Elliot Easton
Elliot Easton (Steinberg; born December 18, 1953) is an American musician who is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the American new wave band the Cars. His melodic guitar solos are an integral part of the band's music. Easton has also recorded music as a solo artist, and has played in other bands.
Elliot Easton

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- Name
- Elliot Easton
- Birth Name
- Elliot Steinberg
- Born
- 18 December 1953
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
- Occupation
- Guitarist
- Full name
- Elliot Steinberg.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Fields
- new wave, rock music, blues rock, hard rock and rockabilly.
- Education
- Berklee College of Music and Massapequa High School.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q3433372 · wikipedia · Elliot Easton
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The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Biography
Biography
He is a left-handed guitarist. In 2018, Easton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Elliot Easton • Landscape — yes • Birth Name — Elliot Steinberg • Born — 18 December 1953 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York, U.S. • Genre — * Rock • new wave • blues rock • hard rock • rockabilly • Occupation — Guitarist • Years Active — 1975–present • Current Member Of — The Empty Hearts • Past Member Of — * Cap'n Swing • The Cars • The New Cars
Personal life
Personal life
Born Elliott Steinberg on December 18, 1953 in Brooklyn, New York, Easton attended Massapequa High School in Massapequa, New York, and studied music at the Berklee College of Music. Easton has been married twice. As of 2018, he is married to Jill Easton. He has a daughter, Sydney, from his first marriage. He lives in Bell Canyon, California.
Documentary record
Elliot Easton, a composer and musician, was born on 18 December 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. The birth is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Career
Career
• Illustration — Easton in 1984 • Illustration — Easton performing with the New Cars at Nokia Live in Grand Prairie, Texas, 2006 • Illustration — Easton performing with the Cars at Lollapalooza in Chicago, 2011 Easton is a founding member of the Cars and was their lead guitarist. The band was formed in 1976. Their debut studio album, The Cars (1978), contained the hit single "Just What I Needed". The band went on to release five more studio albums over the next nine years before breaking up in 1988. Easton was the youngest member of the band. Easton released one solo studio album, Change No Change (1985), featuring songs co-written with Jules Shear. One single, "(Wearing Down) Like a Wheel", was released and became a moderate hit on the rock charts. In the mid-1990s, Easton produced and played on the first two studio albums by singer-songwriter Amy Rigby: Diary of a Mod Housewife (1996) and Middlescence (1998). He was also the lead guitarist on Jules Shear's solo studio album Healing Bones (1994). Easton was a founding member of Creedence Clearwater Revisited, a spinoff band consisting of Stu Cook and Doug Clifford of Creedence Clearwater Revival. He was in the Clearwater Revisited band from 1995 to 2004. Easton was a member of the New Cars, along with original Cars' keyboardist Greg Hawkes, singer and songwriter Todd Rundgren, former Utopia bassist and vocalist Kasim Sulton, and Tubes drummer Prairie Prince. In June 2006, the band released a live album, It's Alive!, that includes three new studio tracks. Easton was featured and played the solo in the Click Five song "Angel to You (Devil to Me)". In 2010, Easton reunited with the surviving original members of the Cars to record their first studio album in 24 years, entitled Move Like This. The album was released in May 2011, and the band toured in support of it. In 2014 Easton became a founding member of the supergroup the Empty Hearts. The band also included the Chesterfield Kings' bassist Andy Babiuk, Blondie's drummer Clem Burke, the Romantics' guitarist and vocalist Wally Palmar, and Faces' pianist Ian McLagan.
Solo
Solo
• Album – Change No Change (1985) – U.S. No. 99 • Single – "(Wearing Down) Like a Wheel" (1985) • Single – "Shayla" (1985) • Single – "Tools of Your Labor" (1985) • Single – "Monte Carlo Nights" (with Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods) (1995)
With Benjamin Orr
With Benjamin Orr
• The Lace (1986)
With Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods
With Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods
• Easton Island (2013)
Identity
Identity
Elliot Easton is recorded as guitarist, songwriter, musician and composer. Recorded at birth as Elliot Steinberg.
Legacy
Guitarist Slash, of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, has cited Easton as one of his key musical influences, praising Easton's concise and melodic solos. In 2013, the Gibson guitar company launched the Elliot Easton "Tikibird" Firebird guitar, which is a modified version of their Firebird model. In 2018, Easton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Cars.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Elliot Easton, revision 1373459484 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Trakin, Roy. The Cars: The 50,000 Mile Tune Up. Creem (via Rock's Backpages Magazine Archive). January 1988.
- 2.Elliot Easton Biography & History AllMusic. AllMusic.
- 3.Read the Cars' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Speeches. Rolling Stone. April 15, 2018.
- 4.Easton, Elliot. Radio Swiss Pop – Music database – Musician. www.radioswisspop.ch.
- 5.Guitarist Elliott Easton, formerly of The Cars, shows off his Gretsch guitar at his home in Bell Canyon. GettyImages.co.uk. August 21, 2016.
- 6.Sharp, Ken. Elliot Easton on the Cars in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Their Classic Debut Album and More. www.rockcellarmagazine.com. April 11, 2018.
- 7.A brief history of the Cars – The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe.
- 8.Change No Change – Elliot Easton. AllMusic.
- 9.Healing Bones – Jules Shear Credits AllMusic. AllMusic.
- 10.Elliot Easton's New Moves. Guitar Player.
- 11.White, Dave. Elliot Easton Interview. About.com.
- 12.The New Cars: It's Alive Album Review Pitchfork. Pitchfork.
- 13.Jacobs, Jay S. The Click Five Interview about 'Welcome to Imrie House'. popentertainment.com. September 15, 2005.
- 14.Walters, Barry. The Click Five: Greetings From Imrie House. Rolling Stone. August 25, 2005.
- 15.Kachejian, Brian. Why The Band The Cars Were So Unique. ClassicRockHistory.com. July 6, 2021.
- 16.Meet The Empty Hearts: Members of Blondie, Cars, Romantics, Chesterfield Kings Form New Band. Billboard.
- 17.DwaynesGuitarLessons. Slash Talks About His Technique and Style. December 31, 2014.
- 18.Elliot Easton talks guitars, twang and the Tiki Gods' Easton Island. MusicRadar. June 10, 2013.
- 19.The Cars. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
- 20.Elliot Easton. Billboard.
- 21.Lost Cars Week – Benjamin Orr the Lace. popdose.com. December 2006.
References
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Studied at
1- Berklee College of MusicOrganisation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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