Robby Krieger

Electric Guitar icon Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica

80 age

Los Angeles, California, U.S. Birthplace

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Robby Krieger is the founding guitarist and principal songwriter of The Doors, one of the most influential rock bands in history. His distinctive fingerstyle technique, rooted in flamenco training and enriched by blues, jazz, and Indian classical study under Ravi Shankar, defined the band's signature sound. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of The Doors' biggest hits, including "Light My Fire," "Love Me Two Times," "Touch Me," and "Love Her Madly." After the band's dissolution in 1973, he formed the Butts Band with drummer John Densmore and launched a prolific solo career in jazz-fusion, releasing nine albums. His 2010 album Singularity earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Recent releases include The Ritual Begins at Sundown (2020) and Robby Krieger and the Soul Savages (2024). Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, Krieger continues to tour and record at age eighty.

Trivia

Krieger joined The Doors at eighteen with only two years of guitar experience and six months on electric guitar. Beyond music, he is an accomplished visual artist whose paintings inspired by Doors songs are sold through his Art For A Cause initiative. His son Waylon Krieger performs guitar in his father's band. At UC Santa Barbara, Krieger played in a jug band called the Back Bay Chamberpot Terriers.

Early Life

Robby Krieger was born on January 8, 1946, in Los Angeles into a Jewish family. His father Stuart was an engineer and classical music enthusiast, and Robby has a twin brother named Ronny. He tried piano and trumpet before picking up guitar at seventeen while boarding at the Menlo School in Atherton, California, teaching himself by de-tuning a ukulele to match guitar strings and copying records. He studied flamenco under Frank Chin, then expanded into folk, blues, and jazz. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, he studied psychology while developing his guitar skills. Returning to Los Angeles, he studied Indian music at Ravi Shankar's Kinnara School alongside drummer John Densmore. At a meditation class, he met keyboardist Ray Manzarek, who introduced him to Jim Morrison. Together with Densmore, they formed The Doors in 1965, just two years after Krieger had first picked up the guitar.

Robby Krieger

80 age

January 8, 1946 Birthday

Los Angeles, California, U.S. Birthplace

robbykrieger.com Website

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Shows

About

Trivia

Early Life

Robby Krieger Solos

1978

1972

1971

1970

1969

1968

1967

1966