Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa (born May 8, 1977) is an American blues-rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He started his career at age 12 when he opened for B.B. King. In the last 13 years, Bonamassa has put out 15 solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which 11 have reached number 1 on the Billboard Blues charts.
Bonamassa has played alongside many notable blues and rock artists and earned a Grammy Award nomination in 2013. Among guitarists, he is known for his extensive collection of vintage guitars and amplifiers.
Bonamassa was born in Utica, New York. He started playing guitar at age four, encouraged by his father, who was an avid music fan and exposed him to British blues rock records by Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, greatly inspiring him. At 11 years old Joe was mentored and trained by American guitar legend Danny Gatton. When he was 12 years old, he had his own band called Smokin’ Joe Bonamassa, which gigged around western New York and Pennsylvania, including cities such as Scranton and Buffalo, but only on weekends since Joe had school on weekdays. Bonamassa played a crimson 1972 Fender Stratocaster he called “Rosie”, given by his father.
Bonamassa opened for B.B. King at approximately 20 shows in 1989. In 1991, he performed on The Mickey Mouse Club where he is inducted into the Hall of Fame. Before he reached 18 years old, Bonamassa was playing in a band called Bloodline with the sons of Miles Davis, Robby Krieger, and Berry Oakley. Although Bloodline did not become a famous act, it attracted some attention to Bonamassa’s guitar chops.