Brian Harold May is an English guitarist, singer, composer, and astrophysicist who achieved fame as lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor. His songwriting contributions helped Queen become one of the most successful bands in rock history.
Geoffrey Arnold Beck is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a focus on innovative sound, and his releases have spanned genres ranging from blues rock, hard rock, jazz fusion and a blend of guitar-rock and electronica.
Carlos Augusto Santana Alves is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound featured his melodic, blues-based lines set against Latin American and African rhythms played on percussion instruments not generally heard in rock, such as timbales and congas. He experienced a resurgence of popularity and critical acclaim in the late 1990s. In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine listed him at No. 20 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarists. He has won 10 Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards, and was inducted along with his namesake band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the early 1980s Los Angeles heavy metal scene. The band's popularity peaked that decade, yet they continue to record and tour, making them one of the most enduring of the West Coast heavy metal bands. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. They are estimated to have sold over twelve million records worldwide, with their first two albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.
Air guitar is a form of dance and movement in which the performer pretends to play an imaginary rock or heavy metal-style electric guitar, including riffs and solos. Playing an air guitar usually consists of exaggerated strumming and picking motions, and is often coupled with loud singing or lip-synching. Air guitar is generally used in the imaginary simulation of loud electric or acoustic guitar music.
Charlotte Irene Caffey is an American guitarist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat".
L.A. Guns are an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin, Scot Coogan and Adam Hamilton. The first incarnation of the group was formed by Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner in 1983 and merged with fellow Los Angeles group, Hollywood Rose, to form Guns N' Roses in March 1985. After only a brief tenure in that band, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with a new lineup, consisting of Paul Black, Mick Cripps, Robert Stoddard, and Nickey Alexander. Black would soon be replaced by former Girl singer Phil Lewis while former Faster Pussycat bassist Kelly Nickels was added to the group. Later, Alexander would be replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley with this being known as the "classic lineup" of L.A. Guns. They achieved moderate chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the group went through numerous lineup changes and failed to regain mainstream attention.
Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich, known professionally as Tracii Guns, is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns, as well as the supergroups named Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also a founding member of Guns N' Roses, but left shortly afterwards and was replaced by guitarist Slash.
William Thomas Emmanuel is an Australian guitarist. Regarded as one of the greatest acoustic guitarists of all time, he is known for his complex fingerstyle technique, energetic performances and use of percussive effects on the instrument. Originally a session player in many bands, Emmanuel carved out his own style as a solo artist, releasing many award-winning albums and singles. In June 2010 Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), and in 2011 he was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.
Andreas Rudolf Kisser is a Brazilian musician, best known for being the lead guitarist for the metal band Sepultura. He has been featured on every Sepultura release since their second album, Schizophrenia. Additionally, Kisser has also been involved in other bands such as the rock supergroup Hail!, Sexoturica and, more recently, De La Tierra.
Mystery Jets are an English indie rock band, formerly based on Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, London. The band consists of Blaine Harrison, Jack Flanagan, Kapil Trivedi (drums) and Henry Harrison (lyrics).
Dilana Smith is a South African singer, songwriter, and performer who lives in Los Angeles, California. She is best known as the runner-up contestant on the CBS reality television show Rock Star: Supernova. She was the lead singer for Tracii Guns' version of L.A. Guns for a brief period in 2011.
Philip Eric Xenidis, better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician and songwriter. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016.
This topic covers notable events and articles related to 2008 in music. This year was the peak of record sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.
William Michael Albert Broad, known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X. Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in the United States. The name "Billy Idol" was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of him as "idle".
The Black Ice World Tour was a 2008–2010 concert tour by Australian rock band AC/DC, in support of their fifteenth studio album Black Ice, which was released on 20 October 2008. This tour had 8 legs around the world lasting more than 20 months starting on 26 October 2008 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and finishing on 28 June 2010 in Bilbao, Spain.
Allison Iraheta is an American singer from Los Angeles, California, who was the fourth place finalist on the eighth season of American Idol. Prior to Idol, Iraheta won the Telemundo competition Quinceañera: Mamá Quiero Ser Artista. Following the conclusion of Idol, Iraheta was signed to a record deal with 19 Entertainment and Jive Records. Her debut album Just Like You was released on December 1, 2009. She was also the lead singer of the band Halo Circus.
Orianthi Penny Panagaris, known mononymously as Orianthi, is an Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter who rehearsed in 2009 with Michael Jackson in preparation for his This Is It concert series, and performed with Alice Cooper's touring band. Her 2009 debut single "According to You" peaked at No. 3 in Japan, No. 8 in Australia and No. 17 in the US; her second album, Believe, received a worldwide release in late 2009. The same year, she was named one of the "12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists" by Elle magazine. She also won the "2010 Breakthrough Guitarist of the Year" award hosted by Guitar International magazine.
John Heussenstamm is an American guitarist and music educator. He was the original lead guitarist in the Surf Punks, toured with the Deniece Williams Band in 1977, and was a band member of Innocent Bystanders. He is the author of Guitar Workout, a book published by Hal Leonard Corporation in 2010. He is featured as an author and guitarist in The Gold Mine Series, as a coauthor with Chad Johnson in 100 Blues Lessons and with Paul Silbergleit in 100 Jazz Lessons. Heussenstamm was also a featured guitar instructor in three DVDs published by Hal Leonard: 200 Blues Licks, 200 Jazz Licks and 200 Country Licks. His YouTube channel has received over 10 million total hits and has over 15,000 subscribers since 2008. As of February 2015, Heussenstamm resides in Laguna Beach, California.
Daniele Gottardo is an Italian guitarist and composer. He received recognition in 2009 as a winner of Guitar Idol, an international guitar competition. Gottardo was mentioned by Steve Vai as one of the brightest talents in modern electric guitar. As a solo artist, he has released three albums, Frenzy of Ecstasy, Non Temperato (2014), and INkBlot (2022). He is also a music educator for Jamtrackcentral. In 2018 he was mentioned in the article "10 Contemporary Guitar Virtuosos You Need To Hear" by the British magazine Guitarist. He has performed in major international guitar festivals including Malibu Guitar Festival, Guitare En Scene, Ziua Chitarelor, Jason Becker Not Dead Yet Festival, Eddie Lang Jazz Festival.
