Biography

Steve Rothery

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Steve Rothery, the guitarist with the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, was born in Brampton, South Yorkshire on 25 November 1959. From the age of six he lived in Whitby, North Yorkshire. He began to play the guitar at the age of 15 and in 1979 saw an ad in the music press for a band called Silmarillion that needed a guitarist. He travelled 250 miles south to audition successfully for the band. From this point he concentrated less on technique and more on melody and composition. This paid off, and after recording two studio albums with Marillion (the name had been shortened), Steve developed a catchy riff on his guitar. The band's singer, Fish, put some romantic lyrics to the riff and Marillion had a big hit on their hands - Kayleigh.

In 2001 Rothery was voted Yorkshire and Humberside's best guitarist in Total Guitar Magazine's poll of the greatest 12 British guitarists by regional vote. As well as Marillion, Steve has a solo project called The Wishing Tree.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

He has a daughter, Jennifer.
He is the guitarist with rock band Marillion, who had a UK number one album in 1985 with "Misplaced Childhood" and two top five hit singles, "Kayleigh" and "Lavender".
He started playing the guitar at the age of 15 and decided it was to be his vocation.
In July 2001, he was voted the best guitarist from the Yorkshire and Humberside region in the Total Guitar Magazine poll of the greatest 12 British guitarists.
Rothery performed Marillion's most famous song, Kayleigh, on a chorused strat, using the pick and his second and third fingers to play it.

Considering some people had written us off after Fish had left, it (Seasons End) was a very strong statement that the band still had a lot going for it. And proved that what we found with Steve Hogarth was something equally exciting and original as we had with Fish. It is an album that I am extremely proud of, and includes some classic songs.
My wife to be, Jo, asked me to explain how I came up with my musical ideas, picking up a nearby guitar I started improvising what later became the 'Kayleigh' riff whilst explaining that I tried to combine melody and rhythm. I sometimes wonder if we would still have written 'Kayleigh' if she had asked me if there was anything good on the telly instead!
We've definitely evolved to a point where we have our own particular sound. I can't really see where 'Kayleigh' sounds like any Genesis tracks I know.
We pay for our own marketing and promotion. A lot of major labels won't pay for it, it's not worth their while, at least as far as they're concerned.
[in 2004] We still sell a lot of records. It's just people's perceptions that have changed. Unless you have a single in the charts, people don't know you're around.