Orianthi Biography

Orianthi Panagaris was born in Adelaide of Greek and Australian descent and was encouraged by her father to learn the acoustic guitar at the age of six. She started playing electric guitar when she was 11-years-old and began playing in bands at the age of 14. She launched her professional career when she was 15 when she was concentrating seriously on her writing.

There is one artist Orianthi misses more than anyone she has ever known and that is the late Michael Jackson. She was handpicked by him to be her lead guitarist on the "This is It Tour" which was due to open at London's O2 Arena shortly after his untimely death.

Jackson had seen her videos on You Tube and liked what he saw. When he selected her she was absolutely stunned.

She said, "I don't exactly know why he picked me. He had the choice of guitar players but I came in and played a solo "Beat It" for him. Afterwards he said he was so happy, he got up and grabbed my arm and started walking up and down the stage area with me".

"He said can you play once for me and hired me that night. I wish he was still around, he made me believe in myself more and I learned so much. Going into it I thought it would be all about playing guitar solos, but the majority of it was playing chords and funky rhythms."

Orianthi played with Jackson at all his rehearsals up until his death and she played at his Memorial which was globally televised on 7th July 2009.

She always knew she was going to be a musician as she started playing the piano at 3-years-old. But she grew up hearing her father's guitar-driven records playing on the stereo and she wanted to change from piano to guitar.

Orianthi packs girl power into every performance and her own brand of rock has earned her millions of fans all round the world. She is particularly popular in Japan and has a boyfriend over there.

But the guitar is far from her only means of expression, on her latest album "Believe" she also sings, writes and leads her own band.

She is now encouraging others to take up the guitar and to start learning early. She is a perfect example of what you can achieve if you realise your ambitions from an early age.

Orianthi has endorsed a classic PRS guitar and the Orianthi SE signature model has been released as the very first musical instrument to bear her name.

She said, "The PRS is perfect for anyone who wants an awesome quality and a versatile rocking guitar at an affordable price."