Neal Schon is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of the band Journey. His musical career began in 1990. He is known as the lead guitar and vocalist for the group. In 2010, he was named the Best Rock Guitarist in the Guitar Player’s Reader’s Poll.
Early life
Neal Schon was born on February 27, 1954 in Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He is a famous rock guitarist and songwriter.
He has worked with several musical outfits, but he is best known as a member of the band Journey. In 2013, Schon was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
As a child, Schon had a natural ear. His father played the woodwinds. When he was six, Schon began playing guitar. While in high school, he learned to play oboe, too. However, he stopped studying to pursue a music career.
During the early 1970s, Neal Schon became interested in blues and R&B. He was influenced by the likes of B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, and Wes Montgomery.
In the 1970s, Eric Clapton invited Schon to join his band, Derek and the Dominos. This was a chance for Schon to try his hand at writing songs. Upon learning that his guitar skills were good, he was offered a tour with the band.
Music career
Neal Schon’s music career began at a young age. He is best known for his work with Journey, but he has also collaborated with many other artists. He is a singer, songwriter and guitarist.
His father was a composer and big band player. Neal and his siblings have been involved in musical endeavors from a very early age. Their mother was a band singer.
At a young age, Neal started to play guitar and oboe. He started playing professionally when he was a teenager. In fact, when he was 15 he was asked to join Carlos Santana’s band. However, the pair split up four years later.
Neal Schon enrolled at Aragon High School in San Mateo, California. He was influenced by Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
Guitars
Neal Schon is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. Born in Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, his parents are Italian and German. He attended Aragon High School in San Mateo, California.
Schon has been married several times. First, he married Tena Austin in 1976. Then he married Beth Buckley in 1987. They have two children. In 1993, he married Dina Gioeli. But in 2008, they divorced.
Neal Schon’s father was an accomplished big band leader. At the age of five, he picked up a guitar. Later on, he played in a band called Azteca. It was in these early years that Schon’s talent was noticed.
Schon started his professional music career when he was still in high school. When he turned 16, he was asked by Eric Clapton to join the band Derek and the Dominos.
Appearances on other albums
Neal Schon is a guitar player who has toured with Santana, Bad English and Michael Bolton. His career has seen him record a total of 14 studio albums as well as five solo albums. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has been inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
In 1973, he founded Journey. They have since released thirteen albums, including the bestselling “Journey,” which ranked number one on the Billboard 200 and has earned 11 Platinum certifications. Several members of Journey have been credited with helping to shape the band’s sound.
Schon left the band in 1972, citing substance abuse issues and personnel changes. Several years later, he reunited with his old bandmates. But he remains the sole member of the group to have recorded on all of their albums.
Ethnicity, nationality, ancestry & race
Neal Schon is an American rock musician and songwriter who has performed with several acts over the years. He is perhaps best known for his work with the group that bears his name, but has also had a hand in other notable musical ventures over the years. His first foray was a short stint with the bluesy funksters azteca, before he headed out west to play in the nascent rock bands of the 1970s. For his efforts, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
A more modest feat was his involvement in the glitzy stateside band known as the Journey, whose most recent iteration is still in the throes of its heyday. As the stewards of the popular ensemble, Schon has been a major player in the storied company since the dawn of time.