Happy Birthday today (Aug. 29) to guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine. He’s 57.

Tony MacAlpine is a classically trained guitarist that developed a following in the 80’s signing to Shrapnel Records which launched the careers of fellow guitar greats like Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, and Marty Friedman. MacAlpine would also be featured on some of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani’s G3 tours. He played guitar and keyboards on his first two releases, Edge of Sanity and Maximum Security and also made appearances on various other artist’s albums including playing keys on guitarist Vinnie Moore’s 1986 debut Mind’s Eye. His twelfth studio album Concrete Gardens was released in 2015.

In August 2015, MacAlpine posted a message on his Facebook page that he had developed colon cancer. After a successful cancer battle, MacAlpine announced in 2016 that he would be returning to the road supporting Steve Vai on the Passion and Warfare 25th anniversary tour in October. Cheers to this rockin guitarist on his birthday today!

For more on Tony MacAlpine, check out his official website here.

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