Howard Leese

Inducted July 30, 2014 Howard received his inspiration to pick up the guitar during the 1960s after seeing Dick Dale, the guitarist in the surf band “the Del-Tones”, and feeling the excitement from his playing. He studied violin and music theory at the City College, Los Angeles, and also played in a band called The Zoo.  Read More.

Steve Vai

Inducted July 30, 2014 Former guitarist and copyist/transcriber for Frank Zappa, Vai is a fast-fingered guitar god who’s considered one of rock’s greatest musicians.  Read More.

Steven Adler

Inducted July 30, 2014 As the original drummer for Guns N’ Roses, the quintet issued one of the best-selling rock debuts of all-time, 1987’s Appetite for Destruction whose raw, stripped down approach (both musically and visually) was a welcome break from the overwrought glam pop bands that were ruling the airwaves at the time.  Read More.

Steve Lukather

Inducted July 30, 2014 Best known as the guitarist for early MTV-era hitmakers Toto, Steve Lukather remains one of the world’s top session men, having played on well over a hundred recordings by a wide variety of artists over the years.  Read More.

Benny Mardones

Inducted July 30, 2014 Singer/songwriter and Maryland native Benny Mardones made a huge splash with his ’80s hit “Into the Night.” The song made the Top Ten twice, a first for a solo artist.  Read More.

Steven Rosen

Inducted July 30, 2014 Published in well over 700 articles appearing in major periodicals around the globe, from the United States and Canada to Japan, Germany, France, England, Australia, and even Katmandu, Steven’s work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Playboy, Musician, Guitar Player, Guitar World, Musician, US, Creem, Circus, Player, Total Guitar, Classic Rock, Mojo, Drum! and a myriad of others.  Read More.

Bumblefoot (Ron Thal)

Inducted March 25, 2015  

Mitch Perry

Inducted March 25, 2015

Tony Frankln

Inducted March 25, 2015

Dave Amato

Inducted March 25, 2016

Al Bowman

Inducted October 27, 2016

Buster Akrey

Inducted October 27, 2016

“Dugie” (Kevin Dugan)

Inducted October 27, 2016

Freddie Salem

Inducted October 27, 2016

Gregg Fox

Inducted October 27, 2016

Hugh McDonald

Inducted October 27, 2016

Jeff  Young

Inducted October 27, 2016

Lonn Friend

Inducted October 27, 2016

Michael Anthony

Inducted October 27, 2016

Scott Coogan

Inducted October 27, 2016

Sandy Rizzo

Inducted October 27, 2016 Sandy Rizzo is the founder and CEO of 18-Hour Management. She has substantial artist management experience throughout the music industry.  Rizzo began her career in Boston. There, she accepted the opportunity to work with Aerosmith’s management company. Holding a variety of different positions within that company, she learned all the ins and outs of the industry.  A few years later, she relocated to the west coast and continued her artist management opportunities with famed rock manager Doc McGhee.  Working in tandem with Doc and the best bands that era had to offer, (i.e. Scorpions, Bon Jovi, KISS, Skid Row, etc.) she was able to make a name for herself throughout the industry by honing her innate talents in artist management, promotion, touring and production. Read More.

Frankie Banali

Inducted October 26, 2017 A disciple of the legendary drummer John Bonham, Frankie Banali has been most famously associated as the longtime drummer for Quiet Riot. Frankie has recorded seven albums with W.A.S.P. which includes their most critically acclaimed release spanning three decades. Additionally, he has played with Billy Idol, Gary Hoey, Billy Thorpe, Glenn Hughes and Pat Thrall. His thunderous approach behind a drum kit has left an indelible print on many of the drummers who followed.  Read More.

Carmine Appice

Inducted March 25, 2017 Brooklyn’s favorite son, Carmine Appice took the drummer out of the shadows and pushed him headfirst into the spotlight. Known for his legendary live performances, Appice was at the rhythmic foundation for a score of influential classic rock bands including Vanilla Fudge, Beck, Bogert & Appice, and Cactus. He revolutionized the way a rock drummer played and brought his knowledge to fans all over the world beginning with his now iconic how-to book Realistic Rock. He would later go onto play with Rod Stewart, Ozzy, Ted Nugent and form his own King Cobra and Blue Murder bands. Read More

 

Stephen Perkins

Inducted October 26, 2017 A native Los Angeleno, Stephen Perkins was banging on stuff when he was eight years old. After a series of non-descript bands—Champion, Disaster— played around Hollywood, he finally formed Jane’s Addiction in late summer of 1985. A decade later, he put together Porno for Pyros and in the early 2000s played with Panic Channel. He’s subsequently assembled various bands including Banyan, Hellride, Tabitha and Summer Moon. When he’s not hitting things, he’s inventing things with which to invent stuff  Read More.

 

Phil Chen

Inducted October 26, 2017 Jamaican Phil Chen was a mainstay of the English recording scene during the 1970s and 1980s. He played with Jeff Beck [appearing on the guitarist’s seminal Blow By Blow album], the Rod Stewart Band and ex-Doors keyboardist and guitarist Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. Additionally, he has accompanied a litany of the world’s greatest guitar players including Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and a host of others. As inventive as he is technically gifted.  Read More.

Chris Chaney

Inducted October 26, 2017 Jamaican Phil Chen was a mainstay of the English recording scene during the 1970s and 1980s. He played with Jeff Beck [appearing on the guitarist’s seminal Blow By Blow album], the Rod Stewart Band and ex-Doors keyboardist and guitarist Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger. Additionally, he has accompanied a litany of the world’s greatest guitar players including Brian May, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend and a host of others. As inventive as he is technically gifted.  Read More.

Robin McAuley

Inducted October 26, 2017 Born in Co. Meath, Ireland, Robin McAuley first remembers being turned on to the beautiful music coming from Motown. He originally fancied himself a drummer but started exercising his vocal cords after hearing Paul Rodger’s shake the world with Free. Like most English musicians yearning for a career in music, Robin ultimately moved to London where he crossed paths with Michael Schenker. Having declined an offer to join MSG (Michael Schenker Group) in 1981, that changed four years later in 1985 and so did the name of the band, which was then changed to McAuley Schenker Group. Robin was the lead vocalist of the American band, Survivor from 2006-2011, and he is currently performing in the Las Vegas production of Raiding the Rock Vault. Read More.

Ritchie Kotzen

Inducted October 26, 2017 Richie Kotzen has been blessed with guitar, vocal and songwriting chops few other artists possess. Over the course of a career that now spans three decades, the Pennsylvania-born musician has gone from six-string shredder in the mid-1980s to a multi-faceted solo artist who has also spent time with arena rockers Poison, Mr. Big and more recently in the rock trio called the Winery Dogs. Read More.

Lita Ford

Inducted October 26, 2017 Lita Ford was born in London, grew up in Long Beach, CA and spent her formative years as a fixture of on the Sunset Strip. In joining the Runaways, she would forever cement her legacy as one of the first and fiercest female guitar rockers. She recalled those early years in a new book titled Living Like A Runaway and further revisited her past with the recent release of Time Capsule, a collection of unreleased songs written and record back in the 1980s. She continues dismantling an electric guitar with her own band in a series of non-stop tours around the world. Read More.

Greg Bissonette

Inducted October 26, 2017 Following gigs with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, Brandon Fields and Gino Vannelli, Gregg Bissonette was invited to join ex-Van Halen singer David Lee Roth’s band in 1985. The doors were opened for this remarkably versatile drummer from the Motor City and it didn’t take long before he was sticking it to everyone from Joe Satriani, Toto and Don Henley to Santana, Jeff Lynne/Electric Light Orchestra and Ringo. He has released two solo albums and has been deeply involved in drum instruction. Read More.

KennyAronoff

Inducted October 26, 2017 Following gigs with trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, Brandon Fields and Gino Vannelli, Gregg Bissonette was invited to join ex-Van Halen singer David Lee Roth’s band in 1985. The doors were opened for this remarkably versatile drummer from the Motor City and it didn’t take long before he was sticking it to everyone from Joe Satriani, Toto and Don Henley to Santana, Jeff Lynne/Electric Light Orchestra and Ringo. He has released two solo albums and has been deeply involved in drum instruction. Read More.

Phil Soussan

Inducted October 26, 2017 Englishman Phil Soussan, a multi instrumentalist and performer, first began laying his fingers on a violin but eventually laid them across the frets of electric bass guitars. That switch from classical to rock has yielded insanely successful collaborations with Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Page, Billy Idol, Vince Neil, Steve Lukather and a multitude of others. He has also written for several of these artists including the Ozzy mega hit “Shot In the Dark.” and earned a Grammy nomination for a song for Toto. Recently, after being involved with the Grammy’s as a Board member, Phil was elected to the elevated position of Vice President for that organization for a full two year term. His current band is Last In . Read More.

Gary Hoey

Inducted October 26, 2017 Gary Hoey Has crafted an incredible career releasing 20 albums in styles from Rock, Surf, Blues, Holiday and Soundtracks. Hoey moved to Los Angeles in 1987 after an audition with Ozzy Osbourne inspired the Boston native to move out West. In 1993 he launched his career with a Top 5 hit cover of “Hocus Pocus” by Focus for Warner Bros. His popular Ho! Ho! Hoey series of Christmas CDs have become a tradition at hundreds of rock radio stations. He has toured with guitar legends, Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Brian May, and Joe Satriani. His latest album “Dust & Bones” on Provogue/Mascot Label, is an exuberant fusion of Blues and Rock. Read More.

David Welderman

Inducted October 26, 2017 Not surprisingly, Guitar Center Director of Artist Relations Dave Weiderman came from a musical family. He became immersed early in the culture of retail music by watching his father run a music store in Chicago. Totally fascinated by that aspect of the music business, Weiderman took that passion and brought it to every element of his subsequent gig as Director of Artist Relations at Guitar Center’s Hollywood flagship store. He has established and cultivated relationships with many of the most important musicians in the world [many of whom have been captured for posterity when they set their handprints in cement on the famed Hollywood Rock Walk— a project Weiderman pioneered —in the front of the Sunset Blvd. Guitar Center store. Read More.

Elliot Easton

Inducted October 26, 2017 As guitarist for the Cars for 12 years, Elliot Easton exhibited a mastery of guitar styles ranging from country and rockabilly to classic rock and even jazz. A left-handed player, Easton was eventually honored by Gibson Guitars who in 2013 created a signature Tikibird Firebird in his honor. He has since gone on to play with the Empty Hearts and Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Slash calls Easton one of his favorite guitar players. Read More.

Lee Sklar

Inducted October 26, 2017 Lee Sklar has recorded over 2,600 albums during his ongoing career as one of the preeminent bassists in the studio scene. He first found fame playing with a then-unknown James Taylor and would subsequently lay down the groove for Jackson Browne, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Don Henley, Billy Cobham’s Spectrum and hundreds of others. As a studio rat, he performed on so many sessions with guitarist Danny Kortchmar, drummer Russ Kunkel and keyboardist that the quartet were dubbed The Section and ultimately recorded a trio of albums of their own. Playing the bulk of his sessions on an instrument he dubbed the “Frankenstein bass,” he has also been pivotal in the development of bass guitars for Dingwall and Warwick. Read More.

Norm Harris

Inducted October 26, 2017 For nearly five decades, Norman Harris has been buying, selling, trading, collecting and just generally fixating over anything with strings and a fretboard. Considered one of the founders of the used and vintage guitar market, Harris has gone on to sell instruments to Richie Sambora, George Harrison and Eddie Halen. He recently published a book of his memoirs titled Confessions Of A Vintage Guitar Dealer: The Memoirs Of Norman Harris. Read More.