Touted as one of the best guitar players in the world, Richie Kotzen also possesses a voice on par with some of the greatest rock/soul singers and is highly regarded as a gifted songwriter. Richie has had an incredible journey into the world of music.
With guitar styles ranging from rock, blues, jazz and fusion to pop and soul, Kotzen has built a remarkably diverse 20 year career as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. During that span, he has not only built an incredibly successful solo career, but has also found himself writing, recording and playing live with a variety of different artists, ranging from Pop/Rock bands like Poison and Mr. Big to Jazz/Fusion groups like Vertu featuring Kotzen and Jazz legends Stanley Clarke and Lenny White. Working with these artists has provided Richie with a great deal of in-studio experience, as well as the opportunity to tour the world, introducing him to an international audience. In fact, his immense popularity overseas led Kotzen to one of his greatest honors - touring as the opening act on the Japanese leg of the Rolling Stones’ 2006 “A Bigger Bang Tour”.
A prolific songwriter, Richie has written several songs that have gone on to become hit singles around the world. His song “Stand.” written while a member of Poison, reached the top 20 on the Billboard charts. As the lead single off of their album NATIVE TONGUE, “Stand” was the catalyst for the album reaching platinum status. While with Mr. Big, Richie also enjoyed another milestone, having his song “Shine” reach #1 in both Europe and Japan.
Richie has just released his 20th solo album, entitled PEACE SIGN. He continues to make amazing records and to tour around the world, playing stadiums, festivals, and clubs. His current tours have spanned several continents, including North America, Europe, South America and Asia. He has played with many other well known musicians, has performed on television programs such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Live with Regis and Kelly,” and continues to appear in countless books, magazines and websites, being acknowledged as one of the top guitarists in the world!
Kotzen is one of the few artists to be honored by Fender Guitar with not one, but two signature model guitars. The Kotzen Telecaster guitar has repeatedly been the #1 selling signature model guitar for Fender Japan. Cornford Amplification also honored Kotzen with his own signature series guitar amp (the RK 100) which in 2005 was voted Amp of the Year in the UK. In 2009, Zoom released the Richie Kotzen Signature Edition effects pedal (the G2R), providing a diverse range of tonal solutions programmed by Kotzen himself.
Kotzen has amassed a catalogue of more than 25 albums and has no intentions of slowing down anytime soon.
“Touring and making music is my life. It is all I have ever done. I am very grateful to all the people around the world who have made that possible,” Richie humbly states.