Gary Hoey (born August 23, 1960) is an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and latterly

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 20 albums.

Early life and early career

Hoey was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. At fourteen, Hoey often lingered outside

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

's renowned

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

, making friends and offering to pay for lessons. To devote his time to music, he dropped out of high school and began playing Boston's local clubs and teaching guitar to other young players. He auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne in 1987, when Osbourne was searching for a replacement for Jake E. Lee, but the job went to Zakk Wylde. In 1990, he teamed with singer Joel Ellis, bassist Rex Tennyson, and drummer Frankie Banali to form Heavy Bones. The band released their debut album in 1992, but broke up shortly afterwards. In 1993, he recorded the album ''Animal Instinct,'' which included a cover of the Focus hit " Hocus Pocus". The single reached the top five on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. ''Endless Summer II'' (1995) soundtrack soon followed.

Later career

Hoey has toured and/or recorded with Brian May of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Joe Satriani, The Doobie Brothers, Beth Hart, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, Peter Frampton, Rick Derringer, and Lita Ford. Hoey supported

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

on the US leg of his Spring 2010 tour. Hoey played on and co-wrote a few songs on Lita Ford's '' Living Like a Runaway'' album in 2012, as well as toured with her in support of that album. His 2008 release ''Fade to Blues'' saw a shift in emphasis and style towards

in his own work. Hoey's most recent album, ''Neon Highway Blues'' was released in 2019. It debuted at number 2 in the US ''Billboard'' Blues Albums Chart.

Discography

* ''Get A Grip'' (1991) * ''Heavy Bones'' (with the band Heavy Bones) (1992) * '' Animal Instinct'' (1993) * '' Endless Summer II Soundtrack'' (1994) * '' Gary Hoey'' (1995) * ''Ho! Ho! Hoey'' (1995) * ''Bug Alley'' (1996) * ''Ho! Ho! Hoey II'' (1997) * ''Hocus Pocus Live'' (1998) * ''Money'' (1999) * ''Ho! Ho! Hoey 3'' (1999) * ''Best Of Ho! Ho! Hoey'' (2001) * ''Wake Up Call'' (2003) * ''Ho! Ho! Hoey: The Complete Collection'' (2003) * ''Best Of Gary Hoey'' (2004) * '' Monster Surf'' (2005) * ''The Official Album of the Disneyland Resort'' (2005) ( California Screamin' 001 with George Wilkins) * ''American Made'' (2006) * ''Fade to Blues'' (2008; re-released 2012) * ''Utopia'' (2010) * ''Deja Blues'' (2013) * ''Dust & Bones'' (2016) * ''Neon Highway Blues'' (2019)

References

External links

Official websiteGary Hoey Interview 2019 on MusiciansChannel.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoey, Gary 1960 births Living people American male guitarists American rock guitarists Guitarists from Massachusetts Musicians from Lowell, Massachusetts American blues rock musicians 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians