(Vocals, b. 1948) Although over time the name Alice Cooper came to attach itself to singer Vincent Furnier, it originally applied to the rock band that he fronted, the classic line-up of which comprised Cooper, Glen Buxton (guitar), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums). After recording two albums for Frank Zappa’s Straight label ...
(Vocal/instrumental duo, 1940s–77) This West Virginia-born husband and wife team was a popular duo from the late 1940s until Stoney’s death. Favouring the acoustic backing of dobro, fiddle and mandolin, Stoney (1918–77) and Wilma Lee (b. 1921) were stalwart champions of old-time country music who performed on The Wheeling Jamboree and the Grand Ole Opry. Their biggest hits ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1987–present) This Seattle group, Layne Staley (vocals), Jerry Cantrell (guitar), Mike Starr (bass) and Sean Kinney (drums), cut their teeth on a winning blend of metal and acoustic numbers before being remarketed as a ‘grunge’ act after Nirvana’s huge success. Their second album Dirt (1992) won acclaim and huge sales, a position cemented by Jar Of ...
During the mid-1960s, America’s military action in Vietnam was escalating out of control; students around the world were becoming more politically involved, civil rights and feminism were hot issues and the burgeoning youth movement was turning onto the effects of mind-bending drugs. Accordingly, certain strains of popular music melded attitude, experimentation and a social conscience, and ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1970–present) This best-selling American heavy rock band, frequently compared to The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, centred on the relationship between principal members Steven Tyler (vocals) and Joe Perry (guitar). The pair came together in Boston, Massachusetts, with Joey Kramer (drums), Brad Whitford (guitar) and Tom Hamilton (bass). Their first album Aerosmith (1973) was ...
Davey Johnstone (b. 1951) rocketed to fame with the Rocket Man himself, Elton John, as the former Reg Dwight exploded on to the music scene in the early 1970s, rising from thoughtful love balladeer to raucous glam rocker/showman to international pop-music institution and legend. Except for a short period from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, ...
American guitarist Joe Satriani is widely credited with pioneering the rock-instrumental style in the 1980s, opening up the genre for guitarists like Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Yngwie Malmsteen. His talent for creating highly evolved music, using a pop-song structure with tuneful melodies before applying his own virtuoso skills, has made him one of the most successful ...
(Vocals, b. 1969) Setting out to shock everyone, Brian Warner certainly succeeded. After assuming the name Marilyn Manson all members of his Florida-based band were required to adopt the names of female divas and serial killers. Industrially functional music grew increasingly melodic as time wore on, culminating in Antichrist Superstar (1996) and Mechanical Animals (1998). Like Rob Zombie ...
Orianthi Panagaris (b. 1985) was born in Adelaide, South Australia, to Greek and Australian parents. She began playing piano at age three, switched to acoustic guitar at six, and to electric at 11. After listening to a lot of Whitesnake, Van Halen and Def Leppard, she was wowed by Carlos Santana at a concert in ...
As lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick, Rick Nielsen fired the band’s melting pot of pop melodies and punk energy. Nielsen also became a highly coveted session player in the 1970s. With his legendary guitar collection (numbering over 250) and a unique stage wardrobe featuring bow ties and baseball caps, Nielsen’s style made him ...
The man beneath the top hat, Saul ‘Slash’ Hudson (b. 1965) was born in the Hampstead area of London. When he was 11, his family moved to Los Angeles, California, where at the age of 14, he heard Aerosmith’s Rocks for the first time and found his life’s calling. Practising guitar for hours on end, ...
Although his band of high-school buddies achieved international fame under the name Toto, Steve Lukather (b. 1957), session guitarist extraordinaire, has had to struggle under the same suspicion under which his bandmates have toiled: that the whole may add up to less than the sum of its parts. For Toto, despite achieving worldwide fame with singles like ‘Rosanna’ ...
Driven by a fierce intelligence, a relentless pursuit of social justice and a wide-ranging taste in sounds and songs, Tom Morello (b. 1964) was the driving force behind the bands Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave. Morello has won Grammys and performed around the world inspiring and uniting people with music. Known for innovative guitar solos and varied, ...
The early 1970s music scene saw rock and pop continue to separate, with the latter usually aiming for not only an ever-younger audience, but also an increasingly middle-aged one. Three major strands of new pop defined both this process and pop’s increased preoccupation with different forms of escapism. Glam rock was a peculiarly English phenomenon, signalling a return to ...
January First US No. 1 When ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ shot to No. 1 in the Cashbox chart on 18 January, having leapt from No. 43 to the top slot, The Beatles were in Paris on a three-week run at the Olympia, staying at the grandiose George V Hotel where they were also writing songs for ...
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
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Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.