Jack Starr (born 1951) is an American heavy metal and blues guitarist and songwriter, born of a French mother and American father.

Biography

He learned to play guitar by ear, copying the riffs of R&B records. His first semi-professional band was Les Variations in France with future members of

Trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust law, a body of law under which one person holds property for the benefit of another * Trust (bus ...

. In the U.S. Starr emerged on the rock and metal scene in 1981, forming, together with Joey Ayvazian, David DeFeis and Joe O’Rielly, the first incarnation of the heavy metal band

Virgin Steele Virgin Steele is an American heavy metal band from New York, originally formed in 1981. The band released a few career highlights albums (''Noble Savage'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part I'', '' The Marriage of Heaven and Hell Part II ...

. The new band was selected in 1982 by

Mike Varney Mike Varney is an American record producer and music publisher. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records, and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Recor ...

of Shrapnel Records to appear on the label's compilation album ''U.S. Metal Volume 2''. The song Starr sent in for the compilation was "Children of the Storm". After only two albums, ''

'' of 1981 and '' Guardians of the Flame'' of 1982, Starr left Virgin Steele in 1983 because of musical differences with the band's front man and other main songwriter David DeFeis. In 1984, Starr started his solo recording career with the album '' Out of the Darkness'', featuring former Riot vocalist

Rhett Forrester Rhett Forrester (September 22, 1956 – January 22, 1994) was an American musician best known as the lead singer for New York-based band Riot from 1981 until 1984. Biography Forrester was born on September 22, 1956, in Tucker, Georgia. His m ...

, members of

The Rods The Rods are an American heavy metal band formed in 1980 by David "Rock" Feinstein (guitar, vocals) orn in 1947 Steven Starmer (bass, vocals), and Carl Canedy (drums, vocals). After the first album Starmer was replaced by Garry Bordonaro. Feins ...

and former

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

drummer

Gary Driscoll John Gary Driscoll (18 April 1946 – 8 June 1987) was an American R&B-style rock drummer who performed in a number of successful bands from the 1960s until his unsolved death by murder on June 10, 1987. He first entered the music scene when ...

. It was released in Europe by

Music for Nations Music For Nations (MFN) is a British independent record label focusing mainly on rock and metal. It was a subsidiary of the larger label distributor Zomba Records, which was a division of BMG and later Sony Music Entertainment. Launched i ...

and was picked as one of the best albums of the year by the music magazines ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' and ''

Metal Forces ''Metal Forces'' is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. ''Metal Forces'' was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its ''Demolition'' feature and championed the likes of ...

''. Starr changed the name of his band to

Jack Starr's Burning Starr Jack Starr's Burning Starr is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band was founded and guided by former Virgin Steele guitarist Jack Starr and enjoyed limited success in the US during the explosion of hair metal ...

and between 1984 and 1989 he produced albums, both solo and with the band. The music of those albums was classic American eighties heavy metal, a style between Poison and Metallica. In 1989 the band dissolved and Starr joined short-lived bands like Strider and Smoke Stack Lightning. After a break, in 2003, Starr founded a new band called Guardians of the Flame, which released only one album, ''Under a Savage Sky''. In 2006, Starr founded the Jack Starr Blues Band. In the following years, Starr once again assembled a group of musicians for a new incarnation of

Burning Starr Jack Starr's Burning Starr is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band was founded and guided by former Virgin Steele guitarist Jack Starr and enjoyed limited success in the US during the explosion of hair metal ...

, which performed at the

Magic Circle Festival Magic Circle Festival is an annual heavy metal festival organized by Magic Circle Music and founded by Joey DeMaio of the band Manowar. The festival was first held on 6 and 7 July 2007 in Bad Arolsen, Germany. The success of the 2007 festival ...

2008 and released the album '' Defiance'' on the Manowar's label

Magic Circle Music Magic Circle Music was founded by Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio in 2005 named after Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. The purpose of the label is to give the band (Manowar) creative control. Furthermore, it is stated on their website t ...

in 2009. In 2011 they released ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

'' with

Limb Music Limb Music is an independent record label based in Hamburg, Germany and specialized in various subgenres of heavy metal music. It was also known as LMP, which stood for Limb Music Products, later changed to Limb Music GmbH. The music publishing ...

. The albums includes ex-Manowar guest musicians

Ross the Boss Ross Friedman (born January 3, 1954), also known as Ross the Boss, is a guitarist, known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators, and the heavy metal band Manowar. History Friedman was born in the Bronx, New York, and formed ...

and

David Shankle David Lee Shankle (born March 7, 1962) is an American guitarist. He is known for his shred style of playing. Shankle was the guitarist for the band Manowar from 1989 to 1995 and he played on the album ''The Triumph of Steel''. He was previously a ...

. The band played at the 2013 Keep It True festival and recorded a DVD.

Discography

Solo albums

*'' Out of the Darkness'' (1984) *'' A Minor Disturbance'' (1990) *''Soon Day Will Come'' (2000) *''Before the Steele: Roots of a Metal Master'' (2001) (compilation) *''Swimming in Dirty Water'' (2011)

Virgin Steele

*''Demo'' (1982) *''

'' (1982) *'' Guardians of the Flame'' (1983) *'' Wait for the Night'' EP (1983)

Devil Childe

*''Devil Childe'' (1984) *Phantom Lord (1985)

Burning Starr

* '' Rock the American Way'' (1985) * '' No Turning Back'' (1986) * '' Blaze of Glory'' (1987) * ''

'' (1989) *''Burning Starr'' (compilation) (1998) * '' Defiance'' (2009) * ''

'' (2011) * ''Stand Your Ground'' (2017) * ''Souls of the Innocent'' (2022)

Phantom Lord

*''Phantom Lord'' (1985) *''PHANTOM LORD -"Evil Never Sleeps'' "(1986)

Thrasher

*''Burning at the Speed of Light'' (1985)

Strider

*''Strider'' (1991)

Guardians of the Flame

*''Under a Savage Sky'' (2003)

Jack Starr Blues Band

*''Take It to the Bank'' (2008)

References

External links

Jack Starr's Burning Starr official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Jack American heavy metal guitarists Lead guitarists Musicians from Paris Living people 1950 births Guitarists from New York (state) American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Music for Nations artists