Jon Levin (born March 18, 1966) is an American musician and the current guitarist for
heavy metal band
Dokken
Dokken is an American glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. It split up in 1989 and reformed four years later. The band had several hit singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100, such as "Alone Again (Dokken song), Alone Again", " ...
.
Biography
Early years
Jon Levin was involved with music very early on in life. He began playing piano at age four, trumpet by age seven, and guitar at age nine. Instead of having formal lessons, Levin played along to his favorite musicians including
Randy Rhoads
Randall William Rhoads (December 6, 1956 – March 19, 1982) was an American guitarist. He was the co-founder and original guitarist of the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, and the guitarist and co-songwriter for Ozzy Osbourne's first two solo a ...
,
Eric Clapton and later
George Lynch from Dokken, whose place Levin would eventually take. He played in a club band called Devias at age 19 in the
Long Island, New York
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...
area, and then auditioned for and joined German band
Warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicat ...
at age 22. When the grunge scene took over in the early 1990s, Levin took a break from being a musician because he wasn't interested in that type of music. Levin relocated to the West Coast and became an entertainment lawyer. In his capacity as an entertainment lawyer, Jon has served as legal counsel, working with
Jim Paidas, of Paidas Management, on a myriad of licensing programs; some of which include
Orange County Choppers, ''
Dog the Bounty Hunter'', ''
American Hot Rod'', and ''Rockstalgia''.
Dokken
In 1998, Levin was asked by
Jeff Pilson
Jeffrey Steven Pilson (born January 19, 1959) is an American musician best known for being the bass player in the glam metal band Dokken and currently classic rock band Foreigner. He has also had an extended stint with Dio in the 1990s. He is ...
, Dokken's bassist, to play some solos on a demo. He anticipated playing on a solo album for Pilson, but when he arrived at the studio, all of Dokken was present. Levin played on a Dokken track called "Dancin' (The Irish Song)" which originally was to be included on the ''
Erase the Slate
''Erase the Slate'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Dokken, released in 1999. It is the only Dokken studio album to feature former Winger guitarist Reb Beach and the last one with long-time bassist Jeff Pilson.
Track ...
'' album but instead was later included on the ''
Long Way Home'' import. However, Levin did not join the group until late 2003.
Discography
With Doro
* ''
Force Majeure'' (1989)
With Dokken
* ''
Hell to Pay
Hell to Pay may refer to:
Music Albums
* ''Hell to Pay'' (The Jeff Healey Band album), 1990
* ''Hell to Pay'' (Dokken album), 2004
Songs
*"Hell to Pay", by The Almighty from the album ''Soul Destruction'', 1991
*"Hell to Pay", by Deep Purp ...
'' (2004)
* ''
Lightning Strikes Again
''Lightning Strikes Again'' is the tenth studio album by the American heavy metal band Dokken. It was originally scheduled for release on October 24, 2007, in Japan and on October 29 worldwide, but was postponed until 2008. The album was even ...
'' (2008)
*''
Broken Bones'' (2012)
References
1966 births
20th-century American guitarists
American heavy metal guitarists
Dokken members
Jewish American musicians
Jewish heavy metal musicians
Living people
People from Woodmere, New York
21st-century American Jews
Warlock (band)
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