Joe Bonamassa (born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. When he was 12 years old, Bonamassa opened for B.B. King. In the last 13 years Bonamassa has put out 15 solo albums through his independent record label J&R Adventures, of which 11 have reached number 1 on the Billboard Blues charts. Bonamassa has played alongside such artists as Stephen Stills, Eric Clapton, Blondie Chaplin, Foreigner, Buddy Guy, Steve Winwood, Warren Haynes, Solomon Hicks,and Derek Trucks among others His career highlights include performances at the Royal Albert Hall and a Grammy Award nomination in 2013. In addition to his music career, Joe Bonamassa runs a nonprofit organization called the Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, whose mission is to further music education by funding scholarships and providing music education resources to schools in need. Joe Bonamassa is known for his extensive collection of vintage amplifiers and guitars] He loves vintage tweed amplifiers and in an interview he once said, "If you have a nice tweed, I will go without food." Bonamassa also gives affectionate names to his vintage guitars like Principal Skinner, Ragin Cajun and Spot. Bonamassa is a frequent visitor to Normans Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California. Normans Rare Guitars sells vintage guitars. Bonamassa affectionately refers to the area of his home with vintage gear as the "Bona-seum". "Joe Bonamassa has been playing, buying and collecting vintage guitars and amps for most of his life. ...he has a vast collection, enough to create his own museum of rare and vintage gear: the Bona-seum."Bonamassa is also known for his love of vintage guitars known as "Bursts" (A burst is a 1958-1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard). These "Burst" guitars are among the most expensive electric guitars in the world, and Bonamassa owns several examples and he tours with them. In 2018, Bonamassa has said that he has more than 1000 guitars and amplifiers.
