Wayne Perkins

However, he contributed his skills to a long roster of high-profile artists, including Bob Marley and Joni Mitchell.

Perkins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 6, 1951 to James Milford Perkins and Jewel Earline Perkins, née Miller. He was the oldest of six children, a brother and four sisters. Both of his parents sang and played the guitar. Perkins taught himself to play at age 12.

At 15, Perkins played his first gig as a session musician, in Bob Grove's Prestige Recording Studio in Birmingham. At 16, he left school and started performing in local bands and released singles with a band called the Vikings with Charles Nettles. In 1968, drummer Jasper Guarino helped Perkins land a steady job as a session guitarist in a studio owned by Quin Ivy in Muscle Shoals. Perkins was salaried at $100 a week. This led to work at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with such names as David Porter and the Soul Children, Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro, Dee Dee Warwick, Ronnie Milsap, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Jimmy Cliff, Jim Capaldi, Steve Winwood and Marlin Greene. During his time at Muscle Shoals, Perkins was asked to join Lynyrd Skynyrd. Even though that band's lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a very close friend, Perkins did not take the offer, though he came close. He later said, "They didn't need me and I had a lot of other stuff coming my way."

Perkins left session work to form a band called Smith-Perkins-Smith, which recorded an album released in 1972. Chris Blackwell signed the trio to Island Records and they became the label's first American act. The group toured in England with Free, as well as Fairport Convention, Argent, Uriah Heep, Audience, Family, and Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer.

While in London, Perkins had been working on the second Smith-Perkins-Smith album at Island's Basing Street recording studios when Chris Blackwell stopped him. "He said there was a Wailer project he wanted me to play on" – Catch a Fire, the 1973 album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, which went platinum. Perkins provided lead guitar overdubs on three tracks on Catch a Fire: "Concrete Jungle", "Stir It Up", and "Baby We've Got a Date". "His contributions to the pioneering LP weren't actually mentioned on the original liner notes — indeed most listeners assumed they were hearing Peter Tosh — but Perkins received credit later."

Mitchell's 1974 album Court and Spark has often been called a "classic" or "masterpiece." Perkins was an ingredient in the musical backdrop for her songs. Sounds magazine cited his "oh-so-beautiful guitar work" on "Car on a Hill". Perkins later recalled using James Burton's signature pink paisley Telecaster for that recording. He and Mitchell also were involved romantically for a time.

When Perkins returned to the United States, he played with Leon Russell for two years, in the Shelter People Band and The Gap Band. During this time, he became friends with superstar guitarist Eric Clapton.

Clapton arranged for Perkins to audition with the Rolling Stones. As a result, Perkins was one of several guitarists hired to play on the album Black and Blue. The credits for the album list Perkins appearing on three tracks: "Hand of Fate" (which includes his guitar solo), "Memory Motel", and "Fool to Cry". "Worried About You" (also including a guitar solo) was also recorded during these sessions but was not released until 1981 on Tattoo You. A super deluxe reissue of Black and Blue was released in November 2025, containing the outtake "I Love Ladies", featuring Wayne Perkins. In his memoir Life (2010), Keith Richards said that Perkins was very nearly asked to replace Mick Taylor in the Stones. "We liked Perkins a lot. He was a lovely player [but] it wasn't so much the playing, when it came down to it. It came down to the fact that Ronnie (Ron Wood) was English!"

Following this, Perkins joined the Alabama Power Band (formed by his brother Dale), which became Crimson Tide and recorded two albums. In Nashville, Perkins wrote music for Catdaddy Music and co-wrote soundtracks with Emmy Award winning composer/producer/remixer Richard Wolf for films including The Karate Kid Part II and Back to School (both 1986). Perkins later formed the band Problem Child with Robert Nix and Rick Christian, and played bass with Lonnie Mack. During his long career, Perkins played session guitar with artists including Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, David Porter, Ben Atkins, the Alabama State Troupers, Michael Bolton, Angela Bofill, the Everly Brothers, the Oak Ridge Boys, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ray Reach and many others. In 1995, Perkins recorded his first solo album, Mendo Hotel. In 2005, he released his latest, Ramblin' Heart.

In the mid-2000s, Wayne Perkins was diagnosed with multiple brain tumors. He was treated, but continued to occasionally suffer from severe headaches. He retired to Argo, Alabama, where he lived with his brother. Perkins suffered a stroke on March 1, 2026, and died in Argo on March 16, at the age of 74.