Uli Jon Roth was born Ulrich Roth in Düsseldorf, Germany, on December 18, 1954. He discovered the electric guitar at 13 and was playing his first concerts that same year.
The Scorpions
In 1973 Roth joined the Scorpions, replacing Michael Schenker, and through the rest of the decade he served as the band’s lead guitarist, principal songwriter and occasional singer. His fiery, classically influenced playing defined albums such as In Trance and Taken by Force and the live album Tokyo Tapes, and he is widely credited as one of the founders of neoclassical rock and metal guitar.
Electric Sun and the Sky Guitar
Roth left the Scorpions in 1978 to follow his own vision with the power trio Electric Sun. To reach notes no ordinary guitar could, he designed the Sky Guitar, an instrument with extra frets and a range of about six octaves, which debuted on Electric Sun’s Beyond the Astral Skies.
Later Career
He went on to compose symphonies and concertos, record Vivaldi’s Four Seasons for electric guitar and orchestra, appear with the G3 guitar tour, and reunite on stage with the Scorpions. The Blackstar amplifiers stacked behind him in this photograph are the ones he championed in his later touring years.
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