John Stanton Hoffman, III was born in 1955 in Natchez, Mississippi to John and Shirley Hoffman. His played the harmonica with a band called the Harmonicats. His grandfather immigrated from Germany in 1901 and became a professional domino player on the riverboats in Natchez. Growing up, Stan and his mother picked cotton to help make ends meet. At the age of six, having heard "The Old Rugged Cross" played in church, he went back into the church and played it on the piano, never having played the piano before. The church gave his family a piano so that he could continue to play, taking classical piano lessons but loving to play jazz music. At the age of 12, his first performance was at Club Saint John in Vidalia, Louisiana in a bar called Only Funkshun. Later Stan played the Bossier City strip with his band, Little Stan Hoffman and Fever. In 1979 he married Mary Lynn Stoddard and after they married, they moved to Honolulu where he played in a band for 3 . years and at the age of 24, he and his band Teaser, opened for Bob Marley in Maui. That was the first time he had heard reggae music. In 1980, he started his reggae band, Killer Bees and played in Jamaica. Because he lived next door to Pee Wee Walker in Haughton, he had the opportunity to meet many famous musicians including Floyd Cramer and James Burton. He has played in Trinidad, Tobago, England, France and Tokyo. He toured with Guns and Roses, Cheap Trick and The Police.