John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce (born 14 May 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and singer. He is best-known as an electric bass guitarist, harmonica player and pianist, and was most famous as a vocalist and the bass guitarist for the 1960s rock band Cream. He lives in Suffolk. England.[1] Hailed as one of the greatest and most skilled bassists of all time, his improvisational skill and utterly unique, free-spirited approach to composition and performance would forever change electric music. His pioneering, full-toned, free-wheeling playing on the electric bass revolutionised the way the instrument is used and influenced the playing of countless bassists to today, including Sting and Jaco Pastorius.
Jack Bruce was born on May 14, 1943 in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, to musical parents who moved around a lot, resulting in the young Bruce attending 14 different schools, ending up at Bellahouston Academy. Bruce took up jazz bass in his teens, and won a scholarship studying cello and composition at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, while playing in a dance band to support himself. The Academy disapproved of its students.