He is one of the most mysterious and intriguing characters in the world of music...
He is the guitarist (The multi-instrumentalist), and the amazing musician "Buckethead" !!!
(Photo: Ethan Miller)
He is considered one of the fastest and most virtuoso guitar players of today, he is one of the most prolific artists musically, and even if you really put in the effort you will not find an up-to-date picture of him without the mask.
So let's try to dispel the cloud that surrounds the enigmatic figure "Buckethead", with 20 facts:
1. He was born in Southern California USA on May 13, 1969, as Brian Patrick Carroll.
2. He was a very introverted child in his youth. The youngest of 5 brothers and sisters who used to lock himself in his room along with comic books, souvenir collections from movies, toys, and games.
3. He said that on the walls of his room were posters of Bruce Lee, Michael Jackson, and the Texas Chainsaw film.
4. In addition he often visited "Disneyland" which was very close to where he lived. He claimed to have been there more than 500 times.
5. He started playing guitar only at the age of 12 with the help of one of his neighbors down the street. Only a year later he took playing seriously and studied with various teachers, among them and later guitarist Paul Gilbert.
6. The musical influences on his playing style ranged from Bootsy Collins' funk, through Shawn Lane's fusion to Randy Rhoads' metal, Angus Young's, and Yngwie Malmsteen's wit.
7. He started adopting the character "Buckethead" in 1988 after watching the horror movie "Halloween 4" by Michael Myers. Immediately after watching the movie, he ran to buy a white mask like the one used in the movie.
(Photo: Ultimate-guitar.com)
8. The mysterious persona was completed when one day he ate fried chicken wings of "KFC" out of a bucket. He wore the bucket on his head with the white mask on his face, went to the mirror, and thought to himself "bucket head". And so the character "Buckethead" was born.
9. No one really knows what he looks like today. There are no recent photos of him without the mask on the internet.
10. To date he has released (and now hold tight !!!) 435 albums as a solo artist and all this during 30 years of activity in his solo career. Although about 370 albums out of them are digital albums from a series that was crowned the "Pike Series", which is 30 minutes long on average, it is still a crazy figure on any scale.
11. In addition, he has released many dozens of other albums under different bands and various projects such as: "Death Cube K", "Praxis, Deli Creeps" and more and more.
12. And it did not end there, because "Buckethead" was also a partner in creating many soundtracks for movies such as: "Mortal Kombat", "Johnny Mnemonic", "Last Action Hero" and of course the solo in The "Firebird" segment from the soundtrack of the movie "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" soundtrack.
13. And if that is not enough, then in addition he has hosted and collaborated with many other artists
Like: Iggy Pop, Les Claypool, Mike Patton, Serj Tankian, and more.
14. He was also a member of "Guns N 'Roses" from 2000 to 2004 and played guitar on all except two of the songs on the "Chinese Democracy" album. He left the lineup because he did not like the publicity.
15. The albums he released and the projects he participated in include a very wide range of musical styles such as: prog metal, thrash metal, hard rock, avant-garde, alternative, funk, jazz, ambient, and more.
16. He is known for his unconventional performances. He performs nunchaku exercises on stage (inspired by Bruce Lee whom he admired in his youth), moonwalking (influenced by Michael Jackson who he also admired), robot dances, and breakdance. Before each show, he buys toys that he distributes to the audience during the show.
(Photo: Allabouttherock.co.uk)
17. He auditioned as a replacement for John Frusciante in the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" after the latter left the band in 1992. Although the members were very impressed with his playing, they looked for someone with more groove, and eventually chose Arik Marshall and later Dave Navarro.
18. He was also due to join Ozzy Osborne's squad in 2005, but Ozzy gave it up after realizing he was unwilling to give up the persona of "Buckethead".
19. The Gibson Les Paul guitar on which he usually plays is very unique and different. It features a red button that serves as the guitar's mute mechanism and in addition, its tone regulator also serves as a microphone switch breaker.
20. He invented a new guitar-playing method called Nubbing, in which he uses the four fingers of his right hand as a specification. It looks like playing topping only double four. The method allows him to play at incredible speed and this may also be why he is ranked eighth on "GuitarOne" Magazine's list of the fastest guitarists of all time and "Guitar World" magazine's 50 fastest guitarists of all time.