Quick Facts
Biography
Melissa Reese is an American musician and model best known for her collaborations with Bryan "Brain" Mantia and her current position in hard rock band, Guns N' Roses.
Career
Reese began singing and playing piano at age 4. When she was 17, she learned Pro Tools, Reason, and Logic Pro and began performing and producing her own music.
Her first EP, "LISSA", was released in 2007, and featured collaboration with Bryan Mantia and Pete Scaturro. Three of the songs of the EP were featured in various TV shows, including Gossip Girl and Keeping up with the Kardashians.
Reese has worked with funk artist Bootsy Collins, rapper Chuck D, singer Vanessa Carlton, soul artist Goapele and singer Taylor Swift. In addition to composing, Reese has produced work for artists such as Drumma Boy.
In October 2016, Reese sang the "Star Spangled Banner" before a Seattle Seahawks game.
Brain and Melissa
Reese has worked on several projects with Mantia, a composing team dubbed "Brain and Melissa". In 2010, along with Buckethead, they released the multi-CD sets Kind Regards and Best Regards. Brain and Melissa composed part of the soundtrack to the video game Infamous 2, for which they were nominated for "Outstanding Achievement in Original Composition" by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awards. Other video games the duo worked on include, PlayStation Home, ModNation Racers, Twisted Metal, Fantasia: Music Evolved and Infamous: Second Son. They also scored the films Detention and Power/Rangers. They have worked with music video director Joseph Kahn on several television commercials, including NASCAR, SEAT, and Qoros. In addition, they scored a commercial for Johnnie Walker Blue which featured a computer-generated Bruce Lee. They also worked on several remixes of songs from Chinese Democracy for a planned remix album.
Guns N' Roses
Reese joined Guns N' Roses in 2016 as the band's second keyboardist, replacing Chris Pitman, while also playing synthesizer, sub-bass, background vocals, and programming for all electronic sounds during live performances. She first performed with the band on the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.