Paul Gilbert is one of the most popular and richest Guitarist who was born on November 6, 1966 in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Musician of Racer The X as well as Mr. Big who is #4 on the Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time list published by GuitarOne magazine.
At the age of fifteen, He was profiled when he was just fifteen, he was featured Guitar Player magazine, along another young, up-and-coming musician, When he was fifteen he was featured in Guitar Player magazine, along another young up-and-comer, Yngwie Malmsteen..
Gilbert was raised mostly in the small Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He began playing music at age five; by age 15, he was touring local clubs with his band (Tau Zero), and had been featured in Guitar Player magazine (alongside fellow up-and-comer Yngwie Malmsteen). Around 1981, Gilbert first contacted Mike Varney (founder of Shrapnel Records), asking for a gig with metal mega-star Ozzy Osbourne. At the time, Varney couldn’t think why Osbourne would want a 15-year-old guitarist; but, after listening to Gilbert’s demo tape, he changed his mind. They continued talking over the next 3 years, culminating in Gilbert’s 1984 cross-country move to Los Angeles to attend the GIT (Guitar Institute of Technology). Even at the young age of 17, Gilbert quickly became a local legend due to his advanced and extremely fast alternate picking technique, his young age, and his massive repertoire of cover material. He was hired as a GIT instructor in 1985, and recorded Racer X’s debut album Street Lethal soon after.
Formed in Los Angeles in 1985, Racer X was originally composed of Paul Gilbert (lead guitar), Juan Alderete (bass guitar), Harry Gschoesser (drums), and Jeff Martin (vocals). They were heavily influenced by Judas Priest, and Gilbert’s playing was reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, displaying fast-driven solos with extreme-level technique. Gschoesser was replaced by Scott Travis (who would later become Judas Priest’s drummer) in 1986, and Bruce Bouillet, one of Gilbert’s private students at GIT, was added as a second guitarist after demonstrating an ability to harmonize Gilbert’s string skipping sequences. Gilbert gained recognition as one of the world’s fastest guitarists due to incredibly technical pieces like “Technical Difficulties”, “Frenzy”, “Scarified”, “Y.R.O.” and “Scit Scat Wah”. Around this time, Gilbert also recorded his first instructional video, Intense Rock, in which he demonstrated a number of his famous techniques and practice regimens in detail. Throughout his career he would go on to release many more instructional videos.
He was married to with his third wife Emi Gilbert in the year 2005. They gave birth to the son Marlon Kanzan Gilbert in 2014.
