Hyman started taking piano lessons at the age of four and grew up playing in local bands in Meriden, Connecticut, including The Trolls and the Pro-Teens. He attended Francis T Maloney High School, where he was the editor of the yearbook, was voted as Most Likely to Succeed, and was the class valedictorian. While attending the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, Hyman met future bandmate and composing partner Eric Bazilian and producer Rick Chertoff. In the late 1960s, Hyman and Chertoff, along with local singer David Kagan formed a band called Wax, who recorded an album in the early 1970s. Hyman and Kagan later formed a new band with Bazilian called Baby Grand in the late 1970s, with Chertoff acting as producer. Baby Grand released two albums on Arista Records, one eponymous and the other called Ancient Medicine. While the band had some critical success, it never achieved any commercial success and eventually disbanded.
Tenure with The Hooters
After Baby Grand disbanded, Hyman and Bazilian decided to try something new by combining reggae, ska, folk and rock'n'roll to create The Hooters in 1980. Nervous Night, The Hooters' 1985 debut on Columbia Records, sold in excess of 2 million copies and included the BillboardTop 40 hits "Day by Day", "And We Danced" and "Where Do the Children Go". After releasing six albums, The Hooters obtained a large global following throughout the 1980s and 1990s. As a result, they were asked to open three major musical events of the late 20th century: Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, Amnesty InternationalA Conspiracy of Hope Concert at Giants Stadium in 1986, and Roger Waters' The Wall Concert in Berlin in 1990. In 1995, The Hooters went on hiatus, although Hyman and Bazilian would continue to collaborate on musical projects for other artists. Hyman reunited with The Hooters on headlining European summer tours in 2003, 2004 and 2005. 2007 saw the release of Time Stand Still, their first album of new material since 1993. In 2009, they released Both Sides Live, a double CD which featured a concert at Philadelphia's Electric Factory as well as an acoustic performance recorded at Rob Hyman's Elm Street Studios. In 2010, to celebrate 30 years as a band, they released a five song EP entitled Five by Five, produced by Nick Jameson. The EP featured the only official studio recordings by the band of Rob Hyman's "Time After Time" and Bazilian's "One of Us". The Hooters continue to tour in Germany and Scandinavia, as well as perform special concert events in their native Philadelphia.
Other musical projects
In 1983, Hyman worked with singer Cyndi Lauper and together they wrote the Billboardnumber one hit "Time After Time," which earned Hyman a Grammy Award nomination for Song of the Year in 1984. Hyman also provided backing vocals for the song. The song went on to be covered by over 100 artists including Miles Davis, Willie Nelson, Matchbox 20, Everything But The Girl and Cassandra Wilson. Hyman also composed, arranged and played on Patty Smyth's 1987 solo album Never Enough, which was produced by Hyman's college friend and producer for The Hooters, Rick Chertoff. The title track was a cover of an old Baby Grand song. In 1995, Hyman wrote, played and arranged on Joan Osborne's debut album, Relish, which went on to be nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. He later worked with Osborne on the 2008 album Little Wild One. In 1998, Hyman again collaborated with Chertoff to create the concept album Largo, which was based on the largo movement of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, in E Minor From the New World. The project featured Joan Osborne, The Chieftains, David Forman, Willie Nile, Taj Mahal, Carole King and Levon Helm. In 1999, Hyman performed on Ricky Martin's single "Private Emotion", originally a Hooters song, which was featured on the albumRicky Martin. In 2000, Hyman contributed to the Ron Howard movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas, by co-writing, co-producing, arranging and playing on "Christmas of Love" performed by Little Isidore and The Inquisitors. In 2002, Hyman co-produced and played on Dar Williams' album The Beauty of the Rain, and co-wrote the single "Closer To Me." He also wrote and played on her 2005 album My Better Self. Hyman has also been involved in songwriting projects with Bette Midler and a variety of other stage and film projects, as well as development projects with several emerging new artists.
