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EXPLAINED: Adrian belew - The Real Truth

"I thought: 'Can I even play this stuff?' Y'know, a sixty-five-year-old Steve Vai taking on Robert Fripp at thirty-five." Steve Vai on the challenge of playing King Crimson with BEAT – and the one change he's made

In 2024, four monster instrumentalists teamed up to play music from three killer King Crimson albums – and they're finally coming to Europe

Louder

“I shuffled into this big open room, and Tina was there and she was very upset. She said to me, ‘If we get rid of David, would you join the band?’”: Adrian Belew insists he was asked to replace David Byrne in Talking Heads

He didn’t regard it as a serious offer though

MusicRadar

“I had no idea who they were. My manager said, ‘You should talk to this guy named Trent Reznor’”: How Adrian Belew ended up working with Nine Inch Nails

The King Crimson legend worked on The Downward Spiral with Reznor, but a planned tour never took place

Guitar World

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"The house had a big electric fence around it and every single window was blacked out." How a progressive rock legend helped make a 90s alt. rock masterpiece at the site of the infamous Manson Family murders

"To be honest, my manager had to talk me into this one"

Metal Hammer

“I asked for a cash discount. The shop assistant said, ‘I could phone up Eric Clapton and he’d come and buy it’”: Robert Fripp’s life in three guitars

The King Crimson founder has enjoyed the company of all kinds of guitars in his time –from the good, bad to the ugly – but these are the three that have meant the most to him

Guitar World

King Crimson affiliates BEAT announce one-off London show for June

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai will play their first UK show as BEAT in June

Louder

“I took it into rehearsals and Frank Zappa said, ‘If you wanted to ruin your guitar, why didn’t you loan it to a friend?’” Adrian Belew shares unseen photos of “the first relic’d guitar” – which he created with Seymour Duncan

The pair’s process was a little more primitive than modern methods

Guitar World

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“When we were finished gouging it with screwdrivers, spraying blops of paint on it, dragging it around the yard, and banging it on the driveway, we hung it up in a tree”: Adrian Belew on how he and Seymour Duncan made one of the first relic’d guitars

The prog guitar icon has posted new pics taken by Seymour Duncan that show off their handiwork as they turned Belew's new Strat into a relic and started guitar's most controversial trend

MusicRadar

“People were going, ‘Hey man, I saw you’re on that Avril Lavigne record.’ I went, ‘Nah, I didn’t play on that.’ They go, ‘Your name’s on it!’”: The drummer who’s played on 400 albums has made one of his own – full of one-minute tracks

"I knocked out four or five songs in an evening"

MusicRadar

“It’s the guitar pedal equivalent of the Ark of the Covenant”: 50 years ago, Electro-Harmonix set the template for the future of guitar stores – then it disappeared without a trace. This is the story of the Hall of Science

Mike Matthews, Josh Scott and key EHX staff reflect on the firm’s boldest idea, which came at the height of its late-’70s powers – and went way beyond pedals

Guitar World

“Every working player knows a day will come when something goes wrong with their financial affairs. They’ll need an instrument for that day”: Robert Fripp on the guitars he’s kept, and the one he bought with no intention of playing

The King Crimson mastermind is best known for his ’59 Les Paul Custom, and there’s a reason most of his key instruments have been Gibsons – but he has a few “honorable mentions” too, like the '57 Strat Robin Trower gave him...

Guitar World

“A miracle that silenced their harshest critics, even within the band, and opened many minds”: The prog credentials of Talking Heads’ Remain In Light

With input from Brian Eno and Adrian Belew, the creatively explosive 1980 album was a turning point for the American band – and many other artists

Louder

“I cannot thank you enough for your incredible Parker Fly design. Your genius changed my life”: Adrian Belew leads tributes to Ken Parker, pioneering guitar maker who has died aged 73

Parker's builds were played by everyone from Belew and Joni Mitchell to Eddie Van Halen and Matt Bellamy

Guitar World

“She said, ‘Looks like you found it on a beach. But then it also looks like it came from outer space’”: Ken Parker, visionary luthier behind the Parker Fly, has died, aged 73

Parker was one of guitar designs great radicals, whose legendary electric, the Parker Fly, became a '90s classic, famously played by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Adrian Belew, David Lynch and more

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Guitar World

“I’m on a breathing machine 24/7, and I’ve started to lose the use of my left arm”: Ken Parker, designer of the Parker Fly guitar beloved by Adrian Belew and Joni Mitchell, launches crowdfunding campaign for cancer treatment

Parker was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2023

Louder

Watch King Crimson 80s affiliate band Beat perform Elephant Talk live

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai have just released Beat Live on Blu-ray, vinly and CD

Louder

“A truly virtuosic and deeply musical homage to King Crimson’s legacy – hugely entertaining”: BEAT LIVE captures the joy of Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin and Danny Carey reviving and evolving the 80s

The quartet’s relaxed yet enthusiastic approach means they never sound indulgent as they segue between pachyderm-impersonating dissonance and languorous ambience

Louder

King Crimson offshoot Beat share new live clip of Thela Hun Ginjeet

Adrian Belew, Danny Carey, Tony Levin and Steve Vai will release Beat Live in September

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Guitar World

“Steve Vai walked me through the process – he’s had it done twice. He introduced me to one of the best surgeons in the US”: Adrian Belew on his carpal tunnel fears and recovery, working with Vai and Frank Zappa, and his next musical adventure

As he recovers from surgery, the progressive guitar icon draws a line from Frank Zappa through Talking Heads, King Crimson and Beat, explains his synergy with Steve Vai, and hints at the pedals that will drive his future creations

Guitar World

“The year that I spent with Frank was the first and only time that I’ve ever had serious instruction”: Adrian Belew reflects on his game-changing year with Frank Zappa – and what the avant-garde musician taught him about music and the business

Belew was discovered and handpicked by Zappa in 1977 after the latter saw him playing at a bar in Nashville

Louder

King Crimson affiliates Beat release live video for classic Frame By Frame

Starring Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Danny Carey, Frame By Frame comes from the upcoming album Beat Live, out next month

Guitar World

“I wound up joining Spinal Tap in Phoenix and played bass along with Adrian Belew on Big Bottom. It was a huge comedy honor”: The chance encounters that led Abby Travis to play bass with Beck, Elastica, The Bangles and The Go-Go’s

The “pinch-hitter of bassists” explains why she prefers groove over technicality, how she approaches joining an established band, her Spinal Tap audition, and why she can’t release her next solo album

Guitar World

“My hand started getting numb and it would stay numb from the moment that I woke up, all the way until soundcheck. It was a little scary”: Adrian Belew reflects on having his left hand repaired – and how his playing is recovering

Belew was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome during his BEAT tour alongside Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Danny Carey

Louder

“Asked if Going For The One was about God, spirituality or the oneness of all people, he said no – it was about putting a tenner on a horse race. You’re almost better off not knowing that!” Steve Hogarth on his hero Jon Anderson

The Marillion man was so moved by the experience of hearing Yes for the first time that he wrote a song about it

Louder

BEAT share live clip of Neal And Jack And Me as they announce new live release

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