Sophie Lloyd (born 22 October 1995) is a British guitarist. Since 2011, she has gained international recognition on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

as a

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

guitarist. She has been a guitarist in Machine Gun Kelly's touring band, which she joined in 2022. Her debut EP "Delusions" was released in 2018. Her debut solo album, ''Imposter Syndrome'', was released in 2023.

Early life

Sophie Lloyd was born in Oxford on 22 October 1995. She grew up in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

. She first picked up guitar at the age of nine, after watching "Goofy Goober Rock", a modified

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

's "

I Wanna Rock "I Wanna Rock" is a song written and composed by Dee Snider and performed by his band Twisted Sister. It was released on the 1984 album '' Stay Hungry''. Reception ''Cash Box'' called the song "an exercise in hard rocking" that doesn't break n ...

", in the 2004 film ''

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film, animated adventure comedy film based on the television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hill ...

''. Her early influences included metal bands

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal/southern metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three ...

and

Pantera Pantera () is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul), and currently composed of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, an ...

, as well as

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

and

Halestorm Halestorm is an American Rock music, rock band from Red Lion, Pennsylvania, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Lzzy Hale, drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger, and bassist Josh Smith. Siblings Lzzy and Arejay founded the band in ...

. She graduated with first-class honours as a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

in Popular Music Performance from the BIMM Institute London in 2018, and is a professional composer.

Career

Sophie Lloyd started her

channel in 2011, highlighting her

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

cover versions, her own compositions, guitar equipment reviews, and her shredding and soloing techniques. Her YouTube channel gained international recognition, achieving 54 million views by December 2020. She joined Machine Gun Kelly's touring band in 2022, for his

Mainstream Sellout Tour The Mainstream Sellout Tour was a concert tour by American musician Machine Gun Kelly (musician), Machine Gun Kelly. The tour supported his sixth studio album ''Mainstream Sellout'' (2022), and visited North America and Europe. The tour began o ...

. She was voted Best Rock Guitarist of 2022 by the readership of ''

MusicRadar Future plc is a British publishing company. It was started in 1985 by Chris Anderson. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History 1985–2012 The company was founded by Chris Anderson a ...

''. Her debut album, ''Imposter Syndrome'', debuted at #3 on the UK Rock chart and #11 on the Indie chart in 2023. The album gained a nomination for Best Breakthrough Album at the 2024

Heavy Music Awards The Heavy Music Awards (HMAs) are awards presented by The Heavy Group to recognize outstanding achievements in heavy music. It operates as both an annual awards ceremony and a live event. The first ceremony was held on 24 August 2017. Whilst ...

and was ranked as one of the best debut albums of 2023 by ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

''. The solo of "Do or Die" was voted by ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' readers as the 2nd best

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melody, melodic passage, instrumental section (music), section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, classical, electric guitar, electric, or acoustic guitar. In 20th and ...

of 2022. In June 2024, her debut solo headline show was first announced for

Camden Assembly The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the United Kingdom originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature rock, alternative and independent music. The flagsh ...

the following October and then upgraded to The Underworld, due to high demand. In September 2024, her US debut headline show was announced for the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...

in January 2025.

Equipment

Sophie Lloyd is endorsed by

Kiesel Guitars Kiesel Guitars is an American manufacturer of custom electric guitars and electric bass guitars located in Southern California, with a heritage dating back to 1946. In 2015, Kiesel Guitars split from Carvin Corporation, taking the guitar and bas ...

and

Ernie Ball Ernie Ball (born Roland Sherwood Ball; August 30, 1930 – September 9, 2004) was an American entrepreneur and musician who developed guitar-related products. Ball began as a club and local television musician and entrepreneur, building an inter ...

strings. She has also used EVH and Diezel

guitar amplifier A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic amplifier, electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a Pickup (music technology), pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce so ...

s and

Boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

effects pedal An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with el ...

Discography

;Albums *''SHRED Vol.1'' (2023) *''Imposter Syndrome'' (2023) ;EP *''Delusions'' (2018) ;Singles *"Bulletproof Revolver" (2019) *"Do Or Die" (2022) *"Fall Of Man" (2023) *"Hanging On" (2023)

References

External links