Happy birthday to the awesome rock guitarist Kenneth K. K. Downing, Jr. (born 27 October 1951) an English semi-retired Grammy Award winning guitarist, songwriter and a founding member of the British heavy metal band Judas Priest.Downing was ranked 23 on rock magazine Hit Paraders list of 100 greatest metal guitarists. Downing was born in West Bromwich. He was kicked out of his home at 15 and dropped out of school soon afterward.In the late 1960s, Kenneth discovered rock music and the guitar. He is a mostly self-taught guitarist. He was heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, after whom he modelled his playing style.. Records by popular artists which have influenced Downing as a musician include, Are You Experienced, Axis Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix, A Hard Road by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Fresh Cream by Cream. Downing played on every Judas Priest album from Rocka Rolla to A Touch of Evil: Live. Downing started his first band between the age of 17 and 18 with his second cousin Brian Badhams on bass guitar (now with The Elkie Brooks Band) and drummer Martin Philips. The trio mainly jammed a few Cream songs and a few 12-bar blues. Downing played guitar with the band after winning a coin toss with his cousin Brian in his bedroom to see who would play guitar or bass. Prior to joining Judas Priest, Downing went to catering college and worked as trainee chef at the Lyttelton Arms in Hagley Downing lived with girlfriend Carol Hiles until 1985 (she had supported him in the early days and when they broke up, he paid off their mortgage and gave her the house In the mid to late 1980s, Downing lived in Spain with Vietnamese born actress/artist Kyme Hoan Tran, who died in 1993. Downing officially left Judas Priest on 20 April 2011. An official press release was issued by the band. In an interview with online music publication, Guitarhoo!, Downing spoke on his leaving the band, There had been an on-going breakdown in working relationships between myself, elements of the band and management for some time. Downing stated that there were at least 21 reasons why he decided to quit but refused to go into specific detail about them. The band continued with Richie Faulkner as Downings replacement.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Oct 2014 06:04:52 +0000
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