Tom Petersson

Thomas John Peterson (born May 9, 1950), better known as Tom Petersson, is an American musician who is best known for being the bass guitar player for the rock band Cheap Trick.

Career

Before joining Cheap Trick in November 1973, Petersson played in a number of bands, including the Bol Weevils, the Grim Reapers, Fuse and Sick Man of Europe. He started out playing rhythm guitar, but soon switched to bass. His professional career has been closely entwined with Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen since the Grim Reapers in 1967.

Petersson was part of the Cheap Trick line-up that released their classic albums – the self titled 1977 debut Cheap Trick, In Color, Heaven Tonight, Cheap Trick at Budokan, Dream Police and All Shook Up. With the band, Petersson toured incessantly from their early club days through to arena headlining shows. During this period, Petersson’s 12 string bass guitar was developed in collaboration with Hamer Guitars. Rick Nielsen notes at every show that Tom is “the inventor of the 12-string bass”.