Gary Miller (born September 15, 1958), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Dr. Know, is the

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

for Bad Brains, regarded as one of punk rock's most innovative and important bands. Critic Rick Anderson praises Miller's "ability to meld the raw directness of hardcore punk with an almost supernatural virtuosity without sacrificing the power of either approach".

Personal life and musical career

Born in Washington, D.C., Miller has recorded or performed very little outside the group Bad Brains, though he has performed with Mos Def's group Black Jack Johnson. He also performed a solo on the Coheed and Cambria song "Time Consumer" for their first album ''

The Second Stage Turbine Blade ''The Second Stage Turbine Blade'' is the debut studio album released by rock band Coheed and Cambria. It was originally released on March 5, 2002 through Equal Vision Records. It is their first album and part two of a tetralogy, telling the story ...

'', and he collaborated with Deftones on '' Saturday Night Wrist'', although his contributions do not appear on the album. In early 2010, he made an appearance at the Trocadero in Philadelphia, PA, playing two songs with students from Paul Green's School of Rock Music at the Best of Season show. In the 2012 documentary Bad Brains: A Band in D.C., Miller revealed that prior to forming Bad Brains the musicians were influenced by a wide variety of music, including disco and modern jazz. Performances by The

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv B ...

and other underground bands turned them on to punk rock. In the 2000s, he took on work at a Woodstock, N.Y.-area natural food grocery store, Sunfrost Farms.

Health issues

Miller suffered a heart attack in November 2015 and his condition quickly progressed to multiple organ failure. He was on life support for almost two weeks and was given a 5% chance of survival. His bandmates asked fans to help via a GoFundMe campaign to pay his expenses for rehabilitation. After nearly three months in the hospital, he was transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility for the physical therapy and treatment that he needed to make a full recovery.Bad Brains are asking fans to help raise $100,000 for guitarist – who is expected to make a full recovery from heart attack
Team Rock, March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 10, 2016.

Latest projects

In 2016, Miller formed the

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

Saudade along with singer and guitarist Chino Moreno of Deftones,

Team Sleep Team Sleep is an American experimental alternative rock/post-rock group led by singer/guitarist Chino Moreno. Moreno is better known for fronting the Sacramento-based alternative metal band Deftones. Other current members include guitarist Todd ...

, Palms, and

Crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

; jazz keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood; bassist Chuck Doom, co-member of Crosses and Team Sleep; guitarist

David Torn David M. Torn (born May 26, 1953) is an American guitarist, composer, and producer. He is known for combining electronic and acoustic instruments and for his use of looping. Background Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse ...

; and drummer Mackie Jayson of Cro-Mags and Bad Brains.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Know, Dr. 1958 births African-American guitarists African-American rock musicians American Rastafarians American punk rock guitarists Converts to the Rastafari movement Lead guitarists Living people Guitarists from Washington, D.C. Bad Brains members American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists