Ronni Le Tekrø (born Rolf Ågrim Tekrø, 5 October 1963) is a Norwegian musician best known as the guitarist and one of the founders of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, as a solo artist and for his work with Vagabond and

Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypd ...

. He has been described as "one of the foremost purveyors of melodic metal", with ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists and fans of guitar-based music and trends. The magazine has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original a ...

'' ranking him as one of the ten best guitarists in the world in 1989 and one of 25 influential cult guitarists in 2009. Le Tekrø resides in Nyhagen in

Vestre Toten Vestre Toten is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Toten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rau ...

, where he also runs his own studio. He has released thirteen studio albums with TNT and six solo albums.

Early life

Le Tekrø was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

on 5 October 1963. He moved to

Raufoss Raufoss is a town in Vestre Toten Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of the municipality. It is located about south of the larger town of Gjøvik. The town is located along the municipal border wi ...

at a young age and has lived there all his life, with the exception of a period between 1982 and 1985 when he lived in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. At age twelve, Le Tekrø started playing guitar after being given the choice of joining the

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

or learning guitar by his grandmother. He is a self-taught guitarist and his inspirations include

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

Uli Jon Roth Uli Jon Roth (born Ulrich Roth; 18 December 1954) is a German guitarist who became famous for his work with the hard rock band Scorpions and is one of the earliest contributors to the neoclassical metal genre. He is also founder of the Sky Ac ...

Tony Iommi Anthony Frank Iommi Jr. (born 19 February 1948) is an English musician. He co-founded the pioneering Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and was the band's guitarist, leader, primary composer, and sole continuous member for over ...

Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

, Brian Robertson, and

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

Career

Le Tekrø joined metal band Roquefire in 1977 and released his first recording with the band, the single "The Island of Marat / (Heavy) Boys Don't Cry", in 1981. He formed

in 1982 along with vocalist and rhythm guitarist

Dag Ingebrigtsen Dag Ingebrigtsen (born 12 December 1958) is a Norwegian musician who had his debut in 1977 with the group Subway Suck. Ingebrigtsen was born in Trondheim, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic cou ...

, bassist Steinar Eikum and drummer

Diesel Dahl Morten "Diesel" Dahl (born 19 June 1959) is a Norwegian musician. He is the drummer and a founding member of the hard rock band TNT. He started playing the drums at the age of 15, and played in bands like Burn, Edge and Hotlips before he formed ...

. He is the only constant member of the band since its inception. TNT released their self-titled debut album in 1982 and has since released thirteen studio albums. Following the band's hiatus in 1992, Le Tekrø formed Vagabond with Morty Black and released two studio albums with the band until TNT reformed in 1996. He later worked with the Norwegian guitarist and composer

, releasing three albums and one live album during their collaboration in the 1990s and early 2000s. Le Tekrø released his debut solo album, ''Extra Strong String'', in 1998. He toured with Rypedal and guitarist Mads Eriksen as part of the G3-inspired project N3 in 2009. Since 2010, Le Tekrø has collaborated with

Ledfoot Tim Scott McConnell also known as Tim Scott (born March 23, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and 12-string guitarist who performs since 2007 under the artist name Ledfoot. The artist's repertoire consists solely of self-written songs. ...

and the duo released the album ''A Death Divine'' in 2020.

Style and influence

Le Tekrø has been named as one of the best guitarists in the world and is noted for his influence as a cult guitarist, as well as his underground following. He is known for his explosive playing style and signature "machine gun" technique, which he claims to have invented during the late 1970s with his then-band Roquefire, in addition to his ability to shift between different styles. Among his admirers are

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, George Lynch,

Nuno Bettencourt Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt (born September 20, 1966) is a Portuguese-American guitarist. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. Bettencourt has recorded a solo album and has founded rock bands including ...

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal music, heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founde ...

and

Zakk Wylde Zachary Phillip Wylde (born Jeffrey Phillip Wielandt; January 14, 1967) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and as the founder, lead guitarist, lead singer, songwriter and producer of the heav ...

. Wylde has been an outspoken fan of Le Tekrø for many years and served as a guitar tech for the latter during a TNT performance in July 2023.

Equipment

Guitars and amplifiers

Le Tekrø is currently endorsed by

ESP Guitars is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under sever ...

and

Marshall Amplification Marshall Amplification is a British company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, Guitar speaker cabinet, speaker cabinets, and effects unit, effects pedals. Founded in London in 1962 by shop owner and drummer Jim Marshall (businessm ...

. His main live guitar is a light pink, stratocaster-shaped ESP from the early-eighties, dubbed the "Holocaster", with a

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

bridge pickup. The headstock is signed by close friend Brian Robertson, formerly of

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

and

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

. Le Tekrø uses a black early-seventies

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

as a back-up for live performances. On the Atlantis tour, he used an

Epiphone Epiphone () is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in İzmir, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over ...

1959 or a Morgan stratocaster on the opening song "Hello, Hello". Le Tekrø has used Marshall 2204 heads and 1960 A cabinets during live performances.Le Tekrø is known for pioneering the use of the quarterstepper guitar, which has twice as many frets as normal guitar, spread throughout the neck with quarter-tone intervals. The guitar was invented by Bernie Hamburger and Le Tekrø. The quarterstepper can be heard on the solo in the song "Wisdom" off the ''

Intuition Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning or needing an explanation. Different fields use the word "intuition" in very different ways, including but not limited to: direct access to unconscious knowledg ...

'' album, and several other recordings. Hamburger also built a 12-string hollow body guitar that Le Tekrø has used on various tours and recordings.

Effects

* OD-1 Overdrive * BF-2 Flanger * CE-2 Chorus * Roland RE-150 Space Echo Tape Delay, * Dunlop CryBaby * Digitech Whammy II

Religious beliefs

Le Tekrø has been practicing the nature religion

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

since the 1980s and has a master's degree in Wicca Witchcraft. He stated in an interview with Norwegian newspaper ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'' in 2007 that Wicca helps him deal with matters such as death and guilt, and that he prefers it to "fairytales from the Middle East which have thrown an entire world into war".

Selected discography

With
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

* ''

'' (1982) * ''

Knights of the New Thunder ''Knights of the New Thunder'' is the second studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT. It was the first TNT album recorded with their new vocalist Tony Harnell, who had replaced their original singer Dag Ingebrigtsen. It was their last album ...

'' (1984) * ''

Tell No Tales ''Tell No Tales'' is the third studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT. It was the best-selling TNT album in the U.S., according to their bass guitarist Morty Black. This album diverted from the power metal style of ''Knights of the New Thu ...

'' (1987) * ''

'' (1989) * ''

Realized Fantasies ''Realized Fantasies'' is the fifth studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT. Track listing Personnel ;TNT *Tony Harnell – vocals *Ronni Le Tekrø – guitars, keyboards, 1/4 stepper guitar * Morty Black – bass guitar *John Macalus ...

'' (1992) * ''

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

'' (1997) * ''

Transistor A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...

'' (1999) * '' My Religion'' (2004) * ''

All the Way to the Sun ''All the Way to the Sun'' is the ninth studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT, first released on 21 October 2005. The album was first rumoured to be on the heavier side of TNT but came out in the end as a more straight-forward pop rock a ...

'' (2005) * ''

The New Territory ''The New Territory'' is the tenth studio album by the Norwegian rock band TNT, and was released on 30 June 2007. It is their first album with Tony Mills on vocals. Track listing # "A Constitution" (Ronni Le Tekrø, Tony Mills, Diesel Dahl) � ...

'' (2007) * ''

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

'' (2008) * ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the a ...

'' (2010) * ''

XIII XIII may refer to: * 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals * 13th century in Roman numerals * ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance ** ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a 2003 video game based on the comic b ...

'' (2018)

With Rypdal & Tekrø

* ''Rypdal & Tekrø'' (1994) * ''Rypdal/Tekrø II'' (1998) * ''The Radiosong'' (2002)

With Vagabond

* ''Vagabond'' (1994) * ''A Huge Fan Of Life'' (1995)

As a solo artist

* ''Extra Strong String'' (1998) * ''Magica Lanterna'' (2002) * ''Kingdom of Norway'' (2007) * ''Mein Ampf'' (2014) * ''Mein Ampf II'' (2015) * ''Bigfoot TV'' (2022)

With Ronnie Le Tekrø & The Evil Elf band

* ''Under the Misteltoe'' (2002)

With
Ledfoot Tim Scott McConnell also known as Tim Scott (born March 23, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and 12-string guitarist who performs since 2007 under the artist name Ledfoot. The artist's repertoire consists solely of self-written songs. ...
& Ronni Le Tekrø

* ''A Death Divine'' (2020) * ''Limited Edition Lava Lamp'' (2023)

Collaborations and guest appearances

* ''Wonderland'' ( Embee Normann) (1993) * ''Dedicated to Thin Lizzy'' (Bad Habitz) (1993) * ''Starfire'' (

Jørn Lande Jørn Marumsrud Lande (born 31 May 1968) is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Masterplan. He ...

) (2000) – Guest on "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" * ''Le Freak'' on ''Let's dance'' (Norwegian Gospel Voices) (2002) * ''Camouflage'' (Wild Willy's Gang) (2005) * '' Gods Of Thunder – A Norwegian Tribute To KISS'' (2005) ''–'' Covered "

Detroit Rock City "Detroit Rock City" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss, released on their 1976 album ''Destroyer''. The song was written by Paul Stanley and producer Bob Ezrin. Background "Detroit Rock City" began with a guitar part by Paul Stanle ...

" with

Tony Harnell Tony Harnell (born September 18, 1962) is an American singer, best known for his work with Norwegian hard rock band TNT. He is known for his wide vocal range, with his modal voice spanning over four octaves. Harnell has also been the frontman of ...

* ''Unlocking the Past'' (Jørn Lande) (2007) – Guest on "The Day the Earth Caught Fire" * '' Demonoir'' (

1349 Year 1349 ( MCCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 22 – An earthquake affects L'Aquila in southern Italy with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''), caus ...

) (2010) * "Telegram" (The Halloween Project, The Fluffy Jackets) (2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Tekroe, Ronni Living people Norwegian heavy metal guitarists TNT (Norwegian band) members Norwegian jazz guitarists 1963 births Norwegian record producers Norwegian Wiccans Musicians from Oslo People from Vestre Toten Musicians from Oppland Lead guitarists Norwegian multi-instrumentalists