Joseph Alan Cagle, known professionally as Joey Allen, is best known as the lead guitarist of the American
glam metal
Glam metal (also known as hair metal or pop metal) is a subgenre of heavy metal that features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, upbeat rock anthems, and slow power ballads. It borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam ...
band
Warrant.
Allen was born as Joseph Alan Cagle on June 23, 1964, in
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
, and grew up in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
. His father is a retired electronics executive, while his mother worked for the Irvine Unified School District. He has two older sisters.
Allen played in approximately 20 bands before joining Warrant. He endorse
GMPguitars,
Hughes and Kettner amplifiers and
Dean Markley strings
Dean Markley Strings is an American company that manufactures musical instrument-related products, primarily strings for acoustic and electric guitars, classical guitars, and bass guitars. The company also produces pick ups, amplifiers, and tu ...
. In an interview, his bandmate and co-guitarist from Warrant
Erik Turner states that "Joey is more of a technical player than me. I never really took a lot of lessons or studied. I just learned by jamming with different people, picking up stuff off records, or watching people play live. Joey is a true lead guitarist, and I'm a rhythm guitarist at heart who plays a little bit of lead."
Allen met guitarist
Erik Turner in 1979 and they formed the band Knightmare II. Erik Turner says he left the band before the recording of Knightmare II's ''Death Do Us Part'' EP. Allen is however on that EP, credited as Joe Kagle
Allen left the band to attend
trade school, earning an associate degree in electronic engineering in 1985. In the meantime, Turner had formed Warrant. Allen joined the band in March 1987.
Allen has a daughter, Kylie Jo, born to he and his first wife in 1991. He is married to his second wife Shari and has a son, Kallan, who was born in 2012.
In 1994, Allen left the band and became a Microsoft Certified Professional and went to work for a software company. During this time, he also played in a band called Joey Allen Project. In an interview in 1999, Joey revealed that it was his decision to leave Warrant. He left as Warrant's style of music was losing popularity because of the Grunge movement and he did not want to go back to playing clubs. He rejoined Warrant in 2004 after ten years away from the band.
Discography
with Knightmare II
* ''Death Do Us Part'' EP (1985)
with Warrant
* ''
Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich'' (1989)
* ''
Cherry Pie
Cherry pie is a pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, cherry pie is made with sour cherries rather than sweet cherries. Morello cherries are one of the most common kinds of cherry used, but other varieties such as the black cherry may ...
'' (1990)
* ''
Dog Eat Dog'' (1992)
* ''
Born Again'' (2006)
* ''
Rockaholic'' (2011)
* ''
Louder Harder Faster'' (2017)
Soundtrack appearances
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Joey
American heavy metal guitarists
Warrant (American band) members
People from Irvine, California
1964 births
Living people
American male guitarists
20th-century American guitarists
21st-century American guitarists