Gilby Clarke

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Gilby Clarke
Born	August 17, 1962 (age 44) Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Genre(s)	Hard rock Heavy metal
Affiliation(s)	Rock Star Supernova MC5 Heart Guns N' Roses Kill For Thrills Candy
Label(s)	Spitfire Geffen
Years active	1985 - Present
Official site	www.gilbyclarke.com

Gilby Clarke is a guitarist, born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 17, 1962. He spent his childhood playing with musical instruments and neglecting school. In the early 1980s, he was part of the pop band Candy, who released one album, Whatever Happened To Fun, before he moved on to mainstream metal band Kill For Thrills.

He is best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He joined Guns N' Roses in November of 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin, who quit the band in the middle of a 28-month world tour.

Clarke is currently in the band Rock Star Supernova and played with Heart, Kathy Valentine (of the Go-Go's) and the reformed MC5 on their 2005 European tour.

1 Guns N' Roses
2 Solo career
3 Rockstar: Supernova
4 Discography
- 4.1 Albums and EPs
5 External links

[edit] Guns N' Roses

Clarke joined Guns N' Roses in November 1991 following the departure of original rhythm guitarist, Izzy Stradlin.

He toured extensively with the band on their huge Use Your Illusion Tour between 1991 and 1993 and appeared on the Guns N' Roses covers album The Spaghetti Incident? , Live Era: '87-'93 & Greatest Hits.

Shortly before the band recorded a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" for the film Interview with the Vampire, Clarke was replaced by lead singer Axl Rose's long-time friend Paul Tobias.

In a bizarre twist, Clarke collaborated with guitarist Tracii Guns on the album The Roots of Guns N' Roses. Issued in 2004, the album featured demo recordings of future Guns N' Roses songs such as "Reckless Life" and "Anything Goes" recorded by Axl's pre-GNR band, Hollywood Rose, in the mid-eighties.

[edit] Solo career

In 1994, he released his debut solo album Pawnshop Guitars which featured contributions from several of his friends including all the then members of Guns N' Roses. That same year he was fired from Guns N' Roses by lead singer Axl Rose.

Since then he has released another three solo albums, The Hangover, Rubber and 2002's Swag as well as the live album 99 Live. Gilby also featured on Slash's Snakepit's It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, contributing rhythm guitar parts, the song "Monkey Chow" and appearing in Slash's touring band.

He formed the band Col. Parker with ex-Stray Cat Slim Jim Phantom, releasing the album Rock N Roll Music in 2001.

In addition, he made a guest appearance on the L.A. Guns album Shrinking Violet, which he also produced. Clarke also produced The Bronx's self-titled album released in 2003 and Girlsplayboys debut album :From Ritual to Romance in 2006.

In 2002 Clarke worked with Nancy Sinatra on her album California Girl and a year later joined Heart on their national tour.

In 2006, Clarke embarked on a solo tour across America and Europe (inlcuding the UK where he was supported by Red Star Rebels) before joining former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and vocalist Lukas Rossi in the band Rock Star Supernova.

In 2007 he released a best of album featuring tracks from all of his solo albums as well as two songs from the Col. Parker project and a re-recording of the song "Black", featuring vocals by Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana.

[edit] Rockstar: Supernova

In 2006, Mötley Crüe drummer, Tommy Lee, formed Supernova with Clarke on guitars and former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. The band used the TV show Rockstar to find a new lead singer. Lukas Rossi was chosen as their lead singer.

The name Supernova however met up with controversy, as another band from California already had that name. On June 26, 2006, the latter band filed a federal lawsuit.

On Tuesday, September 12, 2006, San Diego Judge John Houston ruled in favor of the original Supernova, granting their request for a preliminary injunction. The injunction keeps the producers of "Rock Star: Supernova" — which concluded September 13 as a television show, but will continue as a recording, touring, and merchandise entity for some time to follow — from "performing rock and roll music, or recording, or selling rock and roll music recordings under the same [name], pending a trial of this action on its merits, or until otherwise ordered by the court." As such, the band has renamed to Rock Star Supernova, for the moment at least.

He is currently producing a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" on Rockstar: Supernova runner-up Dilana Robichaux's upcoming album. This single will be released on February 20, 2007 on iTunes, Napster and other digital download websites. Dilana is also the featured vocalist on the track "Black" on Gilby's best of album.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums and EPs

[edit] Solo

[edit] With Candy

Whatever Happened To Fun (1985)
Teenage Neon Jungle (2003)

[edit] With Kill For Thrills

Commercial Suicide (1988)
Dynamite From Nightmareland (1989)

[edit] With Guns N' Roses

[edit] With Slash's Snakepit

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere (1995)

[edit] With Col. Parker

Rock N Roll Music (2001)

[edit] With Nancy Sinatra

California Girl (2002)

[edit] With Rock Star Supernova

Rockstar Supernova (2006)

[edit] External links

Preceded by Izzy Stradlin	Guns N' Roses Rhythm Guitarist 1991-1994	Succeeded by Paul Tobias

v • d • e Guns N' Roses

Axl Rose • Dizzy Reed • Robin Finck • Tommy Stinson • Chris Pitman • Bryan Mantia • Richard Fortus • Bumblefoot • Frank Ferrer

Ole Beich • Rob Gardner • Tracii Guns • Steven Adler • Izzy Stradlin • Gilby Clarke • Slash • Matt Sorum • Duff McKagan • Josh Freese • Paul Tobias • Buckethead