Vernon Reid
A visionary guitarist who fused metal, funk, and punk into the groundbreaking band Living Colour, challenging rock's racial boundaries.
Born 1958 (age 68)·British-American guitarist and songwriter·Birthday: August 22·Baby Boomers
Biography
Vernon Reid emerged from New York's downtown avant-garde jazz and noise scene with a revolutionary idea: a hard rock band that reflected the full spectrum of Black musical history and experience. That idea became Living Colour, whose 1988 debut Vivid, powered by Reid's technically astonishing and stylistically voracious guitar work, shattered the monochrome image of rock stardom. Songs like 'Cult of Personality' were both riff-heavy anthems and sharp social commentary, proving intellect and aggression could coexist. Beyond the band, Reid has been a relentless collaborator and advocate, co-founding the Black Rock Coalition to support artists of color. His playing remains a thrilling synthesis of chaos and control, drawing from a deep well of influences that most guitar heroes never dared to touch.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Vernon was born in 1958, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Vernon Was Born
The biggest hits of 1958
#1 Movie
South Pacific
Best Picture
Gigi
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Vernon's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1958Born
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1963Started school
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1971Became a teenager
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Could drive
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1976Could vote
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1979Turned 21
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1988Turned 30
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1998Turned 40
Google founded; Clinton impeachment
Gas: $1.06/galHome: $107,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Too Close" — NextBest Picture: Shakespeare in Love
2008Turned 50
Barack Obama elected first Black US president; financial crisis
Gas: $3.27/galHome: $153,100Min wage: $6.55/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Low" — Flo RidaBest Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
2018Turned 60
Royal wedding of Harry and Meghan; Parkland shooting
Gas: $2.72/galHome: $211,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"God's Plan" — DrakeBest Picture: Green Book
2026Age 68 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Founded the influential and Grammy-winning rock band Living Colour, known for the hit 'Cult of Personality'.
- Co-founded the Black Rock Coalition, an organization dedicated to supporting African-American musicians in rock and alternative music.
- Ranked on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
- Won two Grammy Awards with Living Colour, including Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990.
Did You Know?
He composed the score for the 1993 film 'Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music'.
He was a member of the experimental jazz band Ronald Shannon Jackson and the Decoding Society.
His guitar work incorporates a two-handed tapping technique influenced by jazz fusion players.
He performed at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards with Living Colour, interrupting the broadcast with a political statement.
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