| Tommy Guerrero | |
| Background: | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Birth Date: | 9 September 1966 |
| Birth Place: | San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Genre: | Downtempo, art rock, alternative rock, electronic, jazz |
| Occupation: | Musician, composer, skateboarder |
| Instrument: | Guitar, bass, percussion, keyboards |
| Years Active: | 1980–present |
| Associated Acts: | Free Beer, Jet Black Crayon |
Tommy Guerrero (born September 9, 1966) is an American musician, composer, and professional skateboarder.
Guerrero was born in San Francisco, California. He identifies as being of Ohlone, Chilean, and Filipino descent from his father's side.[1]
As a teenager, Guerrero was one of the prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Powell Peralta's professional skateboarding team that was successful during the 1980s. He was well known for his relaxed style of street skateboarding and his Bones Brigade footage was primarily filmed in his hometown of San Francisco—the videos Future Primitive, The Search for Animal Chin, Public Domain, and Ban This all featured the street skateboarding of Guerrero. After riding for Powell Peralta, Guerrero and Jim Thiebaud, a hometown friend and Powell Peralta teammate, started the skateboarding company "Real".
After his success in the world of skateboarding, Guerrero decided to pursue his musical interests and was a member of the skate rock band Free Beer[2] and the instrumental post-rock group Jet Black Crayon, in addition to releasing many albums under his own name. Guerrero's music touches on multiple genres, including rock, hip hop, funk, soul, and jazz.[3]
The skateboarding video game Skate has featured numerous unreleased compositions that were written and recorded by Guerrero. One of Guerrero's songs, "Organism", was featured in the 2005 video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland.[4]
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine named Guerrero's third studio album, Soul Food Taqueria (2003), #2 on its 2003 "Best of" list.[5]
At the 2013 15th Annual Transworld SKATEboarding Awards, Guerrero was the recipient of the "Legend" award—on the red carpet preceding the awards event, Guerrero stated:
"I'm super grateful, that anyone really cares, to be honest. Um ... conflicted; I'm not one to rest on my laurels and it's hard to accept accolades for something you did thirty years ago, you know? I'd rather be appreciated for what I do now, but I ... I ... I'm super grateful ... I can't believe it [street skateboarding in the 21st century]. I mean the technical aspect, and the consistency, combined with that, is mind-blowing ... but just where it's at now, is, is insane; I mean, what Rodney [Mullen] sort of started, with the technical aspect, to a whole another level, you know? Making it extremely gnarly, extremely technical ... I'd hate to be growing up skating now ..."[6]
Following his receipt of the Transworld "Legend" award, Guerrero invited all "street skaters" onto the stage to stand alongside him at the Avalon Theater in Hollywood, California, US.[7]