1. Gerry Leonard was born on 26 February 1962 and is an Irish guitarist known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Duncan Sheik and many others.
12 Facts About Gerry Leonard
1. 2.
Gerry Leonard played in bands as a teen and was influenced by a mixture of Led Zeppelin, punk, post-punk, and whatever was playing on Top of the Pops.
3.
Gerry Leonard worked as a tape operator in Lombard Sound Studios; one of his jobs involved recording a demo tape by a 16-year-old Sinead O'Connor.
4.
Gerry Leonard has worked in film and theatre, with his guitar playing featured on Peter Nashel's scores for The Deep End and Bee Season, Trevor Jones's soundtrack for CrissCross, and Roger Waters's song for The Last Mimzy.
5.
Gerry Leonard wrote and performed the score for the Irish independent movie 32A, directed by Marian Quinn, and for Quinn's earlier short film Come To.
6.
Gerry Leonard has been involved with some of Duncan Sheik's theatrical works, including Whisper House, staged in San Diego in 2010.
7.
Gerry Leonard worked extensively with David Bowie, featuring on the studio albums Heathen, Reality and The Next Day.
8.
Gerry Leonard toured with Bowie on the Heathen and Reality tours and was musical director for the Reality tour and DVD.
9.
Bowie and Gerry Leonard were introduced by Mark Plati, and Gerry Leonard first worked with Bowie on a track from the abandoned album Toy, which Plati was producing.
10.
Gerry Leonard was able to cover the more unique guitar parts on older Bowie songs, such as those initially played by Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew.
11.
In 2013, Gerry Leonard participated in an April Fools' Day spoof involving an announcement that Bowie would be representing Germany in that year's Eurovision Song Contest.
12.
Gerry Leonard worked on the first Spooky Ghost album from 1996 to 1998, recording it in his East Village apartment.