Gilby Clarke

Gilby Clarke

Gilby Clarke is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer from Cleveland, Ohio, born in 1962. He works as a guitarist across hard rock, heavy metal, metal and rock, and is best known for his role as rhythm guitarist in Guns N’ Roses.

Career

In the early 1980s, Clarke plays in the pop band Candy, which records Whatever Happened To Fun. He leaves in the mid-1980s and forms the metal band Kill for Thrills as lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Kill for Thrills records the EP Commercial Suicide and the album Nightmare In Dynamiteland. Clarke later joins Guns N’ Roses in November 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, and finishes the Use Your Illusion tour with the band. He also appears on the covers album The Spaghetti Incident?.

Solo work and collaborations

Clarke releases his first solo album, Pawnshop Guitars, in 1994, with guest appearances from every then-current member of Guns N’ Roses. After leaving the band, he joins Slash’s side project Slash’s Snakepit and records It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere in 1995, also touring in support of it. He later releases the solo albums The Hangover in 1997, Rubber in 1998 and Swag in 2002, along with the live album 99 Live in 1999.

Production and later projects

As a producer, Clarke works with a number of acts, including producing Shrinking Violet, the only album by Jizzy Pearl-led L.A. Guns, and producing the next Crash Kelly record. He also remixes five demo Hollywood Rose tracks for The Roots of GN’R, with Tracii Guns playing lead guitar on the tracks. In 2005, he plays with the reformed MC5 on their European tour.

Other bands

Clarke is also a member of Rock Star Supernova, alongside Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted and singer Lukas Rossi. The group releases one self-titled album in 2006. His later solo album The Gospel Truth appears in 2021.