Bruce Hornsby came onto the music scene in 1986 by way of his hit debut album, The Way It Is, with fresh songs, stunning piano chops, and the best backing band since the E Street Band. Not since Elton John and Billy Joel had such a prolific singer-songwriter-pianist burst on to the international music scene with such a brilliant debut album and group.

By the mid-1990s, Hornsby had split up the Range in order to pursue a wider spectrum of music. He has made several solo rock albums, and an album of piano jazz, as well as several live recordings with the Grateful Dead and that band's off-shoot, The Other Ones.