1. Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew was born on December 23,1949 and is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer.
58 Facts About Adrian Belew
1. 2.
Widely recognized as an "incredibly versatile [guitar] player", Belew is perhaps best known for his tenure as guitarist and frontman in the progressive rock group King Crimson between 1981 and 2009.
3.
Adrian Belew has released nearly twenty solo albums for Island Records and Atlantic Records in various styles.
4.
Adrian Belew has worked extensively as a session, guest, and touring musician, including periods with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, and Nine Inch Nails, as well as contributing to hit singles by Paul Simon, Tom Tom Club, and others.
5.
Adrian Belew's 1989 solo single "Oh Daddy" was a top ten hit in the United States, and his 2005 single "Beat Box Guitar" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
6.
Adrian Belew has worked in instrument design and multimedia, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his Parker Fly signature guitar, and designing two iOS mobile apps.
7.
Robert Steven Adrian Belew was born into a middle-class family in Covington, Kentucky, on December 23,1949.
8.
Not inclined to formal music study, Adrian Belew primarily taught himself guitar by listening to records.
9.
Adrian Belew was not aware of the studio sound manipulation used to create particular guitar lines, and so found ways of replicating them himself manually using unusual playing techniques and effects pedals.
10.
Adrian Belew eventually found his own sound and style by learning how to make his guitar mimic sound effects such as car horns, animal noises, or industrial sounds.
11.
In 1977, while playing with Sweetheart at Fanny's Bar in Nashville, Adrian Belew was discovered by Frank Zappa, who had been tipped off regarding the band's talents by his chauffeur.
12.
Zappa approached Adrian Belew and discussed auditioning him for an upcoming tour, although Adrian Belew did not receive an official invitation to audition for the better part of a year.
13.
Once the formal invitation came, Adrian Belew flew out to Los Angeles and found himself auditioning alongside more formally trained musicians.
14.
Adrian Belew toured with Zappa in 1977 and 1978, and appeared on Zappa's 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti and concert film Baby Snakes.
15.
Adrian Belew accepted the offer, as Zappa intended to spend the next four months editing Baby Snakes.
16.
Adrian Belew served as lead guitarist and backing vocalist on Bowie's Isolar II world tour in 1978, as documented on the live album Stage, and contributed to Bowie's 1979 studio album Lodger.
17.
In 1980, Adrian Belew formed a new band, GaGa, for which he served as the singer, guitarist, drummer, and primary songwriter.
18.
Around this time, Adrian Belew met King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp at a Steve Reich concert.
19.
Adrian Belew then joined an expanded nine-piece Talking Heads live band which toured in 1980 and 1981.
20.
Adrian Belew played on Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison's solo album The Red and the Black and frontman David Byrne's The Catherine Wheel.
21.
Adrian Belew did not play live with Tom Tom Club or contribute to any further recordings, and instead focused on projects.
22.
Adrian Belew's rising profile gained him a solo record contract with Island Records.
23.
Adrian Belew was the frontman, second guitarist, and occasional drummer for King Crimson from 1981 to 2009, one of the longest tenures in King Crimson by any member other than founder, bandleader, and sole constant member Robert Fripp.
24.
Adrian Belew maintained this position despite several splits or hiatuses in group activity, notwithstanding a brief period in the early 1990s when Fripp unsuccessfully asked singer David Sylvian of Japan to front a new version of the band.
25.
Adrian Belew was the first King Crimson singer to write most of his own lyrics.
26.
From 1997 onward, Adrian Belew participated in several of the ProjeKcts, a series of King Crimson side projects active during the band's hiatuses, in which he predominantly played electronic drums.
27.
Adrian Belew's next solo album was recorded in 1986, and was an experimental all-instrumental album of processed guitar, guitar synthesizer, and percussion called Desire Caught By the Tail.
28.
The success of Adrian Belew's solo hit single "Oh Daddy" led to him touring with David Bowie.
29.
Adrian Belew revived his solo career with 1989's Mr Music Head, on which he played virtually all the instruments.
30.
Mr Music Head generated a hit single in the shape of "Oh Daddy", on which Adrian Belew duetted with his 11-year-old daughter Audie.
31.
In 1990, Adrian Belew produced a similar follow-up with Young Lions.
32.
The next phase in Adrian Belew's career saw him pursuing a more traditional singing and songwriting style, which owed a lot to his old heroes the Beatles.
33.
Adrian Belew has mentioned plans for releasing more records in the Experimental Guitar series, including one called The Animal Kingdom, but no more yet have been released.
34.
Between 2005 and 2007, Adrian Belew released the Side series of albums: 2005's Side One and Side Two, 2006's Side Three, and 2007's Side Four, with a variety of guest performers, including Tool's Danny Carey and Primus' Les Claypool.
35.
On January 16,2019, Adrian Belew announced an expansion of his "Power Trio" to a quartet with the addition of Saul Zonana and a 2019 tour.
36.
In 2022, Adrian Belew participated in the "Celebrating David Bowie" tour, featuring Angelo Moore, Todd Rundgren, and others.
37.
In 2023, Adrian Belew joined Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads on the Remain In Light tour, which featured music from the Talking Heads album Remain in Light.
38.
In 2024, Adrian Belew began a tour with Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Tool drummer Danny Carey as Beat, performing music by the 1980s incarnation of King Crimson.
39.
Adrian Belew uses a wide variety of heavily synthesized and electronically altered guitar tones.
40.
Adrian Belew is a pioneer of guitar synthesizers, having been one of the first players to bring them to, and consistently use them in, popular music.
41.
Adrian Belew's first guitar was a Gibson Firebird that he bought for $170.
42.
Adrian Belew now has a signature Parker Fly guitar, the company's first.
43.
Adrian Belew has been seen playing an extraordinarily flexible rubber-neck guitar in the Laurie Anderson film Home of the Brave and in the video for his 1989 single "Oh Daddy".
44.
Adrian Belew's singing voice is often compared to that of Talking Heads' David Byrne.
45.
Adrian Belew has cited Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, Jeff Beck, Igor Stravinsky, and George Gershwin as particular influences.
46.
Adrian Belew has cited comedian Spike Jones as an influence on the absurdist humor of his lyrics.
47.
Adrian Belew is always adjusting his live setup, and according to audio engineer Daniel Rowland, he uses a Fractal Audio Axe-FX II, Liquid Foot 12+ controller, Roland VG-99, Kemper Profiler, a Keeley Compressor pedal, Ableton Live, Soundblox Multi-wave distortion, DigiTech HarmonyMan, iConnectMidi 4+, MOTU Ultralite 3 hybrid, Keith Mcmillen Instruments Softstep 2, and his own NOIISE FLUX:FX iPad app through the Bose L1 and Atomic monitoring wedges.
48.
Many artists have expressed their admiration for Adrian Belew or have cited him as an influence, including John Frusciante, Adam Jones of Tool, Steven Wilson, Henry Rollins, St Vincent, Anneke van Giersbergen of the Gathering, Garry Roberts of the Boomtown Rats, William Rees of Mystery Jets, Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos, Josh Christian of Toxik, and Sean Worrell of Nero di Marte.
49.
Adrian Belew is well regarded for his contributions, particularly on guitar, to various other artists' recordings.
50.
In 1993, Adrian Belew played "synthesized guitar" on the song "God Shuffled His Feet" by Crash Test Dummies and contributed to Sara Hickman's Necessary Angels album.
51.
Adrian Belew worked again with Laurie Anderson on her 1994 album, Bright Red.
52.
In 2006 and 2007, Adrian Belew contributed to two Pink Floyd tribute albums produced by Billy Sherwood: Back Against the Wall, and Return to the Dark Side of the Moon.
53.
In 2016, Adrian Belew scored the Pixar short film Piper, which was shown before Finding Dory in theaters.
54.
In 1983, Adrian Belew produced the eponymous debut album for the Raisins.
55.
Adrian Belew has produced and played on albums by three Mexican rock bands: Caifanes's 1992 album, El silencio; Santa Sabina's 1994 album, Simbolos, and Jaguares' 2005 album, Cronicas de un Laberinto.
56.
Adrian Belew was credited as co-producer and musician on Kevin Max's 2001 album, Stereotype Be.
57.
Adrian Belew established a recording studio in his home in Williams Bay, Wisconsin in the early 1990s before relocating the studio, now named StudioAdrian Belew to the Nashville, Tennessee suburb of Mount Juliet in 1995.
58.
Adrian Belew has worked in instrument design, collaborating with Parker Guitars to help design his own Parker Fly signature guitar.