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Adrian Belew
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Adrian Belew (born December 23, 1949 as Robert Steven Belew, Covington, Kentucky) is an American guitarist and vocalist (and sometimes drummer, pianist and bass player), perhaps best known for his work as a member of the progressive rock group King Crimson, which he first joined in 1981. He has also released a number of solo albums for Island Records and Atlantic Records, and has worked with many other musicians. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2005, for his single, "Beat Box Guitar", which was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
In addition, Belew is well-regarded for his contributions, particularly on guitar, to various other artists' recordings. In 1977, he performed with Frank Zappa, appearing in Zappa's 1979 concert film Baby Snakes, as well as Zappa's controversial album Sheik Yerbouti. In addition to playing lead guitar on David Bowie's 1979 album, Lodger, he also supported him on his Stage world tour in 1978 and the Sound + Vision world tour in 1990 as musical director, playing guitar and singing backing vocals.
Belew's other session credits include the 1980 album Remain in Light by the Talking Heads, Lights Out by Peter Wolf, Earth Moving by Mike Oldfield and Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album Graceland. He worked with Laurie Anderson during the mid-1980s, appearing in her concert film Home of the Brave. He also worked with the Tom Tom Club on their first album in 1981. He also contributed to an Ryuichi Sakamoto album called Lefthanded dream in 1981 'together with Robin Scott ("M").During the 1990s, he contributed to two Nine Inch Nails albums, The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. He played synthesized guitar on the song "God Shuffled His Feet" by Crash Test Dummies in 1993.
In the late-1980s, Belew formed the pop band The Bears with ex-Raisins members and released two albums, The Bears and Rise and Shine. A third album, Car Caught Fire, followed in 2001.
He is featured prominently on Tori Amos's 2001 cover album, Strange Little Girls. He also contributed his lead guitar stylings to Porcupine Tree's latest album, Deadwing (2005) as well as to a track ("I Can't Get Behind That", also featuring Henry Rollins) on the 2004 Ben Folds-produced William Shatner album Has Been.
He even appeared in a series of Japanese advertisements promoting the mechanic company Daikin in which he emulated animal noises with his electric guitar and appeared as the conductor, conducting a symphony in which all the members were himself playing guitar.
Belew's vocals are known for their distinct, sometimes manic feel - his singing voice is often compared to that of Talking Heads singer David Byrne. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he played on one Talking Heads album and toured with them in 1980 before being invited to join King Crimson.
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In April/May 2006, Adrian toured Australia with local musicians Al Slavik (bass guitar, stick and vocals) and John Prior from Matt Finish (drums). At the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, he was filmed crowd surfing at the end of the show.
Adrian is currently touring the U.S. with his latest band, The Adrian Belew Power Trio, which is rounded out by former Paul Green School of Rock students Eric Slick (19) on drums and Julie Slick (20) on bass. In August of 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia he performed on The Acoustic Planet Tour with Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and Umphrey's McGee, and the trio are currently recording Side Four, a live album compiled from their recent and upcoming tours.
- Lone Rhino (1982)
- Twang Bar King (1983)
- Desire Caught By the Tail (1986)
- Mr. Music Head (1989)
- Young Lions (1990)
- Desire of the Rhino King (1991)
- Inner Revolution (1992)
- Here (1994)
- The Guitar as Orchestra: Experimental Guitar Series, Vol. 1 (1995)
- Acoustic Adrian Belew (1995)
- Op Zop Too Wah (1997)
- Belew Prints: The Acoustic Adrian Belew, Vol. 2 (1998)
- Salad Days (1998)
- Coming Attractions (2000)
- Raven Songs 101 (2004, with Kevin Max)
- Side One (2005)
- Side Two (2005)
- Side Three (2006)
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1989 | "Oh Daddy" | #58 | #5 | - | - | Mr. Music Head |
| 1990 | "Pretty Pink Rose" (with David Bowie) | - | #2 | #24 | - | Young Lions |
| 1990 | "Men in Helicopters" | - | #17 | - | - | Young Lions |
- Adrian Belew - official site
- Adrian Belew interview at Modern Guitars Magazine (2006)
- Adrian Belew Radio Interview With Chris Comer & Rob Ervin February 20, 2007]