Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro (; born 16 June 1972) is a Brazilian guitarist. He has been a member of several heavy metal bands, including Angra and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

Career

Loureiro began studying music and playing

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

at age 11. He studied with two famous Brazilian musicians: Pedro Bueno and Mozart Mello. Inspired by various artists, including

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, and

Randy Rhoads Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo albu ...

, he moved to the electric guitar at 13 and by 16 had already joined two bands, Legalize (with Edu Mello on vocals, Dennis Belik on bass and Alja on drums) and A Chave, and was playing in nightclubs in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. At 19, he co-founded Brazilian

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band Angra. Due to the increase in popularity of power metal, Loureiro has become quite successful, both playing in Angra and as a solo artist. In addition to his rock/metal achievements, Loureiro has also played guitars on several

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

songs in collaboration with

Dave Rodgers Dave Rodgers (born Giancarlo Pasquini; 21 February 1963) is an Italian singer, songwriter and producer known for his contributions to the Eurobeat genre of dance music. Born in Mantua, Italy, he formed the band Aleph before contributing to the l ...

, including "Fevernova", "Ring of Fire" and "The Road Is on Fire". On 2 April 2015, it was announced that Loureiro had joined the American thrash metal band

, replacing

Chris Broderick Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four albums between 1998 and 2004. ...

. On 12 February 2017, Loureiro, along with

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

David Ellefson David Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist and backing vocalist for thrash metal band Megadeth across two stints. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills whi ...

and

Chris Adler Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best-known as a founding member and the longtime drummer of Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Lamb of God (band), Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019. He was also a Grammy A ...

, won the "

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for the Megadeth song "Dystopia" at the

59th Grammy Awards The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility yea ...

. In March 2022, Loureiro made public The Kiko Loureiro Guitar Academy, an online school offering guitar courses. Loureiro began hosting a mentorship program the same year. Loureiro performed and co-wrote songs on Megadeth's 2022 release '' The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'', which received critical appraisal. Loureiro announced in September 2023 that he would be taking a break from Megadeth. On 19 November 2023, Loureiro announced that he was extending his break into 2024, later confirming his exit from Megadeth in a podcast interview on 28 November.

Musical style

Loureiro is known for his technical skill on the guitar, frequently incorporating such techniques as two handed tapping, sweep picking (full swept arpeggios), alternate picking, hybrid picking, artificial and natural harmonics and combining legato and staccato in the same run or phrase. He is also well known for both his instructional and demonstration videos as well as for writing columns for and appearing on the cover of magazines ''Cover Guitarra'', ''Guitar & Bass'', and ''

Young Guitar ''Young Guitar Magazine'' is a Japanese guitar magazine first published in May 1969 by Shinko Ongaku Shuppansha (now Shinko Music Entertainment), with a focus on folk music. Starting from the 1970s, it started covering hard rock in the 1970s, an ...

''. Despite being a right-handed guitarist, Loureiro is naturally left-handed. As such, he spends most of his pre-warmups focusing on his right-hand techniques.

Personal life

Loureiro married Finnish pianist and keyboardist Maria Ilmoniemi in 2011. The two met during Loureiro's tenure in

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. Turunen studied lyrical ...

's Storm World Tour in 2008. Their first daughter, Livia, was born on 29 September 2011. On 21 November 2016, they welcomed twins Dante and Stella. The family moved to Finland in 2020. Loureiro is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. He has tried being a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

in the past but he switched to vegetarianism after six months.

Discography

Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro live in London 2018-06-16

Solo

* '' No Gravity'' (2005) * '' Universo Inverso'' (2006) * ''

Fullblast ''Fullblast'' is the third solo album by Brazilian Heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist Kiko Loureiro. Like the others, it is totally instrumental. Track listing Personnel *Kiko Loureiro – guitar, Keyboard instrument, keyboards, additiona ...

'' (2009) * ''Sounds of Innocence'' (2012) * ''The White Balance'' (DVD, 2013) * ''Open Source'' (2020) * ''Theory of Mind'' (2024) Video lesson and instructional * ''Guitarra Rock (1993) * ''Os Melhores Solos e Riffs do Angra (2003)'' * ''Tecnica e Versatilidade (2003)'' * ''Guitarra Tecnica Para Iniciantes (2009)'' * ''Rock Fusion Brasileiro (2009)'' * ''Creative Fusion (2010)''

Angra

* ''

Reaching Horizons ''Reaching Horizons'' is a demo-tape by the Brazilian power metal band Angra, released in 1993 through Limb Music. The original cassette contained six songs, with some re-recorded for their debut album Angels Cry. In 1997, the record-company ...

'' (originally released in 1992, reissued in 1997) * '' Angels Cry (JVC Japan, 1993)'' * '' Evil Warning'' EP (1994) * ''

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

'' (Gravadora Eldorado, 1996) **'' Make Believe Part 1'' single (1996) ** ''Make Believe Part 2'' single (1997) ** ''Make Believe Part 3'' single (1997) ** ''Make Believe Part 4'' single (1997) * ''

Freedom Call Freedom Call is a German power metal band formed in 1998. The band tours regularly and the current line-up includes one original member, lead vocalist and songwriter, Chris Bay. Freedom Call has released 14 albums in total, eleven of these ...

'' EP (1996) * '' Holy Live'' live EP (1997) * ''

Fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

'' (

SPV GmbH SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributors ...

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

, 1998) **''Lisbon'' single (1998) ** ''Rainy Nights'' single (1998) * ''

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a 2011 documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * '' ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2001) **''Acid Rain'' single (2001) * '' Hunters and Prey'' EP (

/Steamhammer, 2002) * '' Rebirth World Tour – Live in São Paulo'' live album and video (

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

Victor Entertainment is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Entertainment operates the RC ...

, recorded in 2001 and released in 2003) * ''

Temple of Shadows ''Temple of Shadows'' is the fifth studio and a concept album by the power metal band Angra and was released in 2004 by Paradoxx Music in Brazil and SPV label Steamhammer in the rest of the world. SPV also released a limited edition containing ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2004) **''Wishing Well'' single (2004) * '' Aurora Consurgens'' (

/Steamhammer, 2006) **''The Course of the Nature'' single (2006) * ''

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. As such, it is often used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (Chicago), an 82-story resid ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2010) *''Angels Cry 20th Anniversary Tour'' (JVC/Victor Entertainment, Substantial Music, SPV/Steamhammer, 2013) *'' Secret Garden'' (JVC, Universal Music, Edel Music, 2014) *'' Ømni '' (2018) - guitar solo on "War Horns" as a guest * ''Cycles of Pain'' (2023) - guitar solo on "Tears of Blood (Speed Version)" as a guest

Tribuzy

* ''

Execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

'' (2005) * '' Execution – Live Reunion'' (2007)

Tarja

* ''

My Winter Storm ''My Winter Storm'' is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen. The album was released by Universal Music on 19 November 2007 in Finl ...

'' (2007) * ''The Seer'' (EP) (2008)

Neural Code

* ''Neural Code'' (2009)

Paco Ventura

* ''Black Moon'' (2015) - On the song "Arabestia"

Megadeth

* ''

Dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

'' (2016) * '' Warheads on Foreheads'' - ''compilation'' (2019) * '' The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Kiko Loureiro website

Official Angra website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loureiro, Kiko 1972 births Living people Brazilian heavy metal guitarists Grammy Award winners Brazilian male guitarists Lead guitarists Angra (band) members Megadeth members Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Progressive metal guitarists 21st-century Brazilian guitarists 21st-century Brazilian male musicians Brazilian expatriates in Finland Thrash metal musicians