Pedro Henrique "Kiko" Loureiro (born 16 June 1972) is a Brazilian guitarist. He has been a member of several heavy metal bands, including Angra and

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Career

Loureiro began studying music and playing

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

at age 11. He studied with two famous Brazilian musicians: Pedro Bueno and Mozart Mello. Inspired by various artists, including

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he co-founded along ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, and

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 alb ...

, he moved to the electric guitar at 13 and by 16 had already joined two bands, Legalize (with Edu Mello on vocals, Dennis Belik on bass and Alja on drums) and A Chave, and was playing in nightclubs in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. At 19, he co-founded Brazilian

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band Angra. Due to the increase in popularity of power metal, Loureiro has become quite successful, both playing in Angra and as a solo artist. In addition to his rock/metal achievements, Loureiro has also played guitars on several

eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

songs in collaboration with

Dave Rodgers Dave Rodgers (born Giancarlo Pasquini; 21 February 1963) is an Italian singer, songwriter and producer known for his contributions to the Eurobeat genre of dance music. Born in Mantua, Italy, he formed the band Aleph before contributing to the lon ...

, including "Fevernova", "Ring of Fire" and "The Road Is on Fire". On 2 April 2015, it was announced that Loureiro had joined the American thrash metal band

, replacing

Chris Broderick Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the heavy metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist and keyboardist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four of Jag Panzer' ...

. On 12 February 2017, Loureiro, along with

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has relea ...

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

and

Chris Adler Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the founder and longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019, and of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016. Adler played drums on Megadeth's f ...

, won the "

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for the Megadeth song "Dystopia" at the 59th Grammy Awards.

Musical style

Loureiro is known for his technical skill on the guitar, frequently incorporating such techniques as two handed tapping, sweep picking (full swept arpeggios), alternate picking, hybrid picking, artificial and natural harmonics and combining legato and staccato in the same run or phrase. He is also well known for both his instructional and demonstration videos as well as for writing columns for and appearing on the cover of magazines ''Cover Guitarra'', ''Guitar & Bass'', and '' Young Guitar''. Despite being a right-handed guitarist, Loureiro is naturally left-handed. As such, he spends most of his pre-warmups focusing on his right-hand techniques.

Personal life

Loureiro married Finnish pianist and keyboardist Maria Ilmoniemi in 2011. The two met during Loureiro's tenure in

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. She is a soprano with a three and a half o ...

's Storm World Tour in 2008. Their first daughter, Livia, was born on 29 September 2011. On 21 November 2016, they welcomed twins Dante and Stella. Loureiro is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. He has tried being a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

in the past but he switched to vegetarianism after 6 months.

Discography

Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro live in London 2018-06-16

Solo

* '' No Gravity'' (2005) * '' Universo Inverso'' (2006) * '' Fullblast'' (2009) * ''Sounds of Innocence'' (2012) * ''The White Balance'' (DVD, 2013) * ''Open Source'' (2020) Video lesson and instructional * ''Guitarra Rock (1993) * ''Os Melhores Solos e Riffs do Angra (2003)'' * ''Tecnica e Versatilidade (2003)'' * ''Guitarra Tecnica Para Iniciantes (2009)'' * ''Rock Fusion Brasileiro (2009)'' * ''Creative Fusion (2010)''

Angra

* '' Reaching Horizons'' (originally released in 1992, reissued in 1997) * '' Angels Cry (JVC Japan, 1993)'' * '' Evil Warning'' EP (1994) * ''

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

'' (Gravadora Eldorado, 1996) **'' Make Believe Part 1'' single (1996) ** ''Make Believe Part 2'' single (1997) ** ''Make Believe Part 3'' single (1997) ** ''Make Believe Part 4'' single (1997) * ''

Freedom Call Freedom Call is a German power metal band formed in 1998. The band tours regularly and the current line-up includes two original members including lead vocalist and songwriter, Chris Bay. Freedom Call has released 12 albums in total, nine ...

'' EP (1996) * '' Holy Live'' live EP (1997) * ''

Fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

'' (

SPV GmbH SPV GmbH (short for ''Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH'', "Vinyl Production and Distribution Company") is a German independent record label. Founded on 1 January 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributor ...

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a heavy metal record label with offices in the United States, Germany and London. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by Robert Kampf and Oli ...

, 1998) **''Lisbon'' single (1998) ** ''Rainy Nights'' single (1998) * ''

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2001) **''Acid Rain'' single (2001) * '' Hunters and Prey'' EP (

/Steamhammer, 2002) * '' Rebirth World Tour – Live in São Paulo'' live album and video ( BMG/

Victor Entertainment , also known as in Japan, is a subsidiary of JVCKenwood that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It is known as JVC Entertainment in countries where Sony Music Ent ...

, recorded in 2001 and released in 2003) * ''

Temple of Shadows ''Temple of Shadows'' is the fifth studio and a concept album by the power metal band Angra and was released in 2004 by Paradoxx Music in Brazil and SPV label Steamhammer in the rest of the world. SPV also released a limited edition containing ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2004) **''Wishing Well'' single (2004) * '' Aurora Consurgens'' (

/Steamhammer, 2006) **''The Course of the Nature'' single (2006) * ''

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

'' (

/Steamhammer, 2010) *''Angels Cry 20th Anniversary Tour'' (JVC/Victor Entertainment, Substantial Music, SPV/Steamhammer, 2013) *'' Secret Garden'' (JVC, Universal Music, Edel Music, 2014) *'' Ømni '' (2018) - guitar solo on "War Horns" as a guest

Tribuzy

* ''

Execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

'' (2005) * '' Execution – Live Reunion'' (2007)

Tarja

* ''

My Winter Storm ''My Winter Storm'' is the second solo album by Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, and the first to consist mainly of new and original songs specifically written by or for Turunen. The album was released by Universal Music on 19 November 2007 in Finla ...

'' (2007) * ''The Seer'' (EP) (2008)

Neural Code

* ''Neural Code'' (2009)

Paco Ventura

* ''Black Moon'' (2015) - On the song "Arabestia"

Megadeth

* ''

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

'' (2016) * '' The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Kiko Loureiro website

Official Angra website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loureiro, Kiko 1972 births Living people Brazilian heavy metal guitarists Grammy Award winners Brazilian male guitarists Lead guitarists Angra (band) members Megadeth members Musicians from Rio de Janeiro (city) Progressive metal guitarists 21st-century guitarists 21st-century male musicians