Richie Kotzen Hard rock artist Date of Birth: 03.02.1973 Country: USA

Biography of Richie Kotzen

Ritchie Kotzen is an American virtuoso guitarist and songwriter. He was born on February 3, 1973, in Reading, Pennsylvania. He was introduced to music at a very young age and was already playing the piano at the age of five. When he was seven years old, he came across a poster of "Kiss" and, inspired by the impulse, he picked up the guitar. With determination, he honed his skills on the instrument, and this eventually paid off.

By the time he was seventeen, Kotzen had toured extensively across the United States, opening for artists such as "Fabulous Thunderbirds," Greg Allman, and "Smithereens." In 1989, he caught the attention of Mike Varney, who offered him a contract to release several albums on his label, "Shrapnel Records." For his debut album, Varney enlisted renowned musicians such as Steve Smith on drums and Stu Hamm on bass. The self-titled album, "Richie Kotzen," achieved great success, and Kotzen's photo appeared on the covers of several magazines, including "Guitar World."

While his first album had a predominantly metal sound, Kotzen incorporated funk, blues, and soul elements into his music on his second album. He continued to experiment with different genres until he released the instrumental album "Electric Joy." The album, recorded mostly by Kotzen himself, received mixed reviews. After fulfilling his obligations to "Shrapnel" with the release of "Electric Joy," Kotzen planned to work with "Interscope" and focus on his vocals. However, during this time, glam metal band "Poison" fired their guitarist C.C. DeVille due to drug-related issues and offered Kotzen the vacant spot. Kotzen accepted the offer and, in 1993, became a member of the band, contributing to their platinum album "Native Tongue." Two hit singles from the album, "Stand" and "Until You Suffer Some (Fire and Ice)," were written by Kotzen.

However, Kotzen did not remain with "Poison" for long. After he started dating the drummer Rikki Rockett's girlfriend, a scandal erupted, and Kotzen was eventually dismissed from the band. Starting in 1994, he resumed his solo career, exploring various genres from blues to hard rock and from soul to jazz fusion, while also improving his guitar technique and vocal abilities.

In the mid-90s, Kotzen collaborated with another guitar maestro, Greg Howe, and released two joint albums, "Tilt" and "Project." The year 1999 proved to be eventful for Kotzen. In addition to releasing his own album, "Bi-Polar Blues," Kotzen joined legendary jazz bassist Stanley Clarke's project, "Vertu." Following this, he was invited to join "Mr. Big," where he replaced Paul Gilbert. "Mr. Big" was immensely popular in Japan, where Kotzen also achieved great success. The alliance between the melodic rockers and the new guitarist resulted in huge sales of their album "Get over it" in the Land of the Rising Sun. The band's subsequent tours in the Asian region were also highly successful. In 2001, they released another album, "Actual Size," and one of its songs, "Shine," written by Kotzen, debuted at number one on the Japanese radio charts.

After the breakup of "Mr. Big," Kotzen settled in Los Angeles, where he established his own studio. In addition to producing other artists, he continued to release solo albums. In 2004, Kotzen recorded a collection of acoustic versions of his favorite songs, and the following year, he formed the project "Forty-Deuce."