Orianthi

Orianthi Penny Panagaris was born on January 22, 1985, in Adelaide, South Australia, and began her musical journey remarkably young. Orianthi learned how to play guitar at six and continued polishing her skills ever since. When the guitarist was 11, she saw Carlos Santana play, and dedicated herself to the electric guitar. She played in a band when she was just 14 and supported Steve Vai in a concert at the age of 15, and had the opportunity to meet and jam with Carlos Santana when she was 18. Determined to pursue music full time, when her peers at Mercedes College were not supportive of her passion in music, she decided to leave the school and was enrolled at Cabra Dominican College. Determined to write and record, she set up a modest home studio and tracked demos, layering rhythm parts, leads, and vocals herself, culminating in her independently produced debut album, Violet Journey, released in 2005. Orianthi's breakthrough came in the late 2000s. She self-released her debut album re-released it to the Australian mass market in 2007 via a distribution deal with Universal Music Australia, and by 2009 she had become an internationally recognized name. She became a touring guitarist for several known musical acts, most notably Michael Jackson for his cancelled This Is It concert residency. Equipped with a Swarovski crystal-encrusted PRS Custom 24, the plan was for Orianthi to take on lead guitar duties throughout Jackson's 50-date 'This Is It' residency at London's O2 Arena, though the King Of Pop tragically died just weeks before the scheduled starting date. That same year, her 2009 debut single "According to You" peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her rising profile earned serious industry recognition, as in 2009 Orianthi was included on a list of "12 Greatest Female Electric Guitarists" by Elle magazine and won the "Breakthrough Guitarist of the Year" award from Guitar International magazine in 2010. Following Jackson's death, Orianthi's career continued to expand through high-profile collaborations and a major band role. On 29 August 2011, Orianthi was announced as Alice Cooper's new guitarist, replacing Damon Johnson, who went on to join Thin Lizzy. This made her a trailblazer in rock, as she was the first female member of the Alice Cooper band's lineup. Her solo output continued as well, with her third studio album, Heaven in This Hell, produced by Dave Stewart and incorporating tracks from the Fire EP, exploring modern country and blues textures and peaking inside the Top 40 on the Independent Albums chart. Her personal and professional life intertwined when, while working with Cooper in 2013, she met former Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, who was invited on-stage during a Cooper benefit for the Maui Food Bank, and the two played Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" and Montrose's "Rock Candy." The pair went on to tour and record together as the duo RSO, releasing the album Radio Free America.