Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948) is an English guitarist, known for having played with

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

(permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

(as a backing guitarist from 1977 to 1980), and later for

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

' band. He is also known for his 1983 single " Bird of Paradise", which became a UK Singles Chart Top 10 hit single.

Early life

Terence Charles White was born on 3 March 1948 in Devon, England. He grew up on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

and was self-taught as a guitarist, having received his first guitar from his parents at the age of ten. He moved to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1965 at the age of seventeen, spending more than a year there playing in a trio called the Train. In 1968 he purchased his signature guitar, a

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...

Goldtop.

Career

White made his way to London by 1970, and found work as a session player and as a member of Heavy Heart. During this time he met Peter Green and the two began a lifelong friendship (he later appeared on Green's album '' In the Skies''). White had been recommended to Pink Floyd by

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's former manager Hilary Walker, as they were looking for an additional guitarist for the live band on the ''In the Flesh'' tour in 1977 to promote the ''

Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...

'' album. White's solo on " Pigs on the Wing" ( 8-track version only), was his first time playing for the band. During the tour, White started off the show by playing bass guitar on the song "

Sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

", as well as soloing during " Have a Cigar" and "Shine on You Crazy Diamond Part VIII". Following the tour, which ended in July 1977, White played guitar on Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright's debut solo album '' Wet Dream'', recorded in January–February 1978 and released in September 1978. In 1979 Thin Lizzy guitarist

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

, having seen White play with Pink Floyd in New York City during the ''Animals'' tour, approached him about joining Thin Lizzy. The collaboration with these two bands was very complicated; the invitation to rehearse the live show of ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/ EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera which explores Pink, a jaded rock star, as he constructs a psychologic ...

'' for Pink Floyd, happened at the same time he was invited to become a full-time member of Thin Lizzy, with whom he recorded/co-wrote their ''

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

'' and '' Renegade'' albums. White left Thin Lizzy in August 1982. White's connection to Pink Floyd continued in later decades. White was invited by former Pink Floyd bassist

to perform at

The Wall Concert in Berlin ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

in 1990, by the ruins of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

, along with other artists. Waters also called on White in 1991 for the "Guitar Legends" concert, in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

was the guest on White's 1994 album ''Highway to the Sun'', appearing on the track "Love, Pain and Sorrow", with Gilmour playing his

Digitech Whammy The DigiTech Whammy is a pitch shifter pedal manufactured by DigiTech. It raises or lowers the pitch of an audio signal by up to two octaves, controlled with a treadle. The first model, released in 1989, was the first mass-market digital pitc ...

pedal-enhanced

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

, which was recorded at Gilmour's houseboat studio, The Astoria. Apart from guest appearances by

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

, David Gilmour and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

, the album also introduced two new Dutch-Indonesian musicians, Juan van Emmerloot (drums) and Walter Latupeirissa (bass and rhythm guitar). Kuma Harada also played bass and rhythm guitar. White's next album project was entitled '' Goldtop'', named after his Gibson Les Paul Goldtop Standard guitar. It featured material in which White has been involved from 1974 until 1994, including two tracks from Thin Lizzy, jams from the Peter Green ''In the Skies'' session, and the extended,

8-track tape The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, ...

version of the Pink Floyd song " Pigs on the Wing", featuring White's guitar bridge between the two parts. White has recorded five albums with his White Flames band. The first three were ''No Faith Required'' in 1996, ''Little Wing'' in 1998 and ''Keep Out: We Are Toxic'' in 1999. In 1999 White joined Waters for his band's '' In the Flesh'' US tour and in 2000, Waters again toured the US, this time recording a live album and making a film of the show. Again, from February to July 2002 White toured the world with Roger Waters. Another White Flames album (as a three-piece), entitled ''Restless'', was released in May 2002. Spring 2005 saw the release of a new White Flames album, titled '' The Way It Is'', with a basic four-piece outfit consisting of Richard Bailey (drums/percussion), Walter Latupeirissa (bass) and Max Middleton (keyboards). A DVD, '' The Way It Is...Live!'', was completed and issued. White toured with Waters in The Dark Side of the Moon Live tour from June 2006, having played in Europe, North America, Australia, Asia and South America. He also performed with Waters at

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase Environmentalism, environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Live Earth 2007 The 1st series ...

. White formed a new band in 2008 named the Snowy White Blues Project. ''In Our Time of Living'' was released in April 2009. The group featured Matt Taylor: guitar/vocals, Ruud Weber: bass/vocals, Juan van Emmerloot: drums, and Snowy White: guitar/vocals. In 2010 White toured again with Roger Waters, in The Wall Live. In 2016, White's "Midnight Blues" was sampled on rapper

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

's track "Blue Notes". Due to health issues, he announced his retirement from playing live in 2019.

Discography

*1983 – '' White Flames'' *1984 – ''

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist from 1977 to 1980), and later for Roger Waters' ...

'' *1987 – '' That Certain Thing'' *1988 – '' Change My Life'' (as Snowy White's Blues Agency) *1989 – ''Open for Business'' (as Snowy White's Blues Agency) *1994 – ''Highway to the Sun'' *1995 – '' Arthur's Club-Geneve 1995'' (with

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

) *1996 – ''No Faith Required'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *1998 – ''Little Wing'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) (re-released as ''Melting'' in 1999) *1999 – ''Keep Out – We Are Toxic'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2002 – ''Restless'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2005 – '' The Way It Is'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2007 – '' Live Flames'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2009 – ''In Our Time of Living'' (as Snowy White Blues Project) *2010 – ''In Our Time... Live'' (as Snowy White Blues Project) *2011 – ''Realistic'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2012 – ''After Paradise'' *2016 – ''Released'' *2017 – ''Reunited...'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2019 – ''The Situation'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2020 – ''Something On Me'' (as Snowy White & The White Flames) *2022 – ''Driving On The 44'' *2024 – ''Unfinished Business''

Compilations

*1993: Snowy White's Blues Agency – ''The Best of Snowy White's Blues Agency'' *1996: Snowy White – '' Goldtop: Groups & Sessions '74–'94'' *1998: Snowy White's Blues Agency – ''The Masters'' (compilation of 'Change My Life and 'Open For Business') *1999: Snowy White – ''Pure Gold – The Solo Years 1983–98'' (compilation) *2003: Snowy White – ''Bird of Paradise – An Anthology'' (compilation, Double CD) *2009: Snowy White's Blues Agency – ''Twice as Addictive'' *2009: Snowy White – ''The Best of Snowy White'' (double CD, compilation)

Thin Lizzy

* 1980: ''

'' * 1981: '' Renegade'' * 1983: ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' (3 tracks)

Pink Floyd

* 1977: ''

'' (bridging piece on

8-track cartridge The 8-track tape (formally Stereo 8; commonly called eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, and eight-track) is a magnetic-tape sound recording technology that was popular from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s, when the compact cassette, ...

only) * 2000: '' Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81''

Rick Wright

* 1978: '' Wet Dream''

Roger Waters

* 1990: '' The Wall Live in Berlin'' * 2000: '' In the Flesh: Live'' * 2002: '' Flickering Flame: The Solo Years Vol. 1'' * 2015: '' Roger Waters: The Wall''

Other recordings featuring Snowy White

* 1974: '' ...Waiting on You'' by Jonathan Kelly's Outside * 1975: '' New Worlds Fair'' by Michael Moorcock and The Deep Fix, United Artists * 1979: '' In the Skies'' by Peter Green * 1980: '' Solo in Soho'' by Philip Lynott * 1984: ''One Man Mission'' by Jim Capaldi * 1993: ''Rio Grande'' by

Eddy Mitchell Claude Moine (; born 3 July 1942), known professionally as Eddy Mitchell, is a French singer and actor. He began his career in the late 1950s, with the group Les Chaussettes Noires (The Black Socks). He took the name ''Eddy'' from the American ...

(

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

); solo guitar on "je me sens mieux quand je me sens mal" and "te perdre" * 1997: ''Snow Blind'' by Tom Newman and Friends (Snowy White on two tracks, recorded 1983) * 1997: ''Looking for Somebody'' Rattlesnake Guitar: The Music of Peter Green * 2017: ''Blue Notes'' by Meek Mill

DVDs

* 2012: Snowy White and Friends – ''After Paradise'' �., Blues Rock, DVD9* 2005: ''Live from London'' * 2005: '' The Way It Is...Live!'' * 2005: ''Instropective'' * 2004: ''Thin Lizzy at Rockpalast''

References

External links

Snowy White's official website

The White Flames magazines

Fan website
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Snowy 1948 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English rock guitarists English session musicians English lead guitarists Musicians from Barnstaple Pink Floyd Progressive rock guitarists British rhythm guitarists Thin Lizzy members