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Warren DeMartini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Warren Justin DeMartini (born April 10, 1963), nicknamed Torch, is the lead guitarist for Ratt, a popular American band during the mid-to-late 1980s Los Angeles glam metal scene. DeMartini's blazing, legato-heavy guitar solos and custom-painted Charvel guitars helped him stand out in an era of Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen clones.
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DeMartini was born on April 10, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois, as the youngest brother of five.
Because James, the third eldest brother, was playing in a band and his mother always played classical piano when DeMartini was young, and his grandmother played piano to the silent movies in Preston, Minnesota, it was inevitable that DeMartini became interested in rock music.
When he was around seven years of age, his mother bought him a guitar, unfortunately he didn't know how to play it, and ended up smashing it just like Pete Townshend of The Who did on stage.
For many years after the incident, he never got a chance to have another guitar, but when he turned 15, he managed to buy one for himself with the money he got at Christmas, and he took some lessons to learn basic guitar techniques, and formed a band called The Plague. He later then joined another band called Aircraft.
In 1979, he played his first gig in front of a small crowd at La Jolla High School. As he played with other local bands, his name started to become known as a young talented guitar player in San Diego. He later graduated high school in 1981.
His best friend during school was Ralph Love, who later was part of the Beat Farmers, a rock group whose song "Tidal Wave" was included in the movie "Major League".
Some years later, DeMartini, who at that time was playing in a band called Enforcer, joined Mickey Ratt, which later became Ratt, to replace his friend, Jake E. Lee. DeMartini was at one point the roommate of Jake E. Lee, Ozzy Osbourne's second lead guitarist during his interminable solo career. DeMartini was rumored to have been approached by Ratt vocalist and longtime friend Stephen Pearcy, following Lee's invitation from Ozzy Osbourne to fill the lead guitar position after the tragic and untimely death of Randy Rhoads. One of the biggest influences on DeMartini's style was Eddie Van Halen. His ambient lead guitar tone and style was influenced by the first four Van Halen albums. With Ratt, DeMartini's technical style blended well with co-lead guitarist Robbin Crosby's more Hendrix-influenced playing. DeMartini also helped writing a couple of the band's biggest hits such as "Round and Round", "Lay It Down", "Body Talk", "Way Cool Jr." and "Shame Shame Shame". Ratt sold five consecutive platinum albums in the 1980's until the band's demise in 1992 since the early 1990's became the golden era of grunge music and marked the "crash and burn" of glam metal bands such as Ratt .
After Ratt broke up, DeMartini was briefly a touring guitarist for hard rock band Whitesnake. After that he released two solo albums titled Crazy Enough To Sing To You in 1995 and Surf's Up! in 1996. Ratt re-united in 1997 and released their self-titled album in 1999 which then became a critical and commercial failure. In 2003 DeMartini was hired to replace guitarist Doug Aldrich in the legendary heavy metal band Dio, but after several rehearsals they decided not to record and tour together due to musical differences.
Over the years DeMartini has cited many legendary guitarists or other musicians as his primary musical influences such as; Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Billy Gibbons, Uli Roth, Joe Walsh, Joe Perry, Miles Davis, Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads.
He also has cited bands such as U2, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, TLC and No Doubt to be among his favorites. He also stated he was a fan of rapper, Eminem.