Adrian Smith

Latest about Adrian Smith

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen pictured with their Jackson and Fender guitars at soundcheck
Richie Kotzen and Adrian Smith on absurd volume, improv and how long a solo should be

By Jamie Dickson Published

We meet Smith and Kotzen pre-show to talk gear, their new album Black Light/White Noise, and find a pair whose chemistry makes this a hard-rock project with legs

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Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden performs at London Stadium on June 28, 2025 in London, England
Adrian Smith on how Nirvana and grunge negatively impacted Iron Maiden's career trajectory in the ’90s

By Janelle Borg Published

The heavy metal guitarist looks back on how the pop culture and subculture paradigm shift impacted Maiden

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Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen, shot for Guitarist magazine
Adrian Smith on why making music outside of Iron Maiden lets him stretch his soloing wings

By Phil Weller Published

In Smith/Kotzen, he’s relishing the chance to improvise and color outside of his usual lines, but admits that keeping up with Kotzen isn’t easy

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Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden performs at Co-op Live on June 22, 2025 in Manchester, England
The reason Adrian Smith isn’t keen on some vintage Gibsons

By Phil Weller Published

The Iron Maiden guitarist swapped LPs for Jacksons in the ‘80s, because he’d grown tired of one key feature

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Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson
Smith/Kotzen roll out an Iron Maiden classic, with a very special guest

By Phil Weller Published

The Smith-penned anthem has been a standout during their live shows, and in London, things got a little more Maiden

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Adrian Smith, guitarist of heavy metal band Iron Maiden performing during OZZFEST 2005 on July 19, 2005 in Camden, New Jersey
Adrian Smith on the time he auditioned for Def Leppard

By Phil Weller Published

He lost out to former Dio man Vivian Campbell, as well as another classic rock star...

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Kirk Hammett and Adrian Smith comp
Adrian Smith had a chance encounter with Kirk Hammett – and ended up babysitting his iconic Les Paul

By Phil Weller Published

The fabled Gibson has been making plenty of big-name players weak at the knees recently

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Adrian Smith [left] and Richie Kotzen pose with an HSS S-style and Telecaster respectively.
Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen come from different worlds, but it all comes back to the blues

By Andrew Daly Published

Returning with one of the hard-rock records of the year, the dynamic duo talk tone, collaboration, and the limits of technique and gear

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Adrian Smith
Adrian Smith reveals what convinced him to ditch Les Pauls for Jacksons

By Phil Weller Published

The Iron Maiden guitarist is one of the luthier’s longest-serving artists – he explains how its founder’s diligence inspired him to make the jump

Guitarists
Flames from the Palisades Fire burn a building on Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Fueled by intense Santa Ana Winds, the Palisades Fire has grown to over 15,000 acres and 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate while a second major fire continues to burn near Eaton Canyon in Altadena
Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and Primus guitarist Larry ‘Ler’ LaLonde among thousands who have lost homes in L.A. wildfires

By Janelle Borg Published

Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and Anthrax’s Scott Ian share their first-hand experience of the devastating impact of one of the biggest natural disasters in Los Angeles’ history

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