Rick Dufay

Richard Marc "Rick" Dufay (born February 2, 1952) is a guitarist who played in Aerosmith in the period after Brad Whitford left the band in 1980^[1] up to his return in 1984.

Early life

Dufay was born in Paris, France.

Career

Before joining Aerosmith, Dufay released an album called Tender Loving Abuse,^[2] produced by Aerosmith producer Jack Douglas. It was Douglas who recommended Dufay to Steven Tyler as Whitford's replacement.^[3] Dufay can be heard on parts of Aerosmith's 1982 album Rock in a Hard Place^[4] as well being seen in the video for "Lightning Strikes".

Dufay was apparently a stabilizing force for the band on the road, describing himself in Behind The Music: Aerosmith as caring for Tyler during his lowest points of addiction and depression, and suggesting to Tyler that he reunite with Whitford and Joe Perry. Perry thanked Dufay for "committing career suicide" during Aerosmith's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech in 2001.^{[citation needed]}

Since leaving Aerosmith, Dufay's projects have included the band Blue By Nature featuring vocalist Karen Lawrence. His daughter is actress Minka Kelly.^[5]

On the Aerosmith release "Music From Another Dimension", Rick plays on the song "Shakey Ground", which is a cover of an R&B song originally done by The Temptations in 1975. This song was included on the initial tracklist, but now appears on the Walmart exclusive version of the record.

Personal life

Rick Dufay was married to Maureen Dumont Kelly, an exotic dancer. They have a daughter Minka Kelly, an actress. They split up when she was young, and she was raised by her mother.

References

November 6, 2012

External links

• rickdufay.com