George Lynch was born on September 28, 1954, in Spokane, Washington, and raised in California, where he began teaching himself guitar as a young teenager. His earliest notable band was the Los Angeles club act Dokken, which he joined in the late 1970s, bringing a hard rock and heavy metal sound influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Leslie West, Jeff Beck, and Allan Holdsworth . Lynch's arrival gave Dokken a virtuosic, technically dazzling lead guitarist who would help define the band's sound throughout the following decade.
Dokken's breakthrough came in the 1980s, as Lynch recorded five albums with the band from 1983 to 1988, all of which did remarkably well in the United States, Europe and Asia, making him one of the most influential rock guitarists in modern music and even earning the band a Grammy nomination in 1989 for Best Rock Instrumental . Albums like "Under Lock and Key" and "Back for the Attack" went platinum and featured Lynch's inventive and intricate guitar work, including his signature instrumental track "Mr. Scary" . Despite the band's commercial success, tension between Lynch and frontman Don Dokken eventually fractured the lineup, and Lynch left Dokken in 1990 due to tension with lead vocalist Don Dokken , closing out one of the most celebrated guitarist-frontman pairings of the glam metal era.
Following his departure, Lynch Mob was formed in 1989 by former Dokken guitarist George Lynch, who is the band's only permanent member, from the remains of Lynch's former band, Dokken, and the original line-up also featured Dokken's drummer, Mick Brown . The first Lynch Mob album was released in 1990, titled Wicked Sensation , which became a fan favorite despite modest chart performance. Lynch also briefly reunited with Dokken's classic lineup in 1994, when Don Dokken, Jeff Pilson, and Mick Brown decided to bring Lynch back for a full Dokken reunion, and the reformed band signed with Columbia/Sony and released Dysfunctional, though the album did not meet expectations, leading to the band being dropped from the label . Over the following decades, Lynch bounced between reformed lineups of Lynch Mob, further Dokken commitments, and solo work, with Lynch Mob active across multiple stints from 1989 through the present and later albums such as "Smoke and Mirrors," "Sun Red Sun," and "The Brotherhood" continuing to showcase his guitar work.
Today, Lynch remains highly active in music, still touring and recording under the Lynch Mob banner and pursuing instrumental solo projects. With his arsenal of stylish guitars and virtuosic solos, Lynch has been at the fore of the hard rock scene for over four decades, releasing dozens of albums with each of his flagship groups while issuing a slew of collaborative and solo efforts, including the dynamic all-instrumental affairs Seamless (2021) and Guitars at the End of the World (2023) . His legacy as a guitar hero is firmly cemented; he is regarded as one of the most renowned and influential metal guitarists of the 1980s, noted for his distinctive playing style and sound, and is ranked No. 47 on the list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time." Wayne Dennon captured George Lynch three times between 2006 and 2007, documenting shows across two different cities in two states as Lynch Mob toured behind its resurgence in the mid-2000s. Those performances live on in 95 photographs preserved in this archive, images that have drawn 71,806 views from fans revisiting Lynch's raw stage presence and searing guitar work. As a lasting piece of Wayne's concert photography legacy, these frames stand as a tribute to both a guitar legend's enduring career and the passion Wayne brought to documenting live music night after night.
