# Robby Steinhardt
**Robby Steinhardt** (Robert Eugene Steinhardt; May 25, 1950 – July 17, 2021) was an American rock violinist and singer, best known as a member, co-lead vocalist, and frontman of the progressive rock band [Kansas](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-band).[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) His violin was a defining element of the band's sound, and he served as the band's emcee and principal stage presence during its 1970s breakthrough.[3](https://obits.mlive.com/news/robby-steinhardt-1950-2021-violinist-and-singer-with-kansas)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1950, Chicago; July 17, 2021, Tampa, Florida, aged 71[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/) |
| Role in Kansas | Violinist, co-lead vocalist with Steve Walsh, and live emcee, 1973–1982 and 1997–2006[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) • [4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/) |
| Signature recordings | Violin and harmony vocals on "Carry On Wayward Son" (1976) and "Dust in the Wind" (1977)[5](https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/fabulous-flip-sides-in-memoriam-kansas-violinist-robby-steinhardt/) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) |
| Songwriting | Co-wrote four songs across the eight Kansas studio albums he played on between 1974 and 1982[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) |
| Other projects | Steinhardt-Moon with Rick Moon (1982–1997) and the Stormbringer Band[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) |
| Solo album | *Not in Kansas Anymore: A Prog Opera*, recorded 2020–early 2021, released posthumously October 25, 2021[4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/) |
| Death | Complications of acute pancreatitis and sepsis[3](https://obits.mlive.com/news/robby-steinhardt-1950-2021-violinist-and-singer-with-kansas) |
## Early life and training
Steinhardt was born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and was adopted at four days old by Milton and Ilse Steinhardt.[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) The family moved to [Lawrence, Kansas](https://www.edgepedia.org/lawrence-kansas), in the summer of 1951. His father, a music professor, eventually became Chairman of the Music History and Literature Department at the [University of Kansas](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-kansas).[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/)
He began violin lessons at age eight and was classically trained, playing with orchestras while young, an opportunity he attributed to his father's position.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) In interviews he described his stage manner as deliberately theatrical: "I don't set out to be the one everyone looks at, but it's the way things seem to happen, and I believe the fact that people are watching me means the others can just get on with playing, away from the pressure."[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered)
## Kansas, 1972–1982
In 1972 Steinhardt joined White Clover, a fledgling rock band based in Topeka that had previously used the name Kansas I; the lineup at the time featured Steve Walsh, Phil Ehart, and Rich Williams, with [Kerry Livgren](https://www.edgepedia.org/kerry-livgren) joining soon after.[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) In 1973 the band signed a record deal and settled on the name Kansas, releasing its self-titled debut in 1974.[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/)
**Breakthrough.** Kansas' mainstream breakthrough came with *Leftoverture* (1976), which sold more than five million copies in the US and featured "[Carry On Wayward Son](https://www.edgepedia.org/carry-on-wayward-son)"; Steinhardt provided harmony vocals on the single, which reached No. 11 and went gold.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) • [5](https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/fabulous-flip-sides-in-memoriam-kansas-violinist-robby-steinhardt/) The follow-up album *[Point of Know Return](https://www.edgepedia.org/point-of-know-return)* (1977) became the band's highest-charting US album at No. 4, with "Dust in the Wind" as its only Top 10 single there.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) Steinhardt's violin solo, arriving at the 1:30 mark of "Dust in the Wind," has been described as one of the greatest violin interludes in rock history.[7](https://stringsmagazine.com/violinist-joe-deninzon-on-joining-classic-rock-band-kansas/)
Steinhardt shared vocal duties with Walsh, the two switching between lead and backup, and acted as the band's emcee in concert. Guitarist Kerry Livgren assessed the division of roles in a 1992 interview: "Robby had a totally unique function as a violinist, second vocalist, and MC in a live situation. Robby was the link between the band on the stage and the audience."[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) Steinhardt was not a prolific writer; he co-wrote four songs on the eight Kansas studio albums released between 1974 and 1982, saying he preferred to contribute by bringing Livgren's compositions to life.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered)
**Departure.** Steinhardt left the band in 1982, at the conclusion of the tour for *Vinyl Confessions*. A Classic Rock history of the band reports that his substance abuse prompted the departure, reducing Kansas to a quintet for 1983's *Drastic Measures*; Livgren said that with Steinhardt gone, "the violin was gone... I wasn't even sure what Kansas was any more."[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) • [8](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-story)
## Years away and return, 1982–2006
Between 1982 and 1997 Steinhardt toured Florida with guitarist and vocalist Rick Moon in Steinhardt-Moon, which released a self-titled mini album in 1995.[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/) • [6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) From 1990 he was also a member of Steinhardt-Moon/Stormbringer, a collaboration with Florida's Stormbringer that released two albums.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered)
He rejoined Kansas in 1997 after drummer Phil Ehart, having heard Steinhardt had recovered his health, checked him out incognito at a small club and concluded "he had to be in Kansas again."[8](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-story) He appeared on the 2000 album *Somewhere to Elsewhere*, which reunited all five original members, and toured with the band until March 2006, when he quit again, saying he no longer wanted to be a member.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered) When he left in 2006, his duties had to be split between two musicians, Billy Greer and David Ragsdale.[4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/)
## Later years and solo album
In August 2013 Steinhardt suffered a major heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery, spending 52 days in the hospital.[1](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/) He returned to music, and played violin on "Activate," a track on [Jon Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-anderson)'s 2019 solo album *1000 Hands: Chapter One*.[6](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered)
Through that session he met producer Michael Franklin, who proposed a solo project. Steinhardt recorded *Not in Kansas Anymore: A Prog Opera* at Franklin's Solar Studios through 2020 and into early 2021, with a large cast of guests including [Ian Anderson](https://www.edgepedia.org/ian-anderson) on flute, guitarist [Steve Morse](https://www.edgepedia.org/steve-morse), drummer [Billy Cobham](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-cobham), keyboardist Patrick Moraz, vocalist Bobby Kimball, pianist Chuck Leavell, and vocalist Lisa Fischer.[4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/) • [9](https://progressiverockcentral.com/2021/12/16/robby-steinhardts-remarkable-prog-opera/) The 11-track album includes a rerecording of "Dust in the Wind" and the fusion-styled instrumental "Rise of the Phoenix (Climb to Grace)."[4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/)
In May 2021 Steinhardt was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis, went into acute septic shock, and initially recovered, but suffered another sepsis infection just before his planned transfer to a rehabilitation facility. He died on July 17, 2021, in Tampa, at age 71, shortly before a planned August tour.[3](https://obits.mlive.com/news/robby-steinhardt-1950-2021-violinist-and-singer-with-kansas) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) The album was released posthumously on October 25, 2021.[4](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/)
## Legacy
Steinhardt's violin gave Kansas a timbre few American rock bands of the 1970s carried, and writers on progressive rock have credited him with adapting classical training to a hard rock context rather than the folk or symphonic roles violin usually fills in rock.[10](https://progarchy.com/tag/robby-steinhardt/) Kansas issued a statement after his death: "What he brought to us as bandmates, to the fans who attended our concerts, and to the sound of Kansas, will always be heartfelt."[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/) A 2023 resolution of the Kansas Senate commemorated his career and his first solo album, *Not in Kansas Anymore*.[11](https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/sr1704_enrolled.pdf)
## References
1. [Robert Eugene "Robby" Steinhardt, Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home obituary](https://rumsey-yost.com/2021/07/robert-eugene-steinhardt/)
2. [Robby Steinhardt, Violinist and Co-Lead Vocalist of Kansas, Dead at 71, Rolling Stone](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robby-steinhardt-kansas-obit-dead-27568/)
3. [Robby Steinhardt (1950–2021), violinist and singer with Kansas, mlive obituaries](https://obits.mlive.com/news/robby-steinhardt-1950-2021-violinist-and-singer-with-kansas)
4. [Robby Steinhardt – Not in Kansas Anymore (Album Review), The Prog Report](https://progreport.com/robby-steinhardt-not-in-kansas-anymore-album-review/)
5. [Fabulous Flip Sides In Memoriam – Kansas Violinist Robby Steinhardt, Goldmine](https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/fabulous-flip-sides-in-memoriam-kansas-violinist-robby-steinhardt/)
6. [Remembering Kansas' Robby Steinhardt, Louder/Prog](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-robby-steinhardt-remembered)
7. [Violinist Joe Deninzon on Joining Classic Progressive Rock Band Kansas, Strings Magazine](https://stringsmagazine.com/violinist-joe-deninzon-on-joining-classic-rock-band-kansas/)
8. [Kansas: an everyday story of success, failure, religion, drugs, booze and jealousy, Louder/Classic Rock](https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/kansas-story)
9. [Robby Steinhardt's Exceptional Prog Opera, Progressive Rock Central](https://progressiverockcentral.com/2021/12/16/robby-steinhardts-remarkable-prog-opera/)
10. [Robby Steinhardt tag, Progarchy](https://progarchy.com/tag/robby-steinhardt/)
11. [Kansas Senate Resolution No. 1704](https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/sr1704_enrolled.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Rock, metal, and popular-band musicians › Progressive and art rock*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license