Bor… Read Full Bio ↴Richie Kotzen is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania on February 3, 1970, Richie Kotzen was soon taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by New York City band KISS to learn the electric guitar. Relentlessly developing chops and his own unique voice on the guitar, Kotzen was eventually discovered by Shrapnel Records' Mike Varney, and he recorded his first album by the age of 18. During that same year, he also graced the cover of several publications including Guitar World Magazine. He created the video Rock Chops for REH video in 1989, highlighting many of his formative techniques, including using wide-intervals and fluid sweeping.
In 1993, Kotzen made his big break when he joined the rock band Poison at age 20, co-writing and performing on the album Native Tongue. This album produced two top twenty singles which Richie wrote, Stand and Until You Suffer Some. Kotzen was subsequently fired from the band when it was discovered that he had been romantically involved with Deanna Eve, the ex-fiance of Poison drummer Rikki Rockett. Kotzen and Eve later married and divorced. In 1999 Kotzen replaced Paul Gilbert as guitarist in the mainstream rock band Mr. Big. Kotzen maintained the band's enormous success, performing on the Mr. Big record Get Over It, which sold more than 1,975,000 copies in its first two weeks in Japan, eventually reaching platinum status. Kotzen also contributed guitars to Mr. Big's subsequent release Actual Size. The record included the Kotzen song Shine, which debuted at number one on Japanese radio charts. Following the disbanding of Mr. Big, Kotzen released the solo album Change, in 2003. The title track, and the song Get A Life were featured in TV commercials throughout Japan.
In mid 2002 Kotzen established a recording Studio/Production company in Los Angeles, California. He has since been producing acclaimed solo albums and collaborating with various figures in rock, jazz, and fusion. He now has formed a band called Forty Deuce which recently released a new album entitled Nothing to Lose.
Richie has a unique style, which he has described as a mix of rock, jazz fusion, and soul music. Of his albums, he claims he is most proud of Vertu. Kotzen utilizes a heavy amount of legato playing into his solos.
Richie is now living in Los Angeles, California. Besides playing the guitar, his hobbies include exercise and sports, especially basketball. Richie has said that if he had'nt become a professional musician, he would have liked to play professional basketball.
In 2008, Kotzen released his first official live album, "Live In São Paulo", which featured Johnny Griparic on bass and Dan Potruch on Drums.
Discography
* (1989) Richie Kotzen
* (1990) Fever Dream
* (1991) Electric Joy
* (1991) Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (Soundtrack)
* (1993) Native Tongue (Poison)
* (1994) Mother Head's Family Reunion
* (1995) Inner Galactic Fusion Experience
* (1995) Tilt (with Greg Howe)
* (1996) Wave of Emotion
* (1996) Times Gonna Tell (EP)
* (1997) Kotzen/Howe Project (with Greg Howe)
* (1997) Something to Say
* (1998) What Is
* (1999) Break It All Down
* (1999) BiPolar Blues
* (1999) Vertu (project with Stanley Clarke and Lenny White)
* (1999) Get Over It (Mr. Big)
* (2000) Deep Cuts (Mr. Big)
* (2001) Actual Size (Mr. Big)
* (2001) Slow
* (2002) In Japan (Mr. Big)
* (2003) Change
* (2003) Acoustic Cuts
* (2004) Get Up
* (2004) The Best of Richie Kotzen
* (2005) Nothing to Lose (Forty-Deuce)
* (2006) ZxR Ai Senshi
* (2006) Into the Black
* (2007) ''Return Of The Mother Head's Family Reunion'' (Japan & Europe)
* (2007) ''Go Faster'' (US only)
* (2008) ''Live In São Paulo''
* (2009) ''Peace Sign''
* (2011) ''24 Hours''
* (2013) ''The Winery Dogs'' (The Winery Dogs)
* (2014) ''Unleashed In Japan: The Second Show'' (The Winery Dogs) Released only In Japan (DVD/2CD)
* (2014) ''The Essential''
* (2015) ''Cannibals''
* (2015) ''Hot Streak'' (The Winery Dogs)
* (2017) ''Salting Earth''
Videography
* (1989) Rock Chops
* (1994) Mother Head's family Reunion (Videoclip from the Mother Head's family Reunion Album)
* (1996) Wave of Emotion (Videoclip from the Wave of Emotion Album)
* (2001) Don't Wanna Lie (Videoclip from the Slow Album)
* (2001) Shine (Videoclip from Mr. Big's Actual Size Album)
* (2002) ''Hi-Tech Rock Guitar''
* (2005) ''Live In South America''
* (2008) ''Chase It'' (Videoclip from the R.O.T.M.F.R. Album)
* (2008) ''Bootlegged in Brazil''
* (2014) ''Unleashed In Japan: The Second Show'' (The Winery Dogs) Released only In Japan (DVD/2CD)'
* (2015) ''Live''
Peace Sign
Richie Kotzen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everyday of my life
Everbody keeps talking and talking so much
But I don't see them try
Love, love, love, love
It's so easy to say
Love, love, love, love
Freedom ain't no free ride
Some still need to fight
People wave the peace sign
So people can unite
You say you got the blues so bad
But you don't know why
I see people that lose so much
It makes you just wanna cry
Love, love, love, love
It's so easy to say
Love, love, love, love
It's not easy to do
Freedom ain't no free ride
Some still need to fight
People wave the peace sign
So people can unite
Freedom ain't no free ride
Some still need to fight
People wave the peace sign
People can unite
The song "Peace Sign" by Richie Kotzen is about the discrepancy between talking about love and peace versus actually enacting it. The lyrics suggest that it's easy for people to say that they love others and want peace, but much harder to truly love and achieve peace. Kotzen points out that many people are too consumed with their own problems to see the suffering of others or to take action for the greater good. He warns that freedom is not a free ride, and that sometimes people have to fight for it. Finally, he notes that the peace sign is a symbol that people wave to unite, but it is up to individuals to actually work towards that unity.
Overall, "Peace Sign" is a call to action for individuals to move beyond just talking about love and peace and to actually embody these concepts. It reminds listeners that while love and peace may be simple ideas, they require great effort and action to be realized.
Line by Line Meaning
I keep hearing bad news so much
I'm constantly bombarded with negative information
Everyday of my life
This happens to me every single day
Everbody keeps talking and talking so much
People are always vocalizing their opinions about things
But I don't see them try
But I don't see many people taking action to fix these problems
Love, love, love, love
People talk a lot about love
It's so easy to say
It's very easy to vocalize these words
It's not easy to do
But it's much harder to actually act lovingly towards others
Freedom ain't no free ride
Freedom is something that requires effort to maintain
Some still need to fight
Some people still have to struggle to gain the same freedoms that others enjoy
People wave the peace sign
People use the symbol of the peace sign to express their desire for a peaceful world
So people can unite
A peaceful world would allow people to come together in harmony
You say you got the blues so bad
You claim to be feeling very sad
But you don't know why
But you can't explain the root cause of these feelings
I see people that lose so much
I witness people experiencing significant losses
It makes you just wanna cry
It's so sad that it can bring tears to your eyes
Freedom ain't no free ride
Freedom is something that requires effort to maintain
Some still need to fight
Some people still have to struggle to gain the same freedoms that others enjoy
People wave the peace sign
People use the symbol of the peace sign to express their desire for a peaceful world
People can unite
If we work towards peaceful goals, we can find common ground and come together
Contributed by Alice V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Judy Blower
I had to the privilege of seeing this 3 piece band 2x in one year. My God...it doesn't get any better than this. RK and his band are amazing!
Orlando Ubilla
Great performance
John Bennett
G-d bless RK and band ☝✡✝
Chameleon music
락킹하고 펑키하고 블루지하고..
거기다 목소리는 소울풀...
세상제일멋지다 ㅠㅠ
M S
What the heck!! I'm only learning of this artist now??? The YouTube algorithm shows me 25 examples of Japanese experts breaking down whole tuna for sushi yet I had to find this in a Guitar Magazine piece linked off Joe Bonamassa's email service? To quote legendary coach Andy Reid, "You need to do a better job."
Mauricio Schnyder
first
Sebastián Bornia
well thats not much of an achievement considering the artist...