All About Kevin Bacon’s Brother Michael Bacon

The bond between brothers can often be special, as is the case with Kevin Bacon and his older brother Michael.

The two are the only boys of six children born to Ruth and Edmon Bacon in Philadelphia. While the siblings are quite close, the brothers are deeply connected thanks to their band, The Bacon Brothers. They know how lucky they are to get along so well, given the brothers’ strained history of working in bands together.

“It’s more the norm than the exception,” Michael said Amnion 2023 about brothers who don’t get along in bands. “We’ve been doing this for 27 years — playing small clubs, traveling around the country in tour buses, staying in cheap motels and stuff like that. I think we only get stronger when we know each other so well… We just do what we want to do.”

For Kevin, playing with his older brother is what could be called his childhood dream. As he said Baltimore SunMichael was his hero as a child, and he grew up hoping that one day he would be able to catch up with his older brother, who taught him to play the guitar.

“I knew I would never be a great guitar player or singer, my dream was to wake up one day and be able to play like him,” Kevin said of Michael.

Here’s everything you need to know about Kevin Bacon’s brother – Michael – and their sibling relationship.

He is one of six children

Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael Bacon pose for a photo together.

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Michael, born in 1949, and Kevin, born in 1958, are the only sons of Ruth and Edmon Bacon, who also had four other children: daughters Kira, Elinor, Karin and Hilda – “generally called blondes”, as Michael once wrote on your website.

The boys and their sisters grew up in downtown Philadelphia “in a skinny little townhouse,” as Michael recalled. Amnion. Their mom, Ruth, who died in 1991, was an elementary school teacher, while their dad, Edmon, who died in 2005, was an urban planner and former executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission.

“I think the way we were raised in that house with our parents really allowed us to fend for ourselves in our interpersonal relationships,” added Michael. “What’s really cool about it now is that we haven’t been together for many, many, many, many, many years, but we’re all still close. We are good friends.”

He is a husband and a father

Betsy McGuire and husband Michael Bacon in 2009.

Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

On his website, Michael wrote that he and wife Betsy were married in 1972 “and left the next day in a U-Haul truck for Nashville.” The two are still married and have a son, Neil, who sometimes joins his dad and uncle Kevin in their band.

According to Michael, Betsy and he also worked well together, so much so that she eventually quit her teaching job to join him in the music business. “And yes, it is possible to work harmoniously with a woman,” he joked on his website.

He is an Emmy-winning TV and film composer

Michael Bacon in 2010.

Charles Eshelman/FilmMagic

After playing in bands for several years – including Good News, which was signed to Columbia Records for a time – Michael devoted himself to becoming a composer. Now he has a prolific career in making movies and TV shows. He won an Emmy in 1992 for music for The Kennedys.

Among many other projects, Michael composed for the PBS show Searching for your roots since 2012, reaching 44 episodes of the series. He also teaches film music at Lehman College, where he previously studied composition and orchestration with John Corigliano and earned a BA in music.

He’s in a band with Kevin called The Bacon Brothers

Kevin Bacon and Michael Bacon perform in 2009.

Gustavo Caballero/Getty

In 1995, a friend invited Kevin and Michael to perform at a charity event. They agreed and appeared under the name The Bacon Brothers – and it stuck. The two have been making music together ever since and have released 11 albums, with their latest album released on April 19, 2024. Their music is a fusion of rock, folk, country and soul.

They have also toured nationally and internationally and continue to write songs together largely due to their own musical abilities: Kevin sings and plays guitar, percussion and accordion, while Michael plays several instruments, including guitar and cello.

“The fact that we kind of started very quietly just writing songs together, I realized at a very early age his talent for music — even though he was completely untrained,” Michael said. Riff magazine in 2022. “I’ve been in a lot of different bands, and if I really didn’t respect my brother as a musician, I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Part of their success working together comes from their large age difference, as Michael is nine years older than Kevin. This helped them avoid sibling rivalry and also helped Kevin get into music at a younger age than most, with the help of his older brother.

“I wrote songs when I was a boy, but I didn’t play any instruments. So I would sing them to Michael and he would put them over different guitar chords and harmonies,” Kevin recalled in a 2023 interview. Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

They were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame

Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon pose next to their plaque at the unveiling of the 2023 Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame plaques.

Lisa Lake/Getty

Kevin and Michael are proud of their Philly roots – they even have a self-titled album Philly stuff – and the city showed its appreciation for the brothers when they were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame in April 2023. Their plaque in downtown Philadelphia is just a few blocks from where the brothers grew up and first learned about music.

“When I left Philadelphia, I just assumed that every city had the kind of musical diversity that this has,” Kevin said, according to local PBS station WHYY. “That every city was pumping with the same kind of sounds and rhythm and feeling. But that’s just not the case. Philadelphia is a unique music mecca. To be a part of that and to be here on Broad Street, the Avenue of the Arts: super cool.”

They did an episode once Karaoke in a carpool together

Michael Bacon and Kevin Bacon 2017.

Noam Galai/WireImage

Michael and Kevin appeared on an episode of the Apple TV+ show Karaoke in a carpool 2022, and one segment from the show was so funny that the brothers shared it on the band’s Instagram page.

In the video, Michael drives while Kevin presents an interesting concept. “We have four sisters, we call them the four blondes. Who do you think is closer, you or me?” Kevin asks Michael.

“Oh, I’m definitely closer. They always want to hear me,” Michael replies.

From the sounds of it, he seemed to be right. As the video goes on, all four sisters answer calls from Michael — but they all send Kevin’s call to voicemail. Worst of all, they all seem to say they never hear from a famous movie star as much as they hear from Michael—though Kevin doesn’t entirely agree.

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Source: HIS Education