Paul Gilbert

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Paul Gilbert (born November 6, 1966 in Illinois, USA), started to play guitar at the age 5, when his parents gave him the toy guitar and toy amp on his 5th birthday. At the age of 9, his favourite music was rock or hard-rock played by bands like Led Zeppelin, Kiss and Aerosmith. When he was 11, impressed by Eddie Van Halen. Paul started to play with band. At 15 Paul contacted Mike Varney, founder of Shrapnel Records, asking for a gig with Ozzy Osbourne. Three years later Paul came to L.A for the Guitar Institute of Technology, and was ready to record Racer X's debut album Street Lethal. He became GIT teacher after a year only.
Racer X formed around the idea of becoming the most extreme hard rock band around and was highly influenced by Judas Priest. It gave Gilbert the opportunity to showcase his impressive shredding skills.
After Racer X second album, Second Heat, Gilbert decided to join Billy Sheehan and form a new band, Mr. Big.The band released its first album, self-titled Mr. Big and enjoyed a positive reception from fans.
In 1996, Gilbert left Mr. Big to produce his own solo albums. Frst album, King of Clubs, was released in 1997.

Through a varied and successful career, Paul Gilbert has always had fun playing the guitar. He has suffered some hearing loss due to all the loud shows he has played over the years, now is making jokes about the headphones that he now wears on stage.
Paul was named as one of the "Top 10 Shredders Of All Time" by Guitar One Magazine.

Artist website: www.paulgilbert.com

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