Rex Carroll is an American guitarist known for his work in the

Christian metal Christian metal, also known as white metal, Jesus metal, or heavenly metal, is heavy metal music distinguished by its Christian-themed song lyrics and the dedication of the band-members to Christianity. Christian metal is typically performed by ...

band Whitecross. He is also the leader and guitarist of other bands including Fierce Heart, King James and the Rex Carroll Band. He also filled in and did all the guitar work on Eden's 1994 album ''Fan The Flame''.

Career

Whitecross

In Whitecross, Carroll is not only the lead guitarist, but is also the primary songwriter. With Whitecross, he has completed six world tours and in 1989 they were the first American rock band to perform in Guatemala City. Whitecross won two

Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee excep ...

for "Metal Album of the Year" in 1990 and 1992.

Other

Carroll has recorded numerous sound libraries, many of which have been picked up for use by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

for their

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

highlights, as well as Season One of the Anna Nicole Show. His playing has been heard on commercials for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, and he also performed the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

at the

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...

100th anniversary celebration. In June 2004, he placed third in the North American Rock Guitar Competition sponsored by ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'' magazine and WNED/New York. Carroll holds a bachelor's degree in classical guitar performance from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

. In 2010, Rex participated in a tribute album titled ''Mister Bolin's Late Night Revival'', a compilation of 17 previously unreleased tracks written by guitar legend

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American rock guitarist who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), the James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), with Billy Cobham on his first record tit ...

prior to his death in 1976. The CD includes other artists such as HiFi Superstar,

Doogie White Douglas "Doogie" White (born 7 March 1960) is a Scottish rock vocalist who currently sings for La Paz. He has also notably sung for Rainbow (rock band), Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Praying Ma ...

, Eric Martin, Troy Luccketta,

Jeff Pilson Jeffrey Steven Pilson (born January 19, 1958) is an American musician best known for being the bass player in the glam metal band Dokken and currently classic rock band Foreigner (band), Foreigner. He has also had an extended stint with Dio (ba ...

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

, Rachel Barton, Derek St. Holmes, Kimberley Dahme, and The 77's. A percentage of the proceeds from this project will benefit the Jackson Recovery Centers. In 2017, Rex and Whitecross and King James bandmate Mike Feighan joined with David Bach and Jamie Rowe of

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

to record ''Revival'', a new compilation of Whitecross and Guardian tracks and went on a short tour to promote the project.

Discography

Solo

*1995: ''The Sessions'' *2010: ''That Was Then, This Is Now'' (as The Rex Carroll Band)

Whitecross

*1987: '' Whitecross'' *1988: '' Love on the Line'' *1988: '' Hammer & Nail'' *1989: '' Triumphant Return'' *1991: '' In the Kingdom'' *1992: ''

High Gear High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

'' *2005: ''Nineteen Eighty Seven'' *2024: ''Fear No Evil''

King James

*1994: ''King James'' *1997: ''The Fall'' *2013: ''MaXimus''

Other

*1985: ''Fierce Heart'', Fierce Heart (guitar and vocals) *1994: ''Fan the Flame'', Eden (guitar, rereleased in 2004) *2017: ''Revival'', The Great Whitecross &

*2020: "War For The World", Fierce Heart (guitar and backing vocals)

Guest

*2001: '' Karaoke Superstars'',

Superchick Superchick, originally known as Superchic was an American Christian rock/Alternative rock#Alternative pop, alternative pop band that debuted in 1999 and disbanded in 2013. Their music incorporated various styles such as Pop music, pop, Punk ...

(guitar on "Alright (Respect to the Old Skool Mix)") *2010: ''Mr. Bolin's Late Night Revival'' (guitar on "Glory Train") *2014: '' Onward to Freedom'',

Tourniquet A tourniquet is a device that is used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to create ischemia or stopping the flow of blood. It may be used in emergencies, in surgery, or in post-operative rehabilitation. A simple tourniquet can ...

(guitar on "Let the Wild Just Be Wild")

References

American performers of Christian music American heavy metal guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-metal-guitarist-stub