Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal

Ronald Jay Blumenthal (born September 25, 1969), better known by his stage name Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal or simply Bumblefoot, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer.

He adopted his nickname from the bacterial infection of the same name, which he learned about while helping his wife study for her veterinary exams.

The name went from being just the name of an album, to the name of a record label, to a band name, to eventually his name as a solo artist.

He played in a New York-based band called 'Legend' in the late 1980s.

Thal also played in a cover band called Leonard Nimoy that played songs by Guns N' Roses, AC/DC, KISS, and Aerosmith.

In 1989, Thal submitted a demo tape to Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records, which caused Varney to feature Thal in the Spotlight New Talent column in Guitar Player Magazine's August 1989 issue.

Upon hearing the demo, Varney commented "[Thal's] demo tape is amongst the most impressive I've ever received. It contains elements of classical, blues, and jazz, and at times reminds me of Frank Zappa. His transcriptions are most impressive and detailed, so fans of hot transcriptions might be interested in seeing these musical masterpieces on paper. With its clever melodies, contrapuntal lines, intricate rhythms, and ultra-complex ensemble sections, Ron's sheer musicality will surely gain him much acclaim."

Since the early 1990s, Thal has released 10 solo albums and a live DVD.

He has appeared as a guest performer on albums by other artists, and on numerous compilation albums.

He has been the cover feature of GitarPlus magazine in Indonesia and has been featured in several foreign guitar magazines, as well as the subject of many print, radio and web interviews.

Over the past twenty years, he has also worked with numerous bands and artists as producer, engineer, writer, arranger, and performer.

He also writes TV jingles, theme songs, and background music.

Raised Jewish, Thal grew up in Brooklyn and then Staten Island, in the Bay Terrace neighborhood.

Thal was inspired by Kiss and their album Alive! at age six, Thal claimed his earliest musical goal was to be able to play "like Gene Simmons if someone decided to do a Kiss version of Beatlemania".

At the time his hands were too small to play bass, so he focused on guitar, while his brother, Jeff, played drums instead.

Thal stated that he figured out multi-track recording by using multiple cassette recorders at age six.

By the time Thal was thirteen years old, he was playing cover songs in clubs, later focusing on creating original material on his home 8-track.

By sixteen, Thal had started engineering and producing music.

When he was eighteen, Thal won his first award, winning a Sam Ash Guitar Solo Contest after playing a spontaneous solo.

In 1993, Guitar Network Magazine described Thal's playing as "Ridiculous... in a good way".

Thal was eventually signed to Shrapnel Records, and his debut album The Adventures of Bumblefoot was released in 1995.

Thal released Hermit on Shrapnel in January 1997, his final album on the label.

In late 1997, Thal started a production company called "Hermit, Inc.", then fully adopting the band name Bumblefoot while releasing Hands in March 1998.

Bumblefoot was a band that featured Thal and his brother Jeff Thal, among other musicians.

Bumblefoot released an early version of the album Uncool exclusively in France, touring in the country in March and April 2001.

He then began working on his next album Guitars Suck, but after the September 11 attacks, Thal decided to rename the album 9.11 and turned the album into a non-profit fundraising CD, with all proceeds going to American Red Cross.

In late 2001, amidst difficulties keeping a steady lineup, Thal broke up Bumblefoot and adopted it as a solo stage name.

He worked on finishing Uncool, which was released in February 2002.

Thal toured Europe as a solo act in 2002, using members from bands he was touring with, including Sun Caged & Plug-In.

Sun Caged drummer Dennis Leeflang would later befriend Thal and work extensively with him in his solo career.

Thal released a compilation of songs that weren't finished or officially released in April 2003, the Forgotten Anthology.

Thal released Normal in 2005.

Thal stated of the album "the album takes you into the world of an insane musician who takes medication and experiences what it's like to be 'normal' for the first time. The only problem is that the medicine silences his ability to make music. Eventually he must choose which life he wants. The songs on Normal follow his real-life journey, leaving you to ponder, "What's 'normal,' anyway?"

He was one of two lead guitarists in Guns N' Roses from 2006 until 2014 and performed on their sixth studio album Chinese Democracy.

In 2006, Thal's song "Breaking", from the album Normal, was contributed to the album project Artists for Charity – Guitarists 4 the Kids, a charity that assists World Vision Canada in helping underprivileged kids in need.

In 2007, after 14 months of recording and touring with Guns N' Roses, Thal began recording Abnormal, which was released in July 2008.

During this time, Thal also recorded and mixed the audio of live performances on the TV show Talking Metal on Fuse.

Thal performed a cover of "Running Wild" by Judas Priest along with Frank Ferrer on the pilot episode.

He also performed on the final episode of the show, accompanying Zakk Wylde in an original song "Til the End", written live on the show.

He was the guitarist for the supergroup Sons of Apollo and currently with supergroup Whom Gods Destroy; and served as the guitarist and vocalist for the band Asia from 2019 to 2022.