Adrian Belew caught the public attention for the first time around 1977 when he played guitar with Frank Zappa, David Bowie or the Talking Heads. He began his solo career in 1981 as singer, guitarist, drummer, lyricist, composer and producer of his own records. Since then he has released 15 of them while still lending his talents as guest musician on the records of, among others, Tori Amos, David Byrne, Garland Jeffreys, Laurie Anderson, Joan Armatrading, Joe Cocker, Paul Simon, Jean-Michel Jarre, Robert Palmer, Cyndi Lauper, Mike Oldfield, Herbie Hancock, Peter Gabriel, the B52's, Nine Inch Nails, the Yellow Magic Orchestra, William Shatner, Porcupine Tree or Ryuichi Sakamoto. 1981 is also the year that saw the beginning of his stint as front man for the band King Crimson. He toured and recorded 6 studio albums with them. Their last release was issued in 2003. He also recorded and appeared on stage with the Adrian Belew Trio, the ProjecKts and the Bears.