them playing a host of stadium and outdoor festivals in Europe and Canada. Many of the reviews which followed hailed their performance over Bryan's. Vanessa Paradis "requested" Nuno for a photoshoot for 'In Fashion' magazine, Holiday/Winter '92 issue. They appear on the cover with a short interview inside. Nuno formed Colorblind Records (as a subsidiary of A&M) with Arma Andon (Extreme's manager at the time). Artists signed to Colorblind included 'Flesh' and a three piece hip-hop band called 'Top Choice Clique' ('TCC'). Colorblind folded in 1994.

   September '92 saw the release of Extreme's third album, 'lll Sides To Every Story', which debuted at #2 in the UK charts. Shortly after its release, Extreme were featured in an MTV Europe Headbangers Ball special, filmed at their Boston rehearsal studios as they prepared for their upcoming tour. A small 'warm-up' show took place at Avalon, Boston, before the band headed to Europe to kick off the 'Stop The World' tour. After being disappointed that they didn't get to play in Portugal on their previous tour, Extreme's manager promised Nuno that that is where they would begin their tour next time. Their first show was in Lisbon, Portugal on November 6th.

   In October '92 'A Very Special Christmas ll' was released on A&M, it included the Extreme song 'Christmas Time Again', which also appears on the b-side of the 'Stop The World' single.. Proceeds from the album were given to the Special Olympics.

   At the end of the year, recording began for Extreme's fourth album, 'Waiting For The Punchline'. Shortly after, Extreme changed their management to SRO, run by Ray Danniels and Steven Hoffman. Paul Geary also left the band to concentrate more on the business side of the music industry. Mike Mangini (who had been a friend of the band since the early days) was called in to replace him - no auditions were needed.

   Once again, their new bandmate made his debut at Bunrattys. 'There Is No God' was pressed for single release but was suddenly pulled. It appeared in import stores all over anyway. Extreme toured Europe with Aerosmith, playing festivals such as 'Rock AM Ring' in Germany, and Donington in the UK on June 4th, which was also broadcast live on Radio One all over the UK.

   Shortly after, Nuno appeared on the cover of the July '94 issue of The Guitar Magazine, along with Max, his miniature dachshund. When they returned to the States, the band went back into the studio to finish recording 'Punchline'; this included three new tracks ('Hip Today, 'Leave Me Alone' and 'No Respect') with Mike on drums. On August 27th '94, Nuno and Suze married on the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores . Their friends and family were flown in from America and Australia for the ceremony, which was held in Portuguese, but the vows in English. Before the wedding, Extreme and Baby Animals (who joined them for a few songs) played a concert on a game field in Vial Franca. The following month (on September 10th) Nuno and the Colorblind team played the Hudson Street Hockey benefit game for 'The Special Needs Of Children of the Assabet Valley Collaborative Program'. The team also included Nuno's brothers, Gary, Pat Badger and friends.

   'Waiting For The Punchline' was released in January 1995. It is a raw, all out rock album capturing a more live feel, and received very good reviews. Extreme went straight into a North American tour. To coincide, A&M released 'Hip Today' as the first single On February 11th, Tower Records in Boston revealed their Extreme Star on their 'Walk of Fame' outside their store. Dedicated fans from across the globe have often been spotted descending on The Star at midnight (closing time for Tower) with Brasso and sponges in hand to make sure Extreme's Star shines brighter than any other.... 'Unconditionally' was due to be released as the second single, but was canceled at the last minute. 'Cynical' was released in certain parts of the world, along with a video shot predominantly in Portugal, which Nuno produced/directed.

   In April, Nuno's N8 was stolen in the middle of a set change at a show in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was returned to him in 1998 when, as part of a program to right previous wrongs, an alcoholic attending AA meetings returned the guitar to Washburn. The tour then took them to Europe and then to Japan in July, which was where the tour ended. While in the UK, Extreme did a variety of interviews, including Noisy Mothers, VH-1 and Virgin Radio. Although the band had been playing smaller venues (clubs/theatres), most of the UK dates were sold out, and in Japan especially, the band were popular as always. Nuno flew from Japan to Australia to be with Suze, who was at the time pregnant with their first child. Bebe Orleans Bettencourt was born on February 2nd 1996.

   Nuno later wrote 'Swollen Princess' about Bebe, and dedicated 'Schizophonic' to her and to "never sleeping again"! Soon after Bebe was born, Gary joined Nuno in Auz to work on songs for the next Extreme album. However, Nuno had become more interested in the solo material he'd been working on over the past few years, and shortly after, he informed the band that it was time for him to move on. The band didn't say anything to the public at first, in the hope that Nuno would change his mind, but on October 3rd '96, an official press release informed the world that Extreme was no more.