Neal Schon

Neal Schon (b. February 27 1954 in San Mateo, California), is an American guitarist.

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The son of a woodwinds player, Neal himself played the oboe for many years beginning in high school. Schon first picked up the guitar at the age of 10. He joined Santana as a teenager at the age of 17. He also played in the band Azteca around that time, before moving on to form Journey, a group he continues to lead.

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But his vitae also includes a pair of albums with keyboard whiz Jan Hammer, short-term collaborations with Sammy Hagar and Paul Rodgers, stints with Bad English (which also featured Journey?s Jonathan Cain and Deen Castronovo and Jonathan Cain's former Babys bandmates John Waite and Ricky Phillips) and Hardline (which also featured Deen Castronovo), and some instrumental acoustic albums for the Higher Octave label that show an entirely different side of his artistic personality. And even as Journey?s latest lineup cranks out the hits to a still-faithful body of fans, Schon is immersed in side projects such as Piranha Blues (1999) and "Black Soup Cracker" a funk outfit that features former Prince associates Rosie Gaines and Michael Bland. He?s sometimes overlooked in lists of rock guitar virtuosos, but during the past three decades Schon has certainly made his mark.

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Neal Schon can also be heard on Michael Bolton's The Hunger on three tracks; the Schon sound is most recognizable on "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay".

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Schon is endorsed by Gibson guitars, and has a signature Les Paul model, but also uses Paul Reed Smith guitars.

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Lately, Neal Schon has been playing with the band Soul Sirkus.

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February 27: February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years....

1954: 1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar....

San Mateo, California: San Mateo is a city located in San Mateo County, California, USA. It is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the East, and Belmont to the south....

Neal Schon related Images and Photos (experimental)

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Shaquille O'Neal	Shaquille O'Neal - '04 / '05 Action	Tatum O'Neal Rolling Stone no. 139 July 1973	Shaquille O'Neal 2010-11 Action