Bumblefoot

Bumblefoot (aka Ron Thal) was born in Brooklyn, New York. He is a recording artist and international touring artist from NYC with eight albums released since 1995. Fronting the band as lead singer/guitarist, the music is hard rock, bordering on quirky and experimental. Known for his unusual guitar-work, Bumblefoot has been on the covers of guitar magazines around the world. His guitar playing can be heard in the Spanish guitar soloing of Jessica Simpson's Irresistible dance mix, the punky guitar riff of Spike TV's MXC theme song, in the background of MTV's The Osbournes, The Real World, and much more... Bumblefoot works out of his studio in Princeton, New Jersey, where he collaborates with artists as a songwriter/producer and writes for publishing companies, video games and TV shows. Bumblefoot is a volunteer for the MS Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that donates funds directly to Multiple Sclerosis research. Bumblefoot's first major recording was for a Shrapnel Records' compilation CD "Ominous Guitarists From the Unknown" in 1992, on which he performed a guitar version of Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu. He released two more CDs on the Shrapnel label. First was the mostly instrumental album The Adventures of Bumblefoot, where he displayed his eclectic style of rhythms and soloing. His second CD was completely different from the first, more lyrically focused and influenced by grunge, but still with guitar solos. After two albums with Shrapnel, Ron Thal adopted the name Bumblefoot and started his own production company Hermit Inc on which he released three musically diverse CDs -- Hands, Uncool (2 versions) and 9-11. He also released a compilation album with cuts that didn't make it onto the previous albums for various reasons. He continues to record solo albums, but spends more time producing for other artists as well as raising money for multiple sclerosis research. On May 12th, 2006 Bumblefoot was confirmed as the new lead guitarist for hard rock band Guns N' Roses at their concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, taking over the position from Buckethead who filled that role on the 2002 tour. Prior to the show he had rehearsed with the band for only about a week and was still learning the songs minutes before the show started. During the European tour he has been playing a special instrumental version of Don't Cry as part of his guitar solo.