• A Band On World Tour
• Abandon (album)
• Additional Creations
• Adrian Legg
• Alex Skolnick
• Alice Cooper
• Allan Holdsworth
• Alternate picking
• Anaheim, CA
• And The Address
• Andy Fairweather-Low
• Andy Timmons
• Any Fule Kno That
• Arizona
• Arnhem
• Arpeggio
• Bananas (album)
• Bananas World Tour
• Banjo
• Bass guitar
• Berkeley, California
• Billy Bauer
• Black Night
• Black Sabbath
• Blackmore's Night
• Blue Öyster Cult
• Blues
• Bob Ezrin
• Book Deep Purple
• Break Like the Wind
• Brian May
• Brian McKnight
• Burn World Tour
• California Jamming
• Cameron Crowe
• Captain Beyond
• Cat's Cradle
• Category Deep Purple
• CBS News
• Chad Smith
• Charlie Hunter
• Chickenfoot
• Chickenfoot (album)
• Chickenfoot (band)
• Chickenfoot III
• Child in Time
• Chile
• Claude Nobs
• Coldplay
• Come Taste the Band
• Concerto World Tour
• Counting Crows
• Crowded House
• Crystal Planet
• Cybernetic
• Dave LaRue
• David Bryson
• David Coverdale
• David Lee Roth
• David Turin
• Death metal
• Deep Purple
• Deep Purple (album)
• Deep Purple in Rock
• Delhi
• Derek Lawrence
• DigiTech Whammy
• DiMarzio
• Discman
• Dixie Dregs
• Don Airey
• Doug Wimbish
• Dream Theater
• Dreaming No. 11
• Drum kit
• Dunlop Cry Baby
• DVD
• Effects pedals
• Electronica
• Engines of Creation
• Epic Records
• Episode Six
• Eric Caudieux
• Eric Clapton
• Eric Johnson
• Exodus (band)
• Fandango (US band)
• Fillmore
• Fireball (album)
• Fireball (song)
• Fireball World Tour
• Five Towns College
• G3 (tour)
• G3 Live in Concert
• G3 Live in Denver
• G3 Live in Tokyo
• Galen Henson
• Gemini Suite Live
• Geoff Tyson
• Gillan
• Gillan's Inn
• Glenn Hughes
• Grammy Award
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• Green Bullfrog
• Greg Kihn Band
• Gregg Bissonette
• Guitar
• Guitar amps
• Guitar technique
• Guitar World
• Hallelujah
• Hard rock
• Harmonica
• Harmonics
• Harp
• Heavy metal music
• Help! (song)
• Hey Joe
• Hey Stoopid
• Highway Star (song)
• I'm So Glad
• Ian Gillan
• Ian Gillan Band
• Ian Paice
• Ibanez
• Ibanez JS Series
• Imaginos
• In Rock World Tour
• Instrument amplifier
• Instrumental rock
• Jason Becker
• Jazz
• Jazz pianist
• Jeff Beck
• Jeff Campitelli
• Jimi Hendrix
• Jimmy Page
• Joe Lynn Turner
• Joe Satriani
• Joe Satriani (album)
• John Coletta
• John Petrucci
• Jon Lord
• Jonathan Mover
• Jordan Rudess
• Kenny Aronoff
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd
• Kentucky Woman
• Kevin Cadogan
• Keyboard instrument
• Kirk Hammett
• Kolkata
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Larry LaLonde
• Lead guitarist
• Legato
• Lennie Tristano
• Little Kids Rock
• Live in Denmark 1972
• Live in Europe 1993
• Live in Montreux 69
• Live in Paris 1975
• Long Island
• Love Help Me
• Lääz Rockit
• Machine Head (album)
• Made in Europe
• Mandrake Root
• Manu Katché
• Mark I & II
• Martin Birch
• Matt Bissonette
• Maybe I'm a Leo
• Mesa Boogie
• Metallica
• Michael Bradford
• Michael Schenker
• Mick Jagger
• Mike Keneally
• Mistreated (song)
• Moneyball (film)
• Montreal
• Montrose (band)
• Mumbai
• Music education
• Music genre
• Musician
• Nash Bridges
• Nathan East
• Never Before
• New York
• Nick Simper
• One More Rainy Day
• P-90
• Paice, Ashton & Lord
• Patrick Rondat
• Paul Gilbert
• Peavey Electronics
• Perks and Tit
• Phoenix Rising (DVD)
• Pictures of Home
• Planet Us
• Podcast
• Possessed (band)
• Primus (band)
• Purpendicular
• Purple Passages
• Purple Records
• Raffle
• Rainbow (band)
• Randy California
• Rapture of the Deep
• Record label
• Record producer
• Redshift
• Relativity Records
• Remastered
• Repentance (song)
• Rhythm of Time
• Rick Hunolt
• Rises Over Japan
• Ritchie Blackmore
• Robert Fripp
• Rock music
• Rod Evans
• Roger Glover
• Rubina (composition)
• Sammy Hagar
• Sampling (music)
• San Francisco
• Satch Boogie
• Satriani Live!
• Say Anything...
• SB1070
• Scandinavian Nights
• Science fiction
• Screaming Lord Sutch
• Sexy Little Thing
• Seymour Duncan
• Shades 1968-1998
• Shalla-Bal
• Shock rock
• Silver Surfer
• Simon Phillips
• Singing
• Slaves and Masters
• Smoke on the Water
• Songwriter
• Sony
• Sony Records
• Space Truckin'
• Space Vol 1 & 2
• Speed King
• Spinal Tap (band)
• Star Spangled Banner
• Star Trek
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• Steve Lukather
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• Stormbringer (album)
• Stu Hamm
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• Super Colossal
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• Sweep picking
• Systematic Chaos
• T-Ride
• Tapping
• Template Chickenfoot
• Template Deep Purple
• Testament (band)
• The Beautiful Guitar
• The Book of Taliesyn
• The Extremist
• The Eyes of Horror
• The Joe Satriani EP
• The Mermen
• The New York Times
• The Waboritas
• The Yardbirds
• Third Eye Blind
• Thom Panunzio
• Time Machine (album)
• Tommy Bolin
• Trapeze (band)
• Uli Jon Roth
• Ulrich Roth
• United States
• Van Halen
• VHS
• Video game
• Virtuoso
• Viva la Vida
• Vocals
• Volume swell
• Wah-wah pedal
• Westbury, New York
• Whammy bar
• Whitesnake
• Wikipedia Link rot
• Wikipedia Persondata
• Yngwie Malmsteen
• Zack de la Rocha
• Zephyr (band)
• 
  

• 
  Anaheim, CA
  Anaheim (pronounced /ˈænəhaɪm/) is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 336,265, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States. The city anticipates that the population will surpass 400,000 by 2014 because of rapid development in its Platinum Triangle area as well as in Anaheim Hills. The Platinum Triangle is the fastest growing area in Orange County. Anaheim is the second largest city in Orange County in terms of land area (after Irvine), and is known for its theme parks, sports teams and convention center.
  Founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated as the second city in Los Angeles County on February 10, 1870, Anaheim developed into an industrial center, producing electronics, aircraft parts and canned fruit. It is the site of the Disneyland Resort, a world-famous grouping of theme parks and hotels which opened in 1955, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Honda Center and Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the West Coast. Its name is a blend of "Ana", after the nearby Santa Ana River, and "heim", a common German place name compound originally meaning "home".
  
  wn.com/Anaheim,_CA
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  Arnhem
  Arnhem (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɑrn.ɦɛm] ( listen), South Guelderish: Èrnem) is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on both banks of the river Nederrijn as well as on the Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has almost 150,000 residents (per 1 January 2012) as one of the larger cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, a metropolitan area with 736,500 inhabitants. Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and ArtEZ Institute of the Arts.
  Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym, referring to the many eagles that inhabited the hills and forests of Arnhem back then. Traces of human residence date back much further, however.
  The oldest archeological findings of human activity around Arnhem are two firestones of about 70,000 years ago. This comes from the stone age, when the Neanderthals lived in this part of Europe. In Schuytgraaf, tracks of a hunter's camp have been discovered from around 5000 BC. In Schaarsbergen, 12 grave mounds were found from 2400 BC, which brought the so-called Neolithic revolution to the area of Arnhem, i.e. the rise of the farmers.
  
  wn.com/Arnhem
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  Berkeley, California
  Berkeley ( /ˈbɜrkliː/ BURK-lee) is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington. The eastern city limits coincide with the county line (bordering Contra Costa County), which generally follows the ridge line of the Berkeley Hills. Berkeley is located in northern Alameda County. The population was 112,580 at the 2010 census. The city is named after Bishop George Berkeley.
  Berkeley is the site of the University of California, Berkeley, the oldest of the University of California system, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is also home to the Graduate Theological Union. The city is noted as one of the most politically liberal in the nation, with one study placing it as the third most liberal city in the United States.
  The site of today's City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun band of the Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived. Evidence of their existence in the area include pits in rock formations, which they used to grind acorns, and a shellmound, now mostly leveled and covered up, along the shoreline of San Francisco Bay at the mouth of Strawberry Creek. Other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek.
  
  wn.com/Berkeley,_California
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  Chile
  Chile (ⁱ/ˈtʃɪliː/ or /ˈtʃɪleɪ/), officially the Republic of Chile (Spanish: República de Chile [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈtʃile] ( listen)), is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far south. Along with Ecuador, it is one of two countries in South America that do not border Brazil. Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas and Easter Island. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres (480,000 sq mi) of Antarctica, although all claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty.
  Chile's distinctive shape—4,300 kilometres (2,700 mi) long and on average 175 kilometres (109 mi) wide—makes it the longest country in the world, north to south, with the fifth lengthiest coastline at over 78 thousand kilometers. The diverse climate of Chile ranges from the world's driest desert in the north—the Atacama—through a Mediterranean climate in the centre, humid subtropical in Easter Island, to an Oceanic climate, including alpine tundra and glaciers in the east and south. The northern desert contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. The relatively small central area dominates in terms of population and agricultural resources, and is the cultural and political center from which Chile expanded in the late 19th century when it incorporated its northern and southern regions. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes. The southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands.
  
  wn.com/Chile
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  Delhi
  Delhi (/ˈdɛli/; locally pronounced Dillee or Dehli), officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16.7 million inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census. The region has been given special status of National Capital Region under The Constitution (69th Amendment) Act, 1991. There are nearly 22.2 million residents in the greater National Capital Region urban area (which also includes the cities Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon,Sonepat and Faridabad along with other smaller nearby towns).
  Delhi is known to have been continuously inhabited since at least the 6th century BCE, though human habitation is believed to have existed since the second millennium BCE. Delhi is also widely believed to have been the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas during the times of the Mahabharata. Delhi re-emerged as a major political, cultural and commercial city along the trade routes between northwest India and the Gangetic plain after the rise of the Delhi sultanates. It is the site of many ancient and medieval monuments, archaeological sites and remains.
  
  wn.com/Delhi
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  Kolkata
  Kolkata /kɒlˈkætə/, or Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest port as well as its sole major riverine port. As of 2011, the city had 4.5 million residents; the urban agglomeration, which comprises the city and its suburbs, was home to approximately 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. As of 2008, its economic output as measured by gross domestic product ranked third among South Asian cities, behind Mumbai and Delhi. As a growing metropolitan city in a developing country, Kolkata confronts substantial urban pollution, traffic congestion, poverty, overpopulation, and other logistic and socioeconomic problems.
  In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Kolkata were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading license in 1690, the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified mercantile base. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Kolkata in 1756, and the East India Company retook it in the following year and by 1772 assumed full sovereignty. Under East India Company and later under the British Raj, Kolkata served as the capital of India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. The city was a centre of the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata—which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics—witnessed several decades of relative economic stagnation. Since the early 2000s, an economic rejuvenation has led to accelerated growth.
  
  wn.com/Kolkata
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  Long Island
  Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City (Queens and Brooklyn), and two of which are mainly suburban (Nassau and Suffolk). The term "Long Island" often refers only to Nassau and Suffolk counties in order to differentiate them from New York City, though all four counties are on the island and part of the New York metropolitan area.
  As of the 2010 census, Long Island had a population of 7,568,304, making it the most populated island in any U.S. state or territory. It is also the 17th most populous island in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō. Its population density is 5,402 inhabitants per square mile (2,086 /km²). If it were a state, Long Island would rank 13th in population (after Virginia) and first in population density.
  Both the longest and the largest island in the contiguous United States, Long Island extends 118 miles (190 km) eastward from New York Harbor to Montauk Point, and has a maximum north-to-south expanse of 23 miles (37 km) between the northern Long Island Sound coast and the southern Atlantic coast. With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,629 km²), Long Island is the 11th largest island in the United States and the 148th largest island in the world — larger than the 1,214 square miles (3,140 km²) of the smallest state, Rhode Island.
  
  wn.com/Long_Island
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  Montreal
  Montreal (ⁱ/ˌmʌntriːˈɒl/;French: Montréal; pronounced [mɔ̃ʁeal] ( listen)) is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the fifteenth largest in North America. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", the city takes its present name from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French (Mont Royal in present French). The city is located on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard.
  As of May 10, 2011, Statistics Canada identifies Montreal's Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) (land area 4,259 square kilometres (1,644 sq mi)) as Canada's second most populous with an estimated metropolitan area population of 3,824,221 and a population of 1,886,481 in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, which includes all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal. The city of Montreal proper had a population of 1,649,519.
  
  wn.com/Montreal
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  Mumbai
  Mumbai /mʊmˈbaɪ/, also known as Bombay /bɒmˈbeɪ/, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million. Along with the neighbouring urban areas, including the cities of Navi Mumbai and Thane, it is one of the most populous urban regions in the world. Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2009, Mumbai was named an Alpha world city. Mumbai is also the richest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West or Central Asia.
  The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies. For centuries, the islands were under the control of successive indigenous empires before being ceded to the Portuguese and subsequently to the British East India Company. During the mid-18th century, Mumbai was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook the reclamation of the area between the seven constituent islands from the sea. Completed by 1845, the project along with construction of major roads and railways transformed Bombay into a major seaport on the Arabian Sea. Economic and educational development characterised the city during the 19th century. It became a strong base for the Indian independence movement during the early 20th century. When India became independent in 1947, the city was incorporated into Bombay State. In 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as capital. The city was renamed Mumbai in 1996.
  
  wn.com/Mumbai
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  New York
  New York (/njuː ˈjɔrk/; locally IPA: [nɪu ˈjɔək] or [nuː ˈjɔɹk] ( listen)) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. New York is the 27th most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 7th most densely populated of the 50 United States. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the west and north, and Quebec to the north. The state of New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
  New York City, with a population of over 8.1 million, is the most populous city in the United States. Alone, it makes up over 40 percent of the population of New York state. It is known for its status as a center for finance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, New York City is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both the state and city were named for the 17th century Duke of York, James Stuart, future James II and VII of England and Scotland.
  
  wn.com/New_York
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  San Francisco
  San Francisco (/ˌsæn frənˈsɪskoʊ/), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.6 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland. The only consolidated city-county in California, it encompasses a land area of about 46.9 square miles (121 km²) on the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, giving it a density of about 17,179 people per square mile (6,632 people per km²). It is the most densely settled large city (population greater than 200,000) in the state of California and the second-most densely populated large city in the United States after New York City. San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 13th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 805,235 as of the 2010 Census. The San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area has a population of 4,335,391.
  In 1776, colonists from Spain established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi a few miles away. The California Gold Rush of 1849 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth, increasing the population in one year from 1,000 to 25,000, and thus transforming it into the largest city on the West Coast at the time. After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. During World War II, San Francisco was the port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. After the war, the confluence of returning servicemen, massive immigration, liberalizing attitudes, and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement, cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States.
  
  wn.com/San_Francisco
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  United States
  The United States of America (commonly abbreviated to the United States, the U.S., the USA, America, and the States) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.
  At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 312 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2011 GDP of $15.1 trillion (22% of nominal global GDP and over 19% of global GDP at purchasing-power parity). Per capita income is the world's sixth-highest.
  
  wn.com/United_States
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  Westbury, New York
  Westbury incorporated in 1932 as a village in Nassau County, New York in the United States. The population was 15,146 at the 2010 census. The Village of Westbury is in the Town of North Hempstead.
  Westbury is a very diverse community, made up of Italian-Americans, African-Americans and Hispanic Americans. Many of the Hispanics are of Salvadoran origin. However, the neighborhood has more recently seen an influx of Arab-Americans and Indian-Americans. Many of the Italian-Americans in the village trace their origins to the town of Durazzano in Southern Italy, and are closely related. A great number still reside on the Hill across from Saint Brigid's Church. The nickname for the village since the mid-1970s has been "A Community for All Seasons" (presumably, because residents tend to live there 12 months of the year).
  The first settlers arrived in 1658 in the region known as the Hempstead Plains. Many of the early settlers were Quakers.
  Westbury's Jericho Turnpike was once a trail used by the Massapequa Indians. As far back as the 17th century, it served as a divider between the early homesteads north of the Turnpike and the great plains to its south. Today, it serves as a state highway complex.
  
  wn.com/Westbury,_New_York

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  Adrian Legg
  Adrian Legg is an English guitar player who has been called "impossible to categorize". He plays custom guitars that are a hybrid of electric and acoustic, and his fingerstyle picking technique has been acknowledged by the readers of Guitar Player who voted Legg the "best acoustic fingerstyle" player four years in a row (1993–1996).
  From his early start as a bench technician customising electric guitars, Legg moved into guitar instruction, publishing books and videos on guitar technique. In 1996 and 1997, Legg shared the stage with acclaimed guitar experts Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai as part of the G3 tour. Vai called Legg "Uncle Adrian" and Satriani said of Legg's musicianship "He's simply the best acoustic guitar player I've ever heard. I don't know anyone else who can create such a cascade of beautiful notes... Adrian plays like he's got hammers for fingers."
  Legg was born May 16, 1948 in Hackney, east London. He studied the oboe as a child but in teenage years his interest shifted to the guitar.
  
  wn.com/Adrian_Legg
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  Alex Skolnick
  Alexander Nathan Skolnick (born September 29, 1968, born and raised in Berkeley, California) is an American jazz and metal guitarist. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band Testament from 1983 until his departure in 1993. He returned briefly to re-record some old material for the band's First Strike is Still Deadly release, as well as the "Thrash of the Titans" all-star performance in 2001, before returning full-time four years later.
  Alex Skolnick began to play guitar at 9, he was influenced by Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, Randy Rhoads and Yngwie Malmsteen. He was a student of Joe Satriani and was one of many guitarists (Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan) to achieve fame. His parents, Jerome and Arlene, are both professors of sociology at New York University and have previously taught at UC Berkeley. Skolnick has an older brother, Michael (b. 1962).
  He joined the band Savatage for the recording of Handful of Rain, as well as its follow-up live album and home video release Japan Live '94. He has also recorded and briefly toured with the Stu Hamm band, and played with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In 2004, Skolnick made a guest appearance on Lamb of God's Ashes of the Wake album, recording a solo for the album's instrumental title track. He also briefly played guitar for Ozzy Osbourne in 1995.
  
  wn.com/Alex_Skolnick
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  Alice Cooper
  Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier; February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, and baby dolls, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal designed to shock.
  Originating in Detroit in the late 1960s, Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and drummer Neal Smith. The original Alice Cooper band broke into the international music mainstream with the 1971 hit "I'm Eighteen" from the album Love It to Death, which was followed by the even bigger single "School's Out" in 1972. The band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album Billion Dollar Babies.
  Furnier's solo career as Alice Cooper, adopting the band's name as his own name, began with the 1975 concept album Welcome to My Nightmare; in 2011 he released Welcome 2 My Nightmare, his 19th album as a solo artist, and his 26th album in total. Expanding from his Detroit rock roots, in his career Cooper has experimented with a number of musical styles, including conceptual rock, art rock, hard rock, New Wave, pop rock, experimental rock and industrial rock.
  
  wn.com/Alice_Cooper
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  Allan Holdsworth
  Allan Holdsworth (born 6 August 1946) is an English guitarist and composer. He has released twelve studio albums as a solo artist and played a variety of musical styles spanning a period of more than four decades, but is best known for his work in jazz fusion. A player noted for his advanced knowledge of the fretboard and unique playing, Holdsworth is cited as an influence by such renowned rock and instrumental guitarists as Eddie Van Halen,Joe Satriani,Greg Howe,Shawn Lane,Richie Kotzen,John Petrucci and Alex Lifeson.Frank Zappa once lauded him as "one of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet".
  Holdsworth first recorded in 1969 with the band 'Igginbottom on their lone release, Igginbottom's Wrench (later reissued under the group name of "Allan Holdsworth & Friends"). In 1971 he joined Sunship, an improvisational band featuring keyboardist Alan Gowen, future King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir and bassist Laurie Baker. They played live but would never release any recorded material. Next came a brief stint with jazz rock band Nucleus, with whom Holdsworth played on their 1972 album, Belladonna; likewise with progressive rock band Tempest, on their self-titled first studio album in 1973. His playing can also be heard on a live BBC Radio concert from that year, which was released several decades later in 2005 as part of Under the Blossom: The Anthology, a Tempest compilation album.
  
  wn.com/Allan_Holdsworth
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  Andy Fairweather-Low
  Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948, Ystrad Mynach, Wales) is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band, Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.
  Fairweather Low first found fame as a founder member of the pop group Amen Corner in the late 1960s. They had four successive Top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart, including the #1 single "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" in 1969. The overnight success and Fairweather Low's teen idol looks, as music journalist William Ruhlmann noted at Allmusic; "... put his attractive face on the bedroom walls of teenage girls all over Britain".
  The band split in two in 1970, with Fairweather Low leading Dennis Byron (drums), Blue Weaver (organ), Clive Taylor (bass) and Neil Jones (guitar) into a new band, Fair Weather. The band scored a UK Singles Chart #6 hit with "Natural Sinner" in July 1970, although the outfit's albums, Beginning From An End and Let Your Mind Roll On, failed to chart. After twelve months Fairweather Low left to pursue a solo career, releasing four albums up to 1980 on A&M and Warner Bros. These spawned further single chart success with "Reggae Tune" (1974), and "Wide Eyed and Legless", a #6 Christmas time hit in 1975.
  
  wn.com/Andy_Fairweather-Low
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  Andy Timmons
  Andy Timmons (born 26 July 1963) is an American guitarist who has played in the bands Danger Danger, Pawn Kings, and Andy Timmons Band (ATB). He has also released several solo albums and has worked as a session guitarist.
  He has released two CDs on Favored Nations, the first being That Was Then, This Is Now and Resolution on May 2, 2006. Resolution is actually listed as being recorded by Andy Timmons Band and features Mike Daane on bass and Mitch Marine on drums.
  As guitarist for metal band Danger Danger, he toured the world opening for Kiss and Alice Cooper, sold over a million records worldwide, and had two #1 videos on MTV, plus amassing a discography that includes seven solo releases that range from guitar instrumentals, to blues, and even a Beatles/Elvis Costello-inspired collection of pop tunes.
  As a session player, he has been featured on CDs by drummer Simon Phillips, a live CD with Olivia Newton-John (Timmons has been her music director-guitarist for several U.S. tours), two albums by Kip Winger, recording sessions for Paula Abdul and Paul Stanley, and radio and television jingles. He has also played alongside Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Mike Stern, Ace Frehley, Ted Nugent, Reb Beach, and Pierre Bensusan, as well as some of his favorite 1960s singing stars such as the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, and Gordon Waller.
  
  wn.com/Andy_Timmons
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  Billy Bauer
  Billy Bauer (November 14, 1915 – June 16, 2005) was an American cool jazz guitarist.
  Bauer was born in New York City. He played banjo as a child before switching to guitar. He played with the Jerry Wald band and recorded with Carl Hoff and His Orchestra in 1941 before joining Woody Herman in 1944 as a member of the First Herd and in 1946 he played with Benny Goodman and Jack Teagarden.
  Working in small groups led by bassist Chubby Jackson and trombonist Bill Harris, Bauer established himself as a soloist in the bebop movement.
  In 1946 he began working with Lennie Tristano. Tristano and Bauer enjoyed a natural synergy in their style and approach. Their development of "intuitive music" led to the 1949 session which included the free improvisations "Intuition" and "Digression". He was a member of the NBC Tonight Show band in NYC and played in the Today Show band at the start of early television.
  Bauer continued his pioneering guitar work in a partnership with Lee Konitz, whose avant-garde saxophone work was a perfect match for Bauer's guitar. The two musicians' dialogue crossed styles from bop and cool to the avant-garde. Their recordings have been described as "some of the most beautiful duet recordings in jazz". "Duet For Saxophone and Guitar", was an unusual instrument pairing which has been described as redefining the role of jazz guitar.
  
  wn.com/Billy_Bauer
• Bob Ezrin
  Robert Alan "Bob" Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with artists Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. As of 2010, Ezrin's career in music has spanned four decades and is production work has continued into the 21st century with acts such as Deftones and 30 Seconds to Mars. After co-founding interactive media company, 7th Level, in 1993, Ezrin has branched out into philanthropy and activism, with music also underpinning projects such as Music Rising and Young Artists for Haiti.
  Ezrin is the winner of a JUNO Award and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in April 2004.
  Ezrin was born in Toronto, Ontario and presently lives with his wife and two dogs in Nashville, Tennessee. He works as a music producer, mix engineer, arranger and writer, in addition to being involved with a variety of live, film, television and theatrical productions.
  Ezrin also engages in community-based projects and, on a local level, is a member of the board of directors of the Nashville Symphony. He is Vice President (VP) of The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, a member of MusiCounts (the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) music education charity) and, along with U2's The Edge and Henry Juszkiewicz (CEO of Gibson Guitar Corporation), a co-founder of the Music Rising instrument replacement response to the 2005 gulf coast hurricane. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Los Angeles Mentoring Partnership and also a past Trustee and Governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).
  
  wn.com/Bob_Ezrin
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  Brian May
  Brian Harold May, CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer of the rock band Queen. As a guitarist he uses his home-built guitar, "Red Special", and has composed hits such as "Tie Your Mother Down", "I Want It All", "We Will Rock You", "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Who Wants to Live Forever".
  He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for "services to the music industry and his charity work". May earned a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College in 2007 and is currently the Chancellor of Liverpool John Moores University. May currently resides in Surrey.
  In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He was ranked at No. 26 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
  Brian May, the only child of Harold and Ruth May, was born in Hampton, London and attended Hampton Grammar School (now Hampton School). During this time he formed his first band with vocalist and bassist Tim Staffell, named Nineteen Eighty-Four after George Orwell's novel of the same name. He left Hampton Grammar School with ten GCE Ordinary Levels and three Advanced Levels in Physics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. He studied Mathematics and Physics at Imperial College London, graduating with B.Sc. degree with honours.
  
  wn.com/Brian_May
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  Brian McKnight
  Brian McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays eight instruments including piano, guitar, bass guitar, percussion, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet.. McKnight is perhaps most recognized for his strong falsetto range, and is widely regarded as one of the strongest talents in the adult urban contemporary R&B genre, although his recent efforts have received mixed reviews.
  McKnight's work has earned him 16 Grammy Awards nominations, but currently holds the record for having won none.
  McKnight was born in Buffalo, New York. His musical career began in childhood when he became a member of his church choir and a band leader for his high school, Sweet Home High School..
  In 1987, McKnight's older brother, Claude McKnight III, and his band, Take 6, signed a record deal with Warner Brothers. This encouraged McKnight to shop his own demo tapes and by the age of 19, he'd signed his first recording deal with Mercury Records subsidiary, Wing Records. In 1992, Brian McKnight was released, and his self-titled debut peaked at fifty-eight in the Billboard 200 chart, which primarily featured the ballad (and top twenty single) "One Last Cry". It was followed by two more albums for Mercury, 1995's I Remember You and 1997's Anytime. Anytime, McKnight's final album with Mercury, sold over two million copies and was nominated for a Grammy. The video for "Anytime", directed by Darren Grant, was nominated for Best Male Video at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards.
  
  wn.com/Brian_McKnight
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  Cameron Crowe
  Cameron Buttboy Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes.
  Crowe has made his mark with character-driven, personal films that have been generally hailed as refreshingly original and devoid of cynicism. Michael Walker in The New York Times called Crowe "something of a cinematic spokesman for the post-baby boom generation" because his first few films focused on that specific age group, first as high schoolers and then as young adults making their way in the world.
  Crowe's debut screenwriting effort, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, grew out of a book he wrote while posing for one year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California, where he met Geraldine Edwards, who was a student there while he was visiting mutual friends in 1975. He later based part of his Penny Lane character on her in Almost Famous after discovering that she had been going backstage to Rock and Roll concerts. Later, he wrote and directed one more high school saga, Say Anything, and then Singles, a story of Seattle twentysomethings that was woven together by a soundtrack centering on that city's burgeoning grunge music scene. Crowe landed his biggest hit, though, with Jerry Maguire. After this, he was given a green light to go ahead with a pet project, the autobiographical effort Almost Famous. Centering on a teenage music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band, it gave insight to his life as a 15-year-old writer for Rolling Stone. Part of the dialogue was inspired by comments that were made by Bebe Buell in certain interviews. Also in late 1999, Crowe released his second book, Conversations with Billy Wilder, a question and answer session with the legendary director.
  
  wn.com/Cameron_Crowe
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  Chad Smith
  Chadwick "Chad" Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers whom he joined in 1988. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, which formed in 2008.
  Smith has also worked with Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes' backing band and on his own instrumental side-project, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. In 2010 Smith released a children's record, Rhythm Train which he recorded with legend, Dick Van Dyke, and Leslie Bixler. In April 2010 MTV named Rhythm Train one of the best children's records of all time.
  In addition to Smith's bands, he also records with many other musicians including The Dixie Chicks, Kid Rock, George Clinton and Outernational. Smith was ranked #87 on Rolling Stone list of "100 Greatest Drummers of All time". He entered the Guinness book of the world records for playing the world's largest drum kit consisting of 308 pieces. In March 2012 Modern Drummer named Smith #2 on its list of best living drummers.
  
  wn.com/Chad_Smith
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  Charlie Hunter
  Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer and bandleader.
  First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter has recorded 17 albums. Hunter plays custom-made seven and eight-string guitars, on which he simultaneously plays basslines, rhythm guitar, and solos. Critic Sean Westergaard describes Hunter's guitar technique as "mind-boggling ... he's an agile improviser with an ear for great tone, and always has excellent players alongside him in order to make great music, not to show off."
  Hunter was born in Rhode Island. When he was four his mom packed him and his younger sister in an old yellow school bus and headed west. After several years living on a commune in Mendocino County they settled in Berkeley, California. Hunter graduated from Berkeley High School and took lessons from famed guitar teacher Joe Satriani. At eighteen he moved to Paris. Returning to the Bay area, Hunter played a seven-string guitar and organ in Michael Franti's political rap group, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. In 1992, they were one of the opening acts for U2's Zoo TV Tour.
  
  wn.com/Charlie_Hunter
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  Claude Nobs
  Claude Nobs (born in Montreux, Switzerland, 4 February 1936) is the founder and general manager of the famous Montreux Jazz Festival.
  After apprenticing as a cook, Nobs worked in the Tourism Office of Montreux. He later went to New York, where he met Nesuhi Ertegün, the then-president of Atlantic Records. There he met Roberta Flack and invited her to the Rose d’Or de Montreux. Later, Aretha Franklin made her first visit to Europe thanks to him.
  At the age of 31, while he was director of the Tourism Office of Montreux, he organized the first jazz festival featuring artists such as Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Ron McLure and Jack DeJohnette. This new festival was an immediate success, and gained a reputation far beyond Switzerland. Nobs quickly transformed his festival into an international gathering place for lovers of jazz.
  In 1971, Deep Purple decided to produce and record their album Machine Head in Montreux. The group was also scheduled to record at the Montreux Casino, shortly after Frank Zappa performed. During Zappa's concert, the venue caught fire and reduced the Casino to ashes. Nobs saved several young people who had hidden in the casino, thinking they would be sheltered from the flames. This act earned him a mention (as Funky Claude in the line Funky Claude was running in and out pulling kids out the ground) in the song "Smoke on the Water", which is about the incident. Also, on the inner liner of the original album, Nobs' picture was the only one labeled with a name other than those of the band members themselves.
  
  wn.com/Claude_Nobs
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  Dave LaRue
  Dave LaRue is a bassist who has performed with the Dixie Dregs since 1988 and with the Steve Morse Band since 1989. He also has worked with Dream Theater's John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess. He plays Music Man bass guitars, among them the "Sterling" and "StingRay 5 five-string" but has mainly switched to their "Bongo" line (which he was instrumental in helping develop) including four- and five-string fretted and fretless models. From March 2006 to September 2006, he toured with Joe Satriani on the Super Colossal tour. Most recently, LaRue became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors alongside long-time bandmate Steve Morse.
  
  
  
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  David Coverdale
  David 'Jack' Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved significant commercial success. During his early career Coverdale had a few years-long stint as the vocalist for Deep Purple, and he left the band to establish his solo career, later progressed to Whitesnake. A collaboration album with Jimmy Page was also successful.
  Coverdale was born on 22 September 1951, in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar and Cleveland, England. His love for music developed early. Around the age of 14, the aspiring singer began performing professionally and developing the voice which made him famous. "I don't think my voice had broken," he explained to Sounds in 1974. "And that's when I first learnt how to sing with my stomach, which sounds silly, but it's totally different from a normal voice." Coverdale had been the vocalist for the following local bands: The Government (1968–1972); Fabulosa Brothers (1972–73).
  In 1973, Coverdale saw an article in a copy of Melody Maker, which said that Deep Purple was auditioning for singers to replace Ian Gillan. Coverdale had fronted a local group called The Government, which had played with Deep Purple on the same bill in 1969, so both he and the band were familiar with one another, and after sending a tape and later auditioning, Coverdale was admitted into the band, with bassist Glenn Hughes adding his own vocals as well.
  
  wn.com/David_Coverdale
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  David Lee Roth
  David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth is one of few vocalists with a larger than 4 octave range in full voice (from G1 to G♯5).
  Roth is best known as the original and current lead singer of the Southern California-based hard rock outfit Van Halen. After departing Van Halen in 1985 Roth first enjoyed a successful career as a solo artist, which originated while still a member of that band and yielded several RIAA-certified Gold and Platinum records. After more than two decades apart, Roth rejoined Van Halen in 2006 for a North American tour that became the most successful in the band's history and one of the highest grossing of that year. Roth has remained the lead singer of Van Halen since his 2006 return and has recently completed recording new material with the band for their first album together since 1984.
  Roth was born on October 10, 1954, in Bloomington, Indiana. He is the son of ophthalmologist Nathan Roth and Sibyl Roth and the brother of Allison and Lisa Roth. Dr. Nathan Roth was a renowned eye surgeon, who made millions via his practice and in real estate. Dr. Roth was even featured on the TV show, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", in 1984. On that program, Dr. Roth claims that he was Van Halen's first manager helping the group obtain gigs in the early days. Nathan owned a 14,000-square-foot home in Pasadena named "Rothwood" and a chateau named "Bradbury". He was a writer, an actor, and a surgeon.
  
  wn.com/David_Lee_Roth
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  Don Airey
  Donald (Don) Airey (born 21 June 1948 in Sunderland, England) has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, succeeding Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Colosseum II, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Uli Jon Roth, Rainbow, Ten, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
  Inspired by his father, Norman Airey, Don Airey took a love for music at a young age and was trained in classical piano from the age of seven. He continued his love for music by earning a degree at the University of Nottingham and a diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music.
  In 1974 he moved to London and joined Cozy Powell's band Hammer. Don worked on several albums with solo artists and was a session musician on the 1978 Black Sabbath album Never Say Die! Soon after, he joined guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's band, Rainbow, and featured on Gary Moore's solo debut Back on the Streets. With Rainbow he contributed to two hit albums, Down to Earth and Difficult to Cure. He was also part of the very influential jazz rock band Colosseum II with Jon Hiseman, Gary Moore and John Mole which also formed the core band that recorded Andrew Lloyd Webber's variations on a theme of Paganini, simply called Variations.
  
  wn.com/Don_Airey
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  Doug Wimbish
  Doug Wimbish (born September 22, 1956) is a bass player, primarily known for his studio work for the rap/hip hop label Sugarhill Records and his membership of the rock band Living Colour. He has played for a vast range of artists, including Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger, Madonna, George Clinton, Paula Cole, Bomb the Bass, Depeche Mode, Joe Satriani, Mos Def and Tarja Turunen. Wimbish is considered to be a pioneer in hip hop bass playing and in the use of bass effects, alternate tunings and extended hand techniques.
  Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Wimbish started playing guitar at the age of 12 and switched to bass guitar at the age of 14. In 1979 he was hired together with guitarist Skip McDonald and drummer Keith LeBlanc to form the house rhythm section for Sugarhill Records. Although they did not play on the Sugar Hill Gang's famous song "Rapper's Delight" (the rhythm tracks for this song were played by the group Positive Force), they did play on many other famous tracks, for example "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, "White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, "New York, New York" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and "Apache" by the Sugarhill Gang.
  
  wn.com/Doug_Wimbish
• Eric Caudieux
  Eric Caudieux (pronounced Eric Codeyear) is an accomplished player of the keyboards and rhythm guitar who has not only played for guitarist Joe Satriani on many of his albums, but is a member of Joe Satriani's backing group when he is on tour.
  
  
  
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  Eric Clapton
  Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.
  In the mid 1960s, Clapton departed from the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. In his one-year stay with Mayall, Clapton gained the nickname "Slowhand". Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed Cream, a power trio with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop." For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of J.J. Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded by Derek and the Dominos, another band he formed and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded by Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, in 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music. In 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers.
  
  wn.com/Eric_Clapton
• Geoff Tyson
  Geoff Tyson (also referred to as Jeff Tyson) played guitar for T-Ride, whose debut album shared the same title. He was a student of Joe Satriani, and one of two students Satriani has said 'Graduated' from his lessons (the other being Steve Vai) . Songs from the album were used in various motion pictures and television shows including Luxury Cruiser in the soundtrack of 1992's Encino Man, Zombies from Hell in the movie Captain Ron and Bone Down in an episode of Baywatch, Forbidden Paradise-part 2. T-Ride toured the world supporting Ugly Kidd Joe, Joe Satriani, White Zombie, Tora Tora and Asphalt Ballet.
  Tyson went on to perform and record with Snake River Conspiracy (Reprise 1999) and toured supporting Filter, Monster Magnet, Queens Of The Stone Age and A Perfect Circle.
  In 2003, Tyson created the band Stimulator with singer Susan Hyatt. Stimulator had songs featured in the Walt Disney Movie "Ella Enchanted", MTV's The Real World and episodes of the E! Network's "50 Hottest Hollywood Hookups". Stimulator toured the world supporting Duran Duran, The Go-Go's and were featured performers on the Van's Warped Tour.
  
  wn.com/Geoff_Tyson
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  Glenn Hughes
  Glenn Hughes (born 21 August 1951) is an English rock bassist and vocalist, best known for playing bass and performing vocals for funk rock pioneers Trapeze and the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. In addition to being an active session musician, Hughes also maintains a notable solo career, and currently fronts the supergroup Black Country Communion.
  Hughes fronted Finders Keepers in the 1960s as bassist/vocalist, as well as the British funk rock band Trapeze. Hughes was recruited to replace Roger Glover as bassist in Deep Purple in 1973, though he considered himself a vocalist as opposed to a bassist. When David Coverdale was later hired as Deep Purple's lead vocalist, the two would ultimately share lead vocal duties in the band until their breakup in 1976. Battling severe cocaine addiction, Hughes embarked on a solo career following his departure from the group.
  In 1982, he joined with ex-Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form Hughes/Thrall, they released one self-titled album which went virtually unnoticed at the time but is now often cited by many fans/musicians to be their favourite Glenn Hughes album. In the mid-1980s, Hughes recorded several different albums with bands and artists including Phenomena (Phenomena, Phenomena II: Dream Runner), Gary Moore (Run For Cover), and Black Sabbath (Seventh Star, though this was to have been a solo album by Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, and only came out as a Sabbath album due to record label pressure).
  
  wn.com/Glenn_Hughes
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  Gregg Bissonette
  Gregg Bissonette, (born June 9, 1959, Detroit, Michigan) is an American drummer.
  Bissonette was born in a family of musicians. His father Bud Bissonette plays drums, his mother Phyllis plays piano and vibraphone, and brother Matt Bissonette plays bass guitar. Bissonette started learning to play the drums at age 5 from his father. Bissonette went on to study at the University of North Texas where he was a music education major. He was also featured in the famed One O'Clock Lab Band. After college, he joined Matt in the Maynard Ferguson Big Band and recorded "Live from San Francisco".
  One of Bissonette's first recordings was Brandon Field's "The Other Side of the Story" in 1985. It also featured David Garfield on keyboards. A few years later Bissonette would start playing shows with Brandon, David, and Steve Lukather on guitar and with John Pena on bass as "Los Lobotomys" to standing room only audiences. These shows took place at The Baked Potato, a jazz club and restaurant located in Los Angeles, California, playing rock, Latin, jazz and more.
  
  wn.com/Gregg_Bissonette
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  Ian Gillan
  Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945 in Hounslow, London) is an English rock music vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist for Deep Purple. During his career Gillan also fronted his own band, had a year-long stint as the vocalist for Black Sabbath, and sang the role of Jesus in the original recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar. In his prime, Gillan was known for his wide vocal range - particularly the high pitched screams evidenced in the song "Child In Time".
  Gillan was born at Chiswick Maternity Hospital, Middlesex. Gillan's father was a storekeeper at a factory in London. He grew up moving between council flats before settling in a three-bedroom semi-detached on a council estate in Cranford, Hounslow.
  Between 1962 and 1964 Gillan was in a band called The Javelins, where he was known as Jess Thunder. He then joined Wainwright's Gentlemen until 1965. The band recorded a number of tracks including a cover of The Hollies hit "Ain't That Just Like Me" which was officially released in February 2011 on a compilation CD "Rare Mod, Volume 3" on the Acid Jazz label (AJXCD 238). The track features Gillan on vocals, Mick Tucker (later of Sweet) on drums and, according to band bassist Jan Frewer, is thought to have been recorded in 1965. Between 1965 and '69, when he joined Deep Purple, he achieved minor success with Episode Six.
  
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  Ian Paice
  Ian Anderson Paice (born 29 June 1948) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the English rock band Deep Purple. As of Jon Lord's departure in 2002, he is the only founding member of the band who never stopped performing with the group, and the only member to appear on every album the band has released.
  Ian Paice got his first drum kit at 15. He began his professional career in the late 50s playing drums in his father's dance band. The first band he was in was called Georgie & the Rave-Ons, which after being renamed for The Shindigs released their first single featuring 17-year old Ian Paice and George Adams.
  In 1966 Paice joined The MI5, which soon changed its name to The Maze and produced a number of singles, recorded mainly in Italy and France. The band featured Rod Evans, who alongside Paice was to form the original line-up of Deep Purple in February 1968.
  During this time Ian Paice was also heavily involved in doing sessions for various artists from the stable of the famous 60s producer Derek Lawrence.
  
  wn.com/Ian_Paice
• Jason Becker
  Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American neo-classical metal guitarist and composer. At the age of 16, he became part of the Mike Varney-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman. They released Speed Metal Symphony in 1987 and Go Off! in 1988. Cacophony broke up in 1989 and Becker began doing solo work, having released his first album Perpetual Burn in 1988. He later joined David Lee Roth's band and recorded one album with him. However, Becker's success was hampered by his then-diagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and he was given three to five years to live. In 1996, Becker eventually lost the ability to speak and now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Despite his disability, he continues composing by using a computer and has since released Collection, a "best of" album of his favorite songs and three new songs.
  Becker was born and raised in the city, Richmond, California by his parents, Gary and Pat Becker. He was born on 23rd Street in Richmond Hospital in 1969. He graduated from Kennedy High School where he performed Yngwie Malmsteen's Black Star with his band at a talent show. [1] In high school, Becker met his friend Marty Friedman. He was exposed to the guitar at an early age because both his father and his uncle were guitar players. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world, and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. He practiced to Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, and many others. [2]
  
  wn.com/Jason_Becker
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  Jeff Beck
  Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are the other two). Beck also formed The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice.
  Much of Beck's recorded output has been instrumental, with a focus on innovative sound and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz fusion and an additional blend of guitar-rock and electronica. Although he recorded two hit albums (in 1975 and 1976) as a solo act, Beck has not established or maintained the sustained commercial success of many of his contemporaries and bandmates. Beck appears on albums by Mick Jagger, Kate Bush, Roger Waters, Donovan, Stevie Wonder, Les Paul, Zucchero, Cyndi Lauper, Brian May and ZZ Top. In 1988, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Twins.
  He was ranked 5th in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and the magazine has described him as "one of the most influential lead guitarists in rock".MSNBC has called him a "guitarist's guitarist". Beck has earned wide critical praise and received the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance six times and Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance once. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: as a member of The Yardbirds (1992) and as a solo artist (2009).
  
  wn.com/Jeff_Beck
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  Jimi Hendrix
  James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest electric guitarist in music history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era despite mainstream exposure limited to just three years. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, he headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback.
  Hendrix helped to popularize use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock, which he often used to deliver tonal exaggerations in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a record producer, he also broke new ground in using the recording studio as an extension of his musical ideas. He was one of the first to experiment with stereophonic phasing effects for rock recording.^{[citation needed]} He was influenced by blues artists such as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King and Elmore James,rhythm and blues and soul guitarists Curtis Mayfield and Steve Cropper, and the jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Hendrix began dressing and wearing a moustache like Little Richard when he performed and recorded in his band from March 1, 1964 through to the spring of 1965. In 1966, he stated, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice".
  
  wn.com/Jimi_Hendrix
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  Jimmy Page
  James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE (born 9 January 1944) is an English guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.
  Jimmy Page is viewed by critics, fans and fellow musicians alike as one of the most influential and important guitarists and songwriters in rock music.Rolling Stone magazine has described him as "the pontiff of power riffing & probably the most digitally sampled artist in pop today after James Brown." In 2010, Jimmy Page was ranked No.2 in Gibson's list of "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time" and, in 2007, No.4 on Classic Rock Magazine's "100 Wildest Guitar Heroes". Page was ranked third in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice; once as a member of The Yardbirds (1992), and once as a member of Led Zeppelin (1995).
  
  wn.com/Jimmy_Page
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  Joe Lynn Turner
  Joe Lynn Turner (August 2, 1951), is an American singer, known for his works with hard rock band Rainbow. During his career, Turner fronted pop rock band Fandango, had the short-lived collaboration as the vocalist for Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force and Deep Purple. From the late 1990s, he continued to perform in a large number of solo albums and other studio projects. He played the accordion as a child, grew up with an appreciation for classic R&B and became an accomplished guitarist in his early teens.
  Born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito to an Italian family, in high school, Joe formed Ezra, performing original material and cover songs by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Free, Queen, and Deep Purple. In 1976, Turner enjoyed his first taste of national success with Fandango, a band described as an eclectic mix of R&B, pop, country, jazz and melodic rock. He sang and played guitar on all of the band's four albums. Fandango toured with numerous artists including The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel.
  
  wn.com/Joe_Lynn_Turner
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  Joe Satriani
  Joseph "Joe" Satriani (born July 15, 1956) is an American instrumental rock guitarist of Italian origin, multi-instrumentalist and multiple Grammy Award nominee. Early in his career, Satriani worked as a guitar instructor, and some of his former students have achieved fame such as Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan and Alex Skolnick. Satriani has been a driving force in music credited to other musicians throughout his career, as a founder of the G3 tour, as well as performing in various positions with other musicians.
  In 1988, Satriani was recruited by Mick Jagger as lead guitarist for Jagger's first solo tour. In 1994, Satriani was the lead guitarist for Deep Purple. Satriani worked with a range of guitarists, including Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Larry LaLonde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May, Patrick Rondat, Andy Timmons, Paul Gilbert, Adrian Legg, and Robert Fripp through the annual G3 Jam Concerts. He is currently the lead guitarist for the supergroup Chickenfoot. Since 1988, Satriani has been using his own signature guitar, the Ibanez JS Series, which is sold in music stores worldwide.
  
  wn.com/Joe_Satriani
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  John Petrucci
  John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He is also a backing vocalist for Dream Theater. Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarists. In 2009 he was named the No. 2 Best metal guitarist by Joel McIver in his book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine.
  John Petrucci was born on July 12, 1967 in Kings Park, New York to an Italian American family. He picked up the guitar at the early age of 8 because his older sister was allowed to go to bed later in order to practice the piano. However he decided to quit the guitar when his attempts to stay up late were unsuccessful. He would later pick up the guitar again at the age of 12 when his childhood friend and future Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore invited John to join his cover band.
  
  wn.com/John_Petrucci
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  Jon Lord
  Jonathan Douglas "Jon" Lord D.M. (born 9 June 1941) is an English composer, pianist and Hammond organ player known for his pioneering work in fusing rock and classical or baroque forms, especially with Deep Purple, besides Whitesnake, Paice, Ashton & Lord, The Artwoods and Flower Pot Men.
  In 1968, Lord founded Deep Purple, where he was virtually the leader of the band until 1970. In addition, Lord wrote the organ riff on "Child in Time". He and drummer Ian Paice were the only constant band members during the band's existence from 1968 to 1976 and from when they reformed in 1984 until Lord's retirement from Deep Purple in 2002. On 11 November 2010, Lord was made an Honorary Fellow of Stevenson College, Edinburgh. On 15 July 2011, he was granted an honorary Doctor of Music degree by his home town's University of Leicester.
  Jon Lord was born in Leicester on 9 June 1941 to his parents Miriam (1912–1995, née Hudson) and Reg. He studied classical piano from the age of five, and those influences are a recurring trademark in his work. His influences range from Bach (a constant connection in his music and his keyboard improvisation) to Medieval popular music and the English tradition of Edward Elgar.
  
  wn.com/Jon_Lord
• Jonathan Mover
  Jonathan Mover is an American drummer who has worked with a number of artists including Aretha Franklin, Fuel, Alice Cooper, Shakira, Julian Lennon, GTR, Everlast, The Tubes, Mick Jagger, Steve Howe, Peter Frampton, Oleander, Celine Dion, Elton John, Stuart Hamm, They Might Be Giants, Frank Gambale, Mike Oldfield, Steve Hackett, Marillion, Joe Satriani, Derek Sherinian, Joe Lynn Turner, Dave Koz, Jan Hammer and others. He was raised in the Boston area and began playing drums at age thirteen. His focus since he began playing has been to see the world via touring and work steadily as a freelance session musician. His style allows him to play in genres such as rock, soul, R&B, heavy metal, jazz fusion, funk, punk, rap, hip hop and pop. As an engineer and/or producer, Mover has worked with Shakira, Flo Rida, Brett Scallions, Rick Ross, Fuel, Carnival Divine and French guitar virtuoso Rudy Roberts among others, as well as being the engineer and sound editor on Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup. Although Mover works primarily in the studio, he can be seen on the road these days touring with The Tubes, subbing for their drummer Prairie Prince.
  
  wn.com/Jonathan_Mover
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  Jordan Rudess
  Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes on November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.
  Rudess was born in 1956 into a Jewish family. He was recognized by his 2nd grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional tuition. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, but by his late teens he had grown increasingly interested in synthesizers and progressive rock music. Against the counsel of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and tried his hand as a solo progressive rock keyboardist.
  After performing in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll after the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands who took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily as being a part time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.
  
  wn.com/Jordan_Rudess
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  Kenny Aronoff
  Kenny Aronoff (born March 7, 1953) is an American drummer. He has played drums for many musicians, including John Mellencamp, Bob Seger, Belinda Carlisle, Elton John, John Fogerty, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Loaf, The BoDeans, Gregg Alexander, The Smashing Pumpkins, Chickenfoot, Tony Iommi, Jon Bon Jovi, Vasco Rossi, Cinderella and Stryper.
  After graduating from Indiana University, in 1976, where he studied under the acclaimed tympanist George Gaber, Aronoff passed on several symphony orchestra offers and decided to head for the East Coast where he studied drum set in Boston and New York. During this time he began to concentrate on jazz and fusion music, and in 1977 he returned to Bloomington, Indiana and spent several years in a popular local band, playing throughout the Midwest.
  In 1980 he joined John Mellencamp's band, recording 10 albums and touring with him over a 17-year period.
  In the mid-1980s, Kenny began to develop an enormously successful career as a studio musician, playing on hundreds of records as well as touring worldwide with many artists. Aronoff has recorded with musicians such as Tony Iommi, John Mellencamp, The Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Seger, John Fogerty, Melissa Etheridge, Jon Bon Jovi, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alanis Morissette, Joe Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Cinderella, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Puddle of Mudd, Avril Lavigne, Joe Cocker, B. B. King, Mick Jagger, Ray Charles, M2M, Alice Cooper, The BoDeans, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Raitt, Ricky Martin, Santana, Trey Anastasio, GB Leighton, Michelle Branch, Marion Raven, Vince Gill, Gladys Knight, Aaron Neville, Trisha Yearwood, Patti LaBelle, George Jones, Conway Twitty, The Buddy Rich Big Band, Jefferson Airplane, Jason Sadites, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Alex Band, Johnny Cash, Betty Moon, Brooke White, Stevie Nicks, Nicky Trebek and Switchblade Glory.
  
  wn.com/Kenny_Aronoff
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  Kenny Wayne Shepherd
  Kenny Wayne Shepherd (born Kenny Wayne Brobst, June 12, 1977, Shreveport, Louisiana) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He has released several studio albums and experienced a rare level of commercial success both as a blues artist and a young musician.
  Shepherd graduated Caddo Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. The guitarist is "completely self taught", and does not read music. Growing up, Shepherd's father (Ken Shepherd) was a local radio personality and some-time concert promoter, and had a vast collection of music. Shepherd got his first "guitar" at the age of three or four, when his grandmother purchased a series of several plastic guitars for him with S&H Green Stamps, which Shepherd has said he would "go through like candy".^{[clarification needed]}
  Shepherd stated in a 2010 interview that he began playing guitar in earnest at age seven, about six months after meeting and being "pretty mesmerized" by Stevie Ray Vaughan, in June 1984, at one of his father's promoted concerts. His self-taught method employed a process of learning one note at a time, playing and rewinding cassette tapes, utilizing "a cheap Yamaha wanna-be Stratocaster...made out of plywood, basically", learning Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Albert Lee licks from his father's vast music collection.
  
  wn.com/Kenny_Wayne_Shepherd
• Kevin Cadogan
  Kevin Rene Cadogan (born August 14, 1970 in Oakland, California) is an American singer/songwriter, producer and rock guitarist. He is a founding member of the band Third Eye Blind. he performed with the band from 1993 to 2000. Cadogan co-wrote some of Third Eye Blind's most notable hits, including "How's It Going to Be", "Losing a Whole Year", and "Graduate", He co-wrote 10 of the 14 songs on the self titled Third Eye Blind debut album. Kevin Cadogan along with his co-writer Stephan Jenkins signed a recording contract with Elektra records in May 1996 which launched Third Eye Blind into stardom. In 2011 Cadogan was honored on the show "Pensado's Place" by successful record producer Eric Valentine. Valentine cited Kevin Cadogan as his favorite rock guitarist that he has ever recorded; "Kevin is such a pleasure to work with..his whole thing is just amazing"
  As a child, Cadogan spent two years in England while his father taught on sabbatical. Later, the family returned to the United States and settled in Berkeley, California. The Cadogan family maintains their Irish heritage, and Cadogan holds dual American and Irish citizenship. Cadogan's song "Waiting For Me" refers to his close ties to Ireland.
  
  wn.com/Kevin_Cadogan
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  Kirk Hammett
  Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.
  Hammett was born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco to a Filipina mother Teofila "Chefela" Oyao and an Irish Merchant Marine father. He attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California. While attending De Anza High School he met Les Claypool of Primus and they remain close friends.
  After purchasing a 1978 Fender Stratocaster copy, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually buying a 1974 Gibson Flying V. Hammett also took a job at Burger King as a youth before quitting once he saved enough money for his Marshall amplifier.
  Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal genre. In 1980, he formed the band Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. He played on Exodus' 1982 Demo. Exodus was an influential band in the Bay Area thrash movement.
  
  wn.com/Kirk_Hammett
• Kurt Vonnegut
  Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. ( /ˈvɒnɨɡət/; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was a 20th century American writer. His works such as Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973) blend satire, gallows humor, and science fiction. As a citizen he was a lifelong supporter of the American Civil Liberties Union and a critical leftist intellectual. He was known for his humanist beliefs and was honorary president of the American Humanist Association.
  Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to third-generation German-American parents, Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. and Edith Lieber. Both his father and his grandfather Bernard Vonnegut attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and were architects in the Indianapolis firm of Vonnegut & Bohn. His great-grandfather Clemens Vonnegut, Sr. was the founder of the Vonnegut Hardware Company, an Indianapolis institution. Vonnegut graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis in May 1940 and matriculated into Cornell University that fall. Though majoring in chemistry, he was Assistant Managing Editor and Associate Editor of The Cornell Daily Sun. He was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, as was his father. While at Cornell, Vonnegut enlisted in the U.S. Army. The Army transferred him to the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee to study mechanical engineering.
  
  wn.com/Kurt_Vonnegut
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  Larry LaLonde
  Larry "Ler" LaLonde (born Reid Lawrence LaLonde on September 12, 1968 in Oakland, California) is a guitarist who currently plays in Primus along with Les Claypool and Jay Lane. He has also played with Possessed, Blind Illusion, No Forcefield, and the Frank Zappa tribute band "Caca".
  Originally inspired by guitarists such as Frank Zappa, Snakefinger, East Bay Ray, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and his teacher Joe Satriani, LaLonde eventually became interested in early thrash metal bands such as Metallica and Slayer. LaLonde formed his first band in high school, a speed metal band called Blizzard. LaLonde left the band later on to join the first generation death metal band Possessed. Possessed's landmark first album, Seven Churches, was released in 1985 when LaLonde was just 17 years old.
  Possessed released two less successful albums before breaking up in 1987. LaLonde then joined experimental thrash metal band Blind Illusion, appearing on the 1988 album The Sane Asylum, through which he became friends with bassist Les Claypool. At around the same time LaLonde was also a member of Corrupted Morals, with whom he recorded the album Cheese-It, released the following year. At the start of 1989, LaLonde left Blind Illusion and Corrupted Morals when Claypool invited him to reform the funk metal outfit Primus, which had been on hiatus since original guitarist Todd Huth left the previous year.
  
  wn.com/Larry_LaLonde
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  Lennie Tristano
  Leonard Joseph Tristano (19 March 1919 – 18 November 1978) was a jazz pianist, composer and teacher of jazz improvisation. He performed in the cool jazz, bebop, post bop and avant-garde jazz genres. He remains a somewhat overlooked figure in jazz history, but his enormous originality and dazzling work as an improviser have long been appreciated by knowledgeable jazz fans. In addition, his work as a jazz educator meant that he has exerted a substantial influence on jazz through figures such as Lee Konitz and Bill Evans.
  Tristano was born in Chicago into an Italian immigrant family from Aversa. He was blind from infancy and studied piano and music theory from pre-teen years, graduating with a bachelor's degree from his home town's American Conservatory of Music in 1943.
  Tristano's interest in jazz inspired a move to New York City in 1946. His advanced grasp of harmony pushed his music beyond even the complexities of the contemporary bebop movement, though Tristano was always explicit about acknowledging his enormous debt to Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. Other key ingredients in his style were Nat King Cole and Art Tatum, influences most audible in his early drummerless trio recordings. Though he and his followers remained at something of a slant to mainstream bebop, Tristano did on occasion play and record with bebop's preeminent figures such as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and Tristano was a pallbearer at Parker's funeral. Often the "Tristano school" has been contrasted with bebop, however, by being labelled "cool jazz", though this risks lumping his music in with unrelated styles like the West Coast cool jazz of the 1950s.
  
  wn.com/Lennie_Tristano
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  Manu Katché
  Manu Katché (27 October 1958, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés) is a French musician of Ivorian origin. He is a drummer and songwriter.
  He became known by some in the music world in the mid-1980s mostly thanks to the huge success of Peter Gabriel's 1986 album So and his subsequent work with Sting on the albums …Nothing Like the Sun and The Soul Cages. Since then he has been prominently featured in the pop, rock and world music scenes playing with numerous bands and artists, including Afro Celt Sound System, Jeff Beck, Al Di Meola, Tears For Fears, Eurythmics, Simple Minds, Dire Straits, Jan Garbarek, Manu Chao, Loreena McKennitt, Youssou N'Dour, Robbie Robertson, Joan Armatrading, Joe Satriani, Tori Amos, Richard Wright, Kyle Eastwood, Ryuichi Sakamoto and the aforementioned Peter Gabriel and Sting, with whom he has also toured extensively. Manu has also worked with Zlatan Stipišić Gibonni, a popular Croatian singer, on his albums "Mirakul" (2001) and "Unca Fibre" (2006), he has also toured with Gibonni supporting the two albums. He also played drums on all tracks except one on Tracy Chapman's 1992 release "Matters of the Heart".
  
  wn.com/Manu_Katché
• Martin Birch
  Martin Birch is a British rock and heavy metal music producer, who became renowned for engineering and producing albums by the British rock bands Deep Purple and Iron Maiden.
  Birch has also produced and engineered albums for numerous artists, such as Deep Purple-related projects (Rainbow, Paice, Ashton & Lord, Whitesnake, Roger Glover, Jon Lord), but also Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs and Blue Öyster Cult. On Fleetwood Mac's album Mystery to Me (1973) he is also credited playing acoustic guitar.
  The song "Hard Lovin' Man" from the Deep Purple album Deep Purple in Rock is dedicated to him : "For Martin Birch - catalyst".[2]
  He retired in 1992, after producing Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark album. Birch appears on Iron Maiden's music video "Holy Smoke".
  Sources:,Discogs
  Martin Birch other artists, Mainland title Exposure 1979 1979 Mainland Exposure Producer
  [2] Deep Purple In Rock inlay
  1970 - Harvest / EMI Records Inc.
  
  wn.com/Martin_Birch
• Matt Bissonette
  Matt Bissonette (born 1961) is an American bass player and the brother of drummer Gregg Bissonette. He attended the University of North Texas's jazz music program. According to Guitar 9, an online musicianship magazine, he has played bass and other stringed instruments on at least 22 albums, with music styles ranging from jazz, jazz fusion, progressive metal, and instrumental rock. The October 2002 edition of Bassinside, a bass musician's online magazine, reports that Matt has played in several different bands and has recorded with various artists. Such artists include Joe Satriani, David Lee Roth,Lita Ford, Daniel Glen Timms,Julian Lennon, Steve Perry, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Ty Tabor (of King's X), Tom Andrews, and Peter Frampton. He also played bass on his brother Gregg's solo album.
  In 2003 he and his brother Gregg backed Ringo Starr on a promotional tour of the United States.
  In 2004 he played alongside Boz Scaggs on Boz Scaggs Greatest Hits Live CD and DVD.
  The two brothers backed Starr again in 2005 at live shows at Irving Plaza in New York City in June 2005, at the Genesse Theatre in Waukegan, IL for the PBS show SoundStage, and the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, as well as on several TV appearances (CBS This Morning, etc.)
  
  wn.com/Matt_Bissonette
• Michael Bradford
  Michael Bradford was born and raised on Detroit's East Side, an area that was once a working-class neighborhood, but quickly deteriorated into decay after the city's tumultuous riots in 1967.
  The late 60s and early 70s were also a remarkable time in Detroit for music. The Motown Sound was sweeping the nation, but also local bands like The Rationals, Bob Seger and The Frost were getting constant exposure on local radio, along with rock from bands like The James Gang, Sly and the Family Stone and Vanilla Fudge. Many of these bands performed at a local concert venue, The Eastown Theatre, on Harper Avenue. The theatre was a converted movie theatre, and was a short distance from the Bradford home. Due to the influence of the rock crowd, the theatre had gotten a reputation for being "one of the city’s most notorious drug-infused rock venues". Michael's early exposure to rock music made him want to pursue a career in rock, rather than the more obvious choice of R&B.
  In 1973, Michael was admitted to University Liggett School, a private school in Grosse Pointe Michigan. Fellow classmates included Jeffrey Eugenides, who would go on to write The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. Michael stayed at ULS, graduating from the 12th Grade in 1978.
  
  wn.com/Michael_Bradford
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  Michael Schenker
  Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955, Sarstedt, Lower Saxony) is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as an early member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the Michael Schenker Group in various incarnations. He is the younger brother of Rudolf Schenker, who is still a guitarist with the Scorpions. His career has had many ups and downs, partly due to a long history of alcoholism and personal problems; still, Schenker continues to perform and record and to maintain a following, and is called "a legendary figure in the history of metal guitar."
  Michael Schenker started playing guitar at an early age, after his brother Rudolf brought home a Gibson Flying V guitar, which captured his imagination. He played his first gig when he was 11, with Rudolf and the Scorpions in a nightclub. Schenker debuted with Scorpions on their debut album Lonesome Crow at age 17.
  
  wn.com/Michael_Schenker
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  Mick Jagger
  Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger, (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead vocalist and a founder member of The Rolling Stones.
  Jagger's career has spanned over fifty years. Allmusic has described Jagger as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". His distinctive voice and performance, along with Keith Richards' guitar style, have been the trademark of The Rolling Stones throughout the career of the band. In 1989, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with The Rolling Stones.
  Jagger gained much press notoriety for admitted drug use and romantic involvements, and was often portrayed as a counterculture figure. In the late 1960s Jagger began acting in films (starting with Performance and Ned Kelly), to mixed reception. In 1985, Jagger released his first solo album, She's the Boss, and was knighted in 2003. In early 2009, he joined the eclectic supergroup SuperHeavy.
  Jagger was born into a middle class family at Livingstone Hospital, in Dartford, Kent, England. His father, Basil Fanshawe ("Joe") Jagger (13 April 1913 – 11 November 2006), and his grandfather David Ernest Jagger were both teachers. His mother, Eva Ensley Mary (née Scutts; 6 April 1913 – 18 May 2000), born in New South Wales, Australia, was a hairdresser and an active member of the Conservative Party. Jagger is the elder of two sons (his brother Chris Jagger was born on 19 December 1947) and was raised to follow in his father's career path.
  
  wn.com/Mick_Jagger
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  Mike Keneally
  Michael Joseph Keneally (born December 20, 1961) is an American guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer. Allmusic says: "With his wide-ranging talents and ability to be creative in almost any musical situation, Keneally is the leading progressive rock genius of the post-Zappa era."
  Born on Long Island, New York, he moved to San Diego, California, at an early age and has been a fixture on the local music scene there since 1985 when he formed the local cult band, Drop Control. Although a well established musician in his own right, Keneally is probably most well known as former Frank Zappa "stunt guitarist" and a Zappa 1988 tour band member on both guitar and keyboards. His ascendency to that position is legendary in certain musician circles, based on Keneally's command of Zappa's vast and difficult-to-play repertoire.
  Keneally's stint in the Zappa touring band was short-lived with the early cancellation of the 1988 tour and Zappa's death in 1993. Keneally moved on from the elder Zappa's band to work with the eldest Zappa son, Dweezil on his solo albums and work released as the band, Z.
  
  wn.com/Mike_Keneally
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  Nathan East
  Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a jazz, R&B and rock bass player and vocalist. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego (1978). He is a member of smooth jazz quartet Fourplay and has recorded, performed and co-written songs with performers such as Eric Clapton, Joe Satriani, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto and Herbie Hancock.
  Born to Thomas and Gwendolyn East, he is one of eight children (five boys and three girls) raised in San Diego, California, where the family moved when he was four. East first studied cello in seventh through ninth grades and played in local Horace Mann junior high school's orchestra. At age fourteen he developed an interest in the bass guitar, playing in church (Christ The King) for folk masses with his brothers Raymond and David. He was active in his (Crawford) high school's music programs along with a local top 40 band called "Power". He has said his early influences included Charles Mingus, Ray Brown and Ron Carter on upright bass; and James Jamerson, Paul McCartney and Chuck Rainey on electric bass. He studied music at UC San Diego. Nathan East is an accomplished amateur magician.
  
  wn.com/Nathan_East
• Nick Simper
  Nicholas John Simper (born 3 November 1945, at Frogmore House Maternity Home, Norwood Green, Southall, Middlesex) is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Deep Purple.
  Prior to co-founding Deep Purple in 1968, Simper played for a number of bands, including The Renegades (1960–61), The Delta Five (1961–63), Some Other Guys (1963–64), Buddy Britten & The Regents renamed Simon Raven Cult (1964–66) and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. Unfortunately within a few months of joining Kidd and Simper were involved in a car crash that took Kidd's life. After recovering Simper briefly reactivated The Pirates (1966–67) before joining the Garden, the backing band for The Flower Pot Men (1967–68), where he played alongside Jon Lord. He also had a brief spell with Lord Sutch's Savages, a band that previously had included Ritchie Blackmore.
  Simper was fired from Deep Purple in mid 1969, when new singer Ian Gillan requested that bassist Roger Glover join as well. When Deep Purple were starting, Simper had proposed that Gillan join as a singer. Gillan is said to have told him that Deep Purple wouldn't go anywhere, while Episode Six (Gillan's band at the time) would make it big.
  
  wn.com/Nick_Simper
• Patrick Rondat
  Patrick Rondat is a French guitarist. He plays instrumental heavy metal associated with diverse influences such as new age music, progressive metal, classical music and jazz. He appears in some shows by Jean Michel Jarre.
  He has played with Elegy, Consortium Project, Red Circuit, G3 with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and Jean Michel Jarre. He is also featured on the song "Rainmaker" on Vanden Plas's Spirit of Live album. He participated in the compilation "Rock Hard appointment" (Vogue, 1989), which made him known to a wider audience, and began a French tour with Blue Oyster Cult. The release of the debut solo album "Just For Fun" confirms his position as leader of the metal instrumental.
  He began touring with "Rape of the Earth" (Vogue / Music For Nation 1991). His first two albums are distributed internationally, and he is involved in the famous live show BBC Radio 1 London, in which the technique is still present, with compositions more mature and accomplished. Alongside his solo career, Patrick has worked with other artists. The meeting with Jarre in 1991 opened new horizons in music. After his participation in Monsters of Rock (AC/DC, Metallica, Queensrÿche etc ...), he began working with Jean-Michel, recording the album Chronologie which led to participation in an impressive series of concerts around the world, including one at Wembley Stadium in 1993. This meeting also led to the recording of "Amphibia" (FDM 1996), produced by Jean-Michel, on which he is accompanied by Tommy Aldridge and Patrice Guers . This album continues the musical change in "Rape of the Earth" where the compositions of progressive influences are affirmed in an adaptation of the landmark Presto Vivaldi (Vivaldi Tribute).
  
  wn.com/Patrick_Rondat
• 
  Paul Gilbert
  Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois, USA) is an American guitarist. He is well known for his technical guitar work with Racer X and Mr. Big, as well as many solo albums and numerous collaborations and guest appearances with other musicians.
  He has been voted number 4 on a list in GuitarOne magazine of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time", as well as a spot in Guitar World's 50 Fastest Guitarists of All Time list.
  Gilbert was raised in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Around 1981-82, he first contacted Mike Varney, founder of Shrapnel Records, asking for a gig with Ozzy Osbourne. At the time, Varney couldn't think why Osbourne would want a 15 year old guitarist, but after listening to his demo he changed his mind. Gilbert was featured in Guitar Player magazine at the age of fifteen. They talked for the next 3 years, until Paul went to L.A. for the GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology), and then was ready to record Racer X's debut album Street Lethal.
  
  wn.com/Paul_Gilbert
• Randy California
  Randy California (born Randy Craig Wolfe; February 20, 1951 – January 2, 1997) was a guitarist, singer and songwriter and one of the original members of the rock group Spirit, formed in 1967.
  Randy was born into a musical family in Los Angeles and spent his early years studying varied styles at the family's Los Angeles folk club, the Ash Grove. Randy's uncle, Ed Pearl, was famous as the founder of the Ash Grove. He was 15 years old when his mother Bernice Pearl and new stepfather, Ed Cassidy (later to become a founding member of the band Spirit, with Randy), moved to New York City in the summer of 1966 because Cassidy had a number of jazz gigs lined up. It was there, at Manny's Guitars, that Randy met Jimi Hendrix. He played in Hendrix's band The Blue Flame that summer. California, Cassidy and Pearl lived in an apartment building in Forest Hills (Queens), New York called the Balfour, whose other residents included future Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, who cites California's blues-based guitar style as an influence on his own playing.
  
  wn.com/Randy_California
• Rick Hunolt
  Rick Hunolt is an American heavy metal guitarist who is best known for being the long time guitarist in thrash metal band Exodus. He joined the band in 1983, replacing Mike Maung who had been hired to replace original guitarist Kirk Hammett who left to join Metallica. He subsequently performed on all their albums in the 1980s and 1990s, sharing leads with original member Gary Holt (together known as the "H-team"). He rejoined the band in 2004 for the Tempo of the Damned album, but left the band shortly afterwards in order to spend more time with his family. Hunolt will reunite with Exodus in the summer of 2012 for their European tour, but is not officially rejoining; he will be filling in for Gary Holt, who will filling in for Jeff Hanneman in Slayer.
  Rick Hunolt used Ibanez and Jackson guitars in the 80s and 90s. Prior to his years spent with Exodus. Hunolt was a student of guitarist Joe Satriani.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Rick_Hunolt
• 
  Ritchie Blackmore
  Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore (born 14 April 1945) is a British guitarist and songwriter, who is known as one of the first guitarists to fuse classical music elements with blues rock. He began his professional career as a studio session musician and was subsequently a member of Deep Purple, after which Blackmore established a successful career fronting his own band Rainbow, and later progressed to the traditional folk rock project Blackmore's Night with his wife.
  Blackmore was born at Allandale Nursing Home, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, South West England, but moved to Heston, Middlesex (now Greater London) at the age of two. Although the surname Blackmore is thought to be of English origin, his father was of Welsh ancestry and his mother of English. He was 11 when he got his first guitar. His father bought it for him on certain conditions, including learning how to play properly, so he took classical guitar lessons for one year.
  While at school he did well at sports including the javelin. Blackmore left school at age 15 and started work as an apprentice radio mechanic at nearby Heathrow Airport. He was given guitar lessons by Big Jim Sullivan.
  
  wn.com/Ritchie_Blackmore
• 
  Robert Fripp
  Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and No. 47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique often associated with the banjo. His compositions often feature unusual time signatures, which have been influenced by classical and folk traditions. His innovations have included Frippertronics following collaboration with Brian Eno, soundscapes, and New Standard Tuning.
  As a guitarist for the progressive rock band King Crimson, Fripp has been the only member to have played in all of King Crimson's line-ups. As a studio musician, Fripp improvised the guitar solo to David Bowie's Heroes, and contributed sounds to the Windows Vista operating system. His complete discography lists more than seven hundred releases over four decades.
  Fripp was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. His earliest professional work began in 1967, when he responded to an ad looking for a singing organist for a band being formed by bassist Peter Giles and drummer Michael Giles, despite being neither a singer nor an organist. Though unsuccessful as a live act, Giles, Giles and Fripp released two singles, as well as an album, The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Robert_Fripp
• Rod Evans
  Rod Evans (born 19 January 1947 in Slough, Berkshire) is a former English singer and was a founding member of Deep Purple in 1968. He provided vocals for the group's first three albums, including the hit singles "Hush" and "Kentucky Woman". He was replaced by Ian Gillan in 1969.
  Before joining Deep Purple, Evans played together with Ian Paice in The Maze, formerly MI5. He was also in a band called The Horizons in the mid 1960s.
  He was a founding member of Deep Purple when they formed in Hertfordshire in 1968. The most recognised song recorded with Evans singing is "Hush", which reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard charts in October, 1968.
  After recording three albums with the band, he was dismissed and replaced with Ian Gillan in 1969. After his departure, Deep Purple became a heavier outfit, as opposed to the more progressive and pop driven sound established with Evans.
  After leaving Deep Purple, Rod recorded a solo single for Capitol, then went on to form Captain Beyond, along with former Johnny Winter drummer Bobby Caldwell, former Iron Butterfly bassist Lee Dorman and guitarist Larry "Rhino" Reinhardt, who also was part of the last incarnation of Iron Butterfly. This band proved to be very influential, but sales never reflected their musical achievements. Lack of commercial success ended the group after three albums.
  
  wn.com/Rod_Evans
• 
  Roger Glover
  Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945 in Brecon) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. Glover is best known as the bassist for the hard rock band, Deep Purple. Glover wrote the guitar riff on "Maybe I'm a Leo"
  Born near Brecon, Wales, Glover moved with his family to St Helens before settling in the South Kensington area of London, at the age of ten. Around that time, Glover's interests started to shift towards rock music, and by the time he was thirteen, Glover began playing guitar. He later moved to the North London district of Pinner and while at Harrow County School for Boys Glover formed his first band, Madisons, with a group of friends, which later merged with a rival band to become Episode Six, a band which later featured Glover's future Deep Purple bandmate, vocalist Ian Gillan. The two left Episode Six in 1969 to join Deep Purple.
  After spending four years with Deep Purple, where the band saw their most successful releases in the albums, in Rock and Machine Head, Glover, along with Gillan, departed after Deep Purple's second tour of Japan in the summer of 1973. Glover said, "I wrote the riff to "Maybe I'm a Leo" after hearing John Lennon’s "How Do You Sleep?".
  
  wn.com/Roger_Glover
• 
  Screaming Lord Sutch
  David Edward Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), also known as "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", or simply "Screaming Lord Sutch", was a musician from the United Kingdom. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and served as its leader from 1983 to 1999, during which time he stood in numerous parliamentary elections.
  Sutch was born at New End Hospital, Hampstead, northwest London. In the 1960s, inspired by Screamin' Jay Hawkins, he changed his artist name to "Screaming Lord Sutch, 3rd Earl of Harrow", despite having no connection with the peerage. His legal name remained David Edward Sutch.
  After his career as an early-'60s rock 'n' roll attraction, it became customary for the UK press to refer to him as "Screaming Lord Sutch", or simply "Lord Sutch". Early works included recordings produced by audio pioneer Joe Meek.
  During the 1960s, Screaming Lord Sutch was known for his horror-themed stage show, dressing as Jack the Ripper, pre-dating the shock rock antics of Alice Cooper. Accompanied by his band, the Savages, he started by coming out of a black coffin. Other props included knives and daggers, skulls and "bodies". Sutch booked themed tours, such as 'Sutch and the Roman Empire', where Sutch and the band members would be dressed up as Roman soldiers.
  
  wn.com/Screaming_Lord_Sutch
• 
  Simon Phillips
  Simon Phillips (born 6 February 1957) is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.
  Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's (Sid Phillips) Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. He quickly became a sought-after session player and in 1992, he released two instructional videos displaying some of his best work.
  Phillips found an early prominence as the drummer on the 1976 LP 801 Live with Phil Manzanera and Brian Eno. He went on to play with a wide array of musicians including Big Jim Sullivan, Big Country, Toto, Steve Lukather and Los Lobotomys, Jeff Beck, Whitesnake, Jack Bruce, Brian Eno, Duncan Browne, Toyah, Mike Oldfield, Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Gary Moore, 10cc, Mick Jagger, Ph.D., Joe Satriani, Russ Ballard, Mike Rutherford, Phil Manzanera, John Wetton, flamenco guitarist Juan Martin, Asia, Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Earl, Derek Sherinian, Nik Kershaw, Gordon Giltrap, Camel and Jordan Rudess.
  
  wn.com/Simon_Phillips
• 
  Steve Lukather
  Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. A prolific session musician, Lukather has recorded guitar tracks for more than 1,500 albums representing a broad array of artists and genres. He has also contributed to albums and hit singles as a songwriter, arranger, and producer. Lukather has released six solo studio albums and is working on his seventh.
  In 1976, when Lukather was nineteen years old, he was invited by his high school friends David Paich and the Porcaro brothers Steve and Jeff to join them in forming their band, Toto. He remained a member until the band split up in 2008, and has been involved in their periodic reunion tours. Lukather's reputation as a guitarist and his association with Paich and Jeff Porcaro, who also became established artists, allowed him to secure a solid flow of session work in the 1970s and 1980s. Lukather has been nominated for twelve Grammy awards, and has won five. While his work with Toto was predominantly based on pop rock music and his solo work ventures into progressive rock and hard rock, many of Lukather's side-projects are focused on jazz fusion. He held a long-time collaboration with jazz guitarist Larry Carlton that produced a Grammy-winning live album, and he was a member of the jazz fusion band Los Lobotomys, a collaboration of notable session musicians.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Lukather
• 
  Steve Morse
  Steven J. "Steve" Morse (born 28 July 1954) is an American guitarist and composer, best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs, and the guitar player in Deep Purple since 1994. Morse's career has encompassed rock, country, funk, jazz, classical, and fusion of these musical genres. In addition to a thriving solo career, he enjoyed a brief stint with Kansas in the mid 80s.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Morse
• 
  Steve Vai
  Steven Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. After starting his career as a music transcriptionist for Frank Zappa, Vai recorded and toured in Zappa's band for two years, from 1980 to 1982. He began a solo career in 1983, has released eight solo albums and won three Grammy Awards. He has also recorded and toured with Public Image Ltd., Alcatrazz, David Lee Roth and Whitesnake. Vai has been a regular touring member of the G3 Concert Tour which began in 1996. In 1999 Vai started his own record label Favored Nations, intending to showcase as he describes, "...artists that have attained the highest performance level on their chosen instruments."
  Vai began playing guitar in 1973, at the age of 13. In 1974, he took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani and played in local bands, one of which was called "The Steve Vais". He was influenced by guitarists including Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Jimmy Page, Glen Buxton, and jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai attended the Berklee College of Music, afterwards recording a promotional piece for them in which he spoke about auditioning for Frank Zappa at age 20.
  
  wn.com/Steve_Vai
• 
  Stuart Hamm
  Stuart "Stu" Hamm (born February 8, 1960) is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings.
  Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his childhood and youth in Champaign, Illinois, where he studied bass and piano, played in the stage band at Champaign High School, and was selected to the Illinois All-State Band. Hamm graduated from Hanover High in Hanover, New Hampshire in 1978 while living in Norwich, Vermont. Following high school, he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he met guitarist Steve Vai and, through him, met Joe Satriani. Hamm played bass on Vai's debut solo album, Flex-Able, which was released in 1984.
  Hamm has performed and recorded with Steve Vai, Frank Gambale, Joe Satriani and many other well-respected guitarists. It was playing live on tour with Satriani that brought Hamm's skills to national attention. Subsequent recordings with Satriani and other rock/fusion artists, along with the release of his own solo recordings (featuring a.o. keyboard player Tommy Mars), solidified his reputation as a bassist and performer.
  
  wn.com/Stuart_Hamm
• The Waboritas
  The Waboritas is the name of Sammy Hagar's backup band, though they are frequently and more recently referred to as "The Wabos". They were formed in 1997 and have been active ever since. Their only hiatus was during the Van Halen tour of 2004, during which Hagar kept them fully paid.
  They include Sammy Hagar's former Justice Brothers bandmate drummer David Lauser, who played on several of Sammy Hagar's solo albums in the eighties before he left for Van Halen and the more recent formation of The Waboritas. The band also once included keyboardist Jesse Harms, known for appearances on several of Sammy Hagar's previous solo albums as well. For a mid-2000s live tour after Jesse Harms' departure, the band also included percussionist Gibby Ross, who had also done some studio work on the Livin' It Up! album.
  Though not a member of the band, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony (who was with the band from 1974–2002, and again from 2003–2005) has made frequent guest appearances with the Wabos. Wabo member Vic Johnson is now part of the Mad Anthony Xpress, Michael Anthony's new band. Sammy Hagar, David Lauser, and Michael Anthony also comprise the harmony-singing rock band Los Tres Gusanos Sammy Hagar#Los Tres Gusanos (1993-1996, 2002, 2005-present), with whom Vic Johnson often performs as a guest.
  
  wn.com/The_Waboritas
• Thom Panunzio
  Thom Panunzio grew up in River Edge, New Jersey not too far from Manhattan. He began his career as an audio engineer originally working at Record Plant Studios in New York. There he met, Jimmy Iovine, and started his career working with John Lennon. Since the mid-1970s he has engineered and produced albums by Willie Nile, Nuclear Valdez, Deep Purple, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen, Willy DeVille, Tony Richards and The Kman Band, and Bob Dylan. He also produced Hammered by Motörhead and Bullet Proof by rapper Hush, also featuring Phil Campbell from Motörhead.
  Panunzio, along with Jimmy Iovine, left record production and has become the Head of A&R at Geffen Records. He has recently produced New Found Glory's Coming Home.
  Thom Panunzio at the Internet Movie Database
  
  wn.com/Thom_Panunzio
• Tommy Bolin
  Thomas Richard "Tommy" Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American-born guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 through 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976).
  Tommy Bolin was born in Sioux City, Iowa and began playing in bands around the city as a youth ("A Patch of Blue" and others) before moving to Boulder, Colorado, in his late teens. He had played in a band called American Standard before joining Ethereal Zephyr, a band named after a train that ran between Denver and Chicago. When record companies became interested, the name was shortened to Zephyr. This band included Bolin on guitar, David Givens on bass, and Givens' wife Candy Givens on vocals. The band had begun to do larger venues, opening for more established acts such as Led Zeppelin. Their second album, entitled Going Back to Colorado, featured a new drummer, Bobby Berge, who would pop up from time to time in musician credits in album liner notes from Bolin's later projects.
  
  wn.com/Tommy_Bolin
• 
  Uli Jon Roth
  Ulrich Roth (born 18 December 1954), more commonly known as Uli Jon Roth, is a German guitarist and one of the earliest contributors to the neo-classical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar. He is the older brother of fellow guitarist and artist Zeno Roth.
  In the early 1970s, Roth formed a band called Dawn Road. In 1973, guitarist Michael Schenker left the Scorpions to join UFO, which then disbanded. The two remaining Scorpions members, Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine merged with the four members of Dawn Road, (Uli Jon Roth, Achim Kirschning, Francis Buchholz, Jürgen Rosenthal) using the name Scorpions as they were more well known than Dawn Road.
  During his tenure as lead guitarist, main songwriter and occasional lead singer for the Scorpions, the band released four studio albums between 1974 and 1977. In 1978, the Scorpions released the live album Tokyo Tapes, which was recorded in Japan and sold nearly one million copies and went gold in several countries. However, Roth had left the band before the album’s release.
  
  wn.com/Uli_Jon_Roth
• 
  Ulrich Roth
  Ulrich Roth (born 18 December 1954), more commonly known as Uli Jon Roth, is a German guitarist and one of the earliest contributors to the neo-classical metal genre. He is also the founder of Sky Academy and inventor of the Sky Guitar. He is the older brother of fellow guitarist and artist Zeno Roth.
  In the early 1970s, Roth formed a band called Dawn Road. In 1973, guitarist Michael Schenker left the Scorpions to join UFO, which then disbanded. The two remaining Scorpions members, Rudolf Schenker and Klaus Meine merged with the four members of Dawn Road, (Uli Jon Roth, Achim Kirschning, Francis Buchholz, Jürgen Rosenthal) using the name Scorpions as they were more well known than Dawn Road.
  During his tenure as lead guitarist, main songwriter and occasional lead singer for the Scorpions, the band released four studio albums between 1974 and 1977. In 1978, the Scorpions released the live album Tokyo Tapes, which was recorded in Japan and sold nearly one million copies and went gold in several countries. However, Roth had left the band before the album’s release.
  
  wn.com/Ulrich_Roth
• 
  Yngwie Malmsteen
  Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (/ˈɪŋveɪ ˈmɑːlmstiːn/ ING-vay MAHLM-steen; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader. Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing style in heavy metal. Steve Huey of Allmusic stated that, "Yngwie Malmsteen is arguably the most technically accomplished hard rock guitarist to emerge during the '80s."
  Malmsteen was born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck in Stockholm, Sweden, as the second child of a musically-talented family. At age seven, he saw a television news report on the death of Jimi Hendrix, an event which had a profound impact on his musical path. Malmsteen, however, has stated that Hendrix had no musical impact on him, but on 18 September 1970 he saw a TV special of Hendrix, where he smashed and burned his guitar, and Malmsteen thought: "this is really cool". To quote his official website, "The day Jimi Hendrix died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".
  At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsten as his surname, slightly changed it to Malmsteen, and Anglicised his third given name Yngve to "Yngwie". Malmsteen created his first band "Track On Earth" at the age of 10, consisting of himself and a friend from school on drums (Armin). Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of the 19th century violinist composer Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest classical music influence. Ritchie Blackmore and Uli Jon Roth are also cited as being significant influences, as is Brian May of Queen.
  
  wn.com/Yngwie_Malmsteen
• 
  Zack de la Rocha
  Zacarías Manuel "Zack" de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American rapper, musician, poet, and activist best known as the vocalist and lyricist of Rage Against the Machine.
  Zack de la Rocha's father, Roberto "Beto" de la Rocha, played an integral part in his son's cultural upbringing. Beto (of Spanish-Jewish descent, and born to Mexican-American parents) was a muralist and a member of Los Four — the first Chicano art collective to be exhibited at a museum (LACMA, 1973). De la Rocha's grandfather was a Sinaloan revolutionary born in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico, who fought in the Mexican Revolution and worked as an agricultural labourer in the US. Later, de la Rocha would see the hardships his grandfather endured reflected in the struggles of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
  When de la Rocha was a year old, his parents separated. He and his German-Irish mother, Olivia de la Rocha, moved from East Los Angeles to Irvine, California, where Olivia attended the University of California at Irvine and earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology. Zack described Irvine as "one of the most racist cities imaginable. If you were a Mexican in Irvine, you were there because you had a broom or a hammer in your hand." It was also at an Irvine grade school, where young Zack met his friend and future Rage Against the Machine bandmate, Tim Commerford.
  
  wn.com/Zack_de_la_Rocha

• Ice 9
• Hordes Of Locusts
• Flying In A Blue Dream
• Light Years Away
• Memories
• War
• Premonition
• Satch Boogie
• Revelation
• Pyrrhic Victoria
• Crystal Planet
• The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
• Dream Song

• Not of This Earth
• Rubina
• Surfing With the Alien
• Satch Boogie
• Always With Me, Always With You
• The Crush of Love
• Flying in a Blue Dream
• The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
• I Believe
• Friends
• Summer Song
• Why
• Time Machine
• Cool #9
• SMF

• Premonition
• Dream Song
• Pyrrhic Victoria
• Light Years Away
• Solitude
• Littleworth Lane
• The Golden Room
• Two Sides to Every Story
• Wormhole Wizards
• Wind in the Trees
• God Is Crying

• I Just Wanna Rock
• Overdriver
• Satch Boogie
• Ice 9
• Diddle-Y-A-Doo-Dat
• Flying in a Blue Dream
• Ghosts
• Revelation
• Super Colossal
• One Big Rush
• Musterion
• Out of the Sunrise

• Musterion
• Overdriver
• I Just Wanna Rock
• Professor Satchafunkilus
• Revelation
• Come on Baby
• Out of the Sunrise
• Diddle-y-a-Doo-Dat
• Asik Veysel
• Andalusia

• Surfing With the Alien
• Ice 9
• Crushing Day
• Always With Me, Always With You
• Satch Boogie
• Hill of the Skull
• Circles
• Lords of Karma
• Midnight
• Echo

• Flying In A Blue Dream
• The Extremist
• Redshift Riders
• Cool #9
• A Cool New Way
• Satch Boogie
• Super Colossal
• Just Like Lightnin'
• Ice 9
• One Robot's Dream

• Super Colossal
• Just Like Lightnin'
• It's So Good
• Redshift Riders
• Ten Words
• A Cool New Way
• One Robot's Dream
• The Meaning of Love
• Made of Tears
• Theme for a Strange World
• Movin' On
• A Love Eternal
• Crowd Chant

• Searching
• Hands in The Air
• Psycho Monkey
• Is There Love in Space
• War
• Flying in a Blue Dream
• Surfing With The Alien

• One Big Rush
• Surfing With the Alien
• Sleep Walk
• Belly Dancer
• Back to Shalla-Bal
• (You're) My World
• Motorcycle Driver
• All Alone
• Cryin'
• Up in Flames

• Power Cosmic
• Follow Me
• Guitarist Special
• Talk 2 Me
• Ellipsis
• Never and After
• Mission Impossible
• Mirror
• Sempire D'Amor
• Silent Night, Holy Night
• Formula 1
• Foxy Lady
• Satchy Guitar Solo
• Little Wing

• Gnaahh
• Up in Flames
• Hands in the Air
• Lifestyle
• Is There Love in Space?
• If I Could Fly
• The Souls of Distortion
• Just Look Up
• I Like the Rain
• Searching
• Bamboo

• The Crush of Love
• Ceremony
• Crystal Planet
• Raspberry Jam Delta-V
• Love Thing
• Borg Sex
• Until We Say Goodbye
• Devil's Slide
• Clouds Race Across the Sky
• Starry Night
• Mind Storm
• Slick
• The Eight Steps
• Not of This Earth
• Rubina

• Oriental Melody
• Belly Dancer
• Starry Night
• Chords of Life
• Mind Storm
• Sleep Walk
• New Last Jam
• Mountain Song
• What Breaks a Heart
• Seven String
• Hill Groove
• The Journey
• The Traveler
• You Saved My Life

• Time
• Devil's Slide
• The Crush of Love
• Satch Boogie
• Borg Sex
• Flying in a Blue Dream
• Ice 9
• Cool #9
• Circles
• Until We Say Goodbye
• Ceremony
• The Extremist
• Summer Song

• Devil's Slide
• Flavor Crystal 7
• Borg Sex
• Until We Say Goodbye
• Attack
• Champagne?
• Clouds Race Across the Sky
• The Power Cosmic 2000, Part I
• The Power Cosmic 2000, Part II
• Slow and Easy
• Engines of Creation

• Up in the Sky
• House Full of Bullets
• Crystal Planet
• Love Thing
• Trundrumbalind
• Lights of Heaven
• Raspberry Jam Delta-V
• Ceremony
• With Jupiter in Mind
• Secret Prayer
• A Train of Angels
• A Piece of Liquid
• Psycho Monkey
• Time
• Z.Z.'s Song
• The Extremist (live)

• Flying in a Blue Dream
• The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
• Can't Slow Down
• Headless
• Strange
• I Believe
• One Big Rush
• Big Bad Moon
• The Feeling
• The Phone Call
• Day at the Beach (New Rays From an Ancient Sun)
• Back to Shalla-Bal
• Ride
• The Forgotten, Part 1
• The Forgotten, Part 2
• The Bells of Lal, Part 1
• The Bells of Lal, Part 2
• Into the Light

• Cool #9
• If
• Down, Down, Down
• Luminous Flesh Giants
• S.M.F.
• Look My Way
• Home
• Moroccan Sunset
• Killer Bee Bop
• Slow Down Blues
• (You're) My World
• Sittin' 'Round

• Cryin'
• Always With Me, Always With You
• Thinking of You
• The Crush of Love
• I Believe
• Rubina
• Tears in the Rain
• All Alone
• Why
• Echo
• Midnight
• Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness
• Day at the Beach
• Saying Goodbye

• Time Machine
• The Mighty Turtle Head
• All Alone (aka Left Alone)
• Banana Mango II
• Thinking of You
• Crazy
• Speed of Light
• Baroque
• Dweller on the Threshold
• Banana Mango
• Dreaming #11
• I Am Become Death
• Saying Goodbye
• Woodstock Jam

• Friends
• The Extremist
• War
• Cryin'
• Rubina's Blue Sky Happiness
• Summer Song
• Tears in the Rain
• Why
• Motorcycle Driver
• New Blues

• Ice 9
• Memories
• Circles
• Lords Of Karma
• Locusts
• Always With Me, Always With You
• Satch Boogie
• Surfing With The Alien

• Flying In A Blue Dream
• Ice 9
• Can't Slow Down
• The Crush Of Love
• One Big Rush
• Circles
• I Believe
• Hordes Of Locust
• Always With Me, Always With You
• Memories
• The Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
• Back To Shalla-Bal
• Big Bad Moon
• Satch Boogie
• Surfing With The Alien

• Satch Boogie
• Flying in a Blue Dream
• Summer Song
• Circles
• Crush of Love
• I Believe
• One Big Rush
• Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing
• Cryin'
• Surfin' With the Alien

• Crushing Day
• Tears in the rain
• The crush of love
• Crazy
• Driving at night
• Big Bad Moon
• Midnight
• Thinking of you
• Day at the beach
• Summer Song
• Home
• Surfing with the alien
• The forgotten (Parts 122)
• Speed of night
• Cryin'
• Hordes of Locusts
• The Feeling (The Phone Call)
• Moroccan Sunset

• Anya
• The Battle Rages On
• When a Blind Man Cries
• Lazy (including drum solo)
• Space Truckin'
• Woman From Tokyo
• Paint It Black / Space Truckin'
• Hush
• Speed King
• Smoke on the Water
• Fire Ball
• Solitaire
• John Lord Solo

• Ice 9
• Memories
• Midnight / Rubina
• Circles
• Drum Solo
• Lords of Karma
• Bass Solo
• Echo
• Hordes of Locusts
• Always With Me, Always With You
• Satch Boogie
• Surfing With the Alien

• Not of This Earth
• The Snake
• Rubina
• Memories
• Brother John
• The Enigmatic
• Driving at Night
• Hordes of Locusts
• New Day
• The Headless Horseman
• The Crush of Love
• Ice Nine
• Memories
• Hordes of Locusts