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Michael Jackson’s Greek Guitarist

While the world is mourning the death of Michael Jackson, the grief of Orianthi Panagaris is no less. She is one of the people who came close to the pop star in the days before his death. Everyone started wondering who the guitarist was in the video clip of MJ’s rehearsals for his last tour that was going to take place in London this July. Guitarist Orianthi was seen jamming with Michael Jackson in the video clip which shot her to fame in just days. However, Orianthi’s career started years earlier.

Orianthi Panagaris, or Orianthi, was born on January 22, 1985 in Adelaide, South Australia to Greek parents. She learned to play the acoustic guitar at age six, started electric when she was eleven and left school at 15 to focus on writing songs and performing. She has been playing in different bands since she was 14 around Adelaide and her first support show was for Steve Vai when she was 15. Orianthi had the opportunity to meet and jam with Carlos Santana in her hometown when she was 18. He invited Orianthi to get up and jam with him at sound-check then later asked if she would join him on stage that night. Orianthi signed with Geffen Records, and is living in Los Angeles and making a new record. Orianthi has played with Prince, toured with Steve Vai, made a video clip for Panasonic HD, had a song in the Bratz movie, played at the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival and appeared in the New York Times business section promoting eco-friendly acoustic guitars. She has also appeared at the 51st annual Grammy Awards with Carrie Underwood where she was Underwood’s lead guitar player. As a member of Michael Jackson’s band she was to replace Jennifer Batten who had performed with Jackson for almost a decade. Jackson and Panagaris had been reported to have rehearsed for three hours per day up to the day before the pop legend died. Orianthi Panagaris performed in Jackson’s public memorial on July 7th, 2009.

Orianthi has completed the recording of her first US release with Grammy nominated producer Howard Benson. The album is currently being mixed by Chris Lord-Alge.

(sources: Wikipedia, Panagaris.net)

photo credit: Tina Panagaris via Flickr

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