A guitarist is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica, or both.
Edward Earl Hazel was an American guitarist and singer in early funk music who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. His ten-minute guitar solo in the Funkadelic song "Maggot Brain" is hailed as "one of the greatest solos of all time on any instrument". In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Hazel at no. 29 in its list of 250 of the greatest guitarists of all time.
Aventura was an American bachata group formed in The Bronx, New York. With the lineup always consisting of the members Romeo Santos, Henry Santos, Lenny Santos, and Max Santos, they are regarded as one of the most influential Latin groups of all time. All of the members are of Dominican descent, although Romeo is also half Puerto Rican on his mother's side. They were the first major bachata act to have originated in the United States instead of the Dominican Republic. The group was integral to the evolution of bachata music and are the pioneers of the modern bachata sound. Aventura released five studio albums in a decade, creating many top 10 hits like "Cuándo volverás", "Un Beso", "Mi Corazoncito", "Los Infieles", "El Perdedor", "Por un Segundo", "Dile al Amor", among others. They have sold out many arenas including the world famous Madison Square Garden. Aventura has been nominated for awards such as American Music Awards, the Latin Grammy Awards, Billboard Latin Music Awards, and Premio Lo Nuestro. Aventura is one of the most internationally recognized Latin groups of the last two decades and frequently refer to themselves as "K.O.B.", or "Kings of Bachata".
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. Dubbed the "Gentle Genius", he first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group the Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.
Surrealistic Pillow is the second studio album by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane, released by RCA Victor on February 1, 1967. It is the first album by the band with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard album chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. It is considered to be one of the most influential and quintessential works of the early psychedelic rock and 1960s counterculture eras.
Pyromania is the third studio album by English rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983 through Vertigo Records in UK and Europe and through Mercury Records in the US. The first album to feature guitarist Phil Collen who replaced founding member Pete Willis, Pyromania was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album was a shift away from the band's traditional heavy metal roots toward a more radio-friendly sound, finding massive mainstream success. Pyromania charted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, No. 4 on the Canadian RPM Album chart and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. Selling over ten million copies in the US, it has been certified diamond by the RIAA.
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page with lyrics written by lead singer Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album. The song is widely regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Bachata is a genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the 20th century. It contains elements of European, indigenous Taino and African musical elements, representing the cultural diversity of the Dominican population.
"Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre-Hot 100 chart. The song remains a staple of early and later rock music.
Nels Courtney Cline is an American guitarist and composer. He has been a guitarist for the band Wilco since 2004.
Raulín Marte Rodríguez is a Dominican bachata artist. He is one of the first major bachata artists to have international success and popularize this style of music in the Dominican Republic. He was one of main pioneers of bachata that help grow the genre's popularity in the 1990s. While traditional bachata songs were often risque and suggestive, Raulín Rodríguez's idealized romantic lyrics helped the style achieve general social acceptability and to receive radio play. Rodriguez is known as El Cacique and is one of the most established musicians to ever come from Dominican Republic. He has many international hits, including the songs: "Nereyda", "Medicina de Amor", "Soledad", Esta Noche, and many more. Among his greatest hits, three of his them have been certified Platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Domingo Antonio Santos Muñoz, known professionally as Antony Santos, is a Dominican musician and singer. One of the top-selling bachata artists of all time, he is known as one of the pioneers of modern bachata in the early 1990s, with his role in redefining the genre to include romantic lyrics, poppy guitar licks, and implementation of new instruments, such as the piano and saxophone. He became the first rural bachatero to reach a mainstream audience with his hit single, "Voy Pa'lla". He has had success with other hits like "Por Mi Timidez", "No Te Puedo Olvidar", "Me Quiero Morir", "Lloro", "Solo Te Amo", "Se Acabó El Abuso" among others. Today, Santos is unanimously considered the greatest bachata artist of all time. He is known as "El Mayimbe" of Bachata, and is the second Dominican musician to acquire this moniker, after Fernando Villalona. He is also known as El Bachatú, the nickname he originally started with.
José Cobles, better known by his nickname of Puerto Plata, was a Dominican musician. He sang in a style reminiscent of the Dominican guitar tradition of the 1930s and 1940s, when bolero, merengue, and son were all variations of the same Afro-Iberian fusion.
José Manuel Calderón is considered the first musician to record bachata with "Borracho de amor" and "Condena", in 1962 at the Radio Televisión Dominicana studios. Calderón's voice was unlike typical bachateros, in that he sang in baritone. He also innovated instrumentation in bachata, applying strings, horn sections and piano, as well as replacing the maracas with a güira.
Eladio Romero Santos was a Dominican musician.
Lenny Santos a.k.a. Len Melody is an American guitarist, composer, producer and entrepreneur. He rose to global fame as the co-founder of the bachata group Aventura where he served as producer, lead guitarist, vocalist, composer and musical director. Lenny is responsible for the group's distinctive sound. He is the one who dared to experiment with bachata, adding fusions of R&B, hip hop and pop. He added electric guitars and effects like tremolo, phaser and wah. Lenny is considered the pioneer and creator of urban bachata, and is one of the most sought out music producers in the Latin music industry to this day. Aside from being a musician and producer, he owns multiple businesses such as restaurants and lounges in the New York City area.
Anthony "Romeo" Santos is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer who is best known as the frontman and lead vocalist of the bachata group Aventura. In 2002, the song "Obsesión" was number one in Italy for 16 consecutive weeks. He released several albums with Aventura before the group broke up. Since then, Santos has embarked on a solo career which has created seven number one songs on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and seventeen number ones on the Tropical Airplay chart. Romeo Santos has sold over 24 million copies making him one of the best-selling Latin artists.
Radhames Aracena, was a Dominican radio host, music producer and businessman who helped change the musical landscape of the Caribbean island during and after Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship. Aracena was able to bring the traditional Dominican bachata from the brothels and saloons to every radio set in the country. Aracena created Radio Guarachita, one of the first radio stations to cater to bachata music, and subsequently began recording, producing and promoting bachata artists.
Radio Guarachita was a radio station based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Vicente García Guillén is a Dominican musician, singer and composer. He is the former lead singer of the Dominican alternative rock band Calor Urbano, which he left in 2010 to pursue a solo career. Garcia has collaborated in concerts with renowned artists such as Juan Luis Guerra, Alejandro Sanz, Cultura Profetica, Juanes, Ximena Sariñana and Maná among others. He has won three Latin Grammy awards including Best New Artist in 2017.
