{{BLP sources|date=February 2017}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Dave Meniketti | image = Dave Meniketti.jpg | caption = Dave Meniketti at Download festival, Donington, UK, 2010 | birth_name = David Alan Meniketti<ref>The correct Italian spelling of the surname is '''Menichetti'''.</ref> | origin = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|12|12}} | birth_place = [[Oakland, California]], U.S. | instrument = {{hlist|[[Vocals]]|[[guitar]]}} | genre = *[[Hard rock]] *[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] *[[glam metal]] *[[blues]] | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter}} | years_active = 1969–present | label = London Records (1976–1978)<br> A&M (1981–1985)<br>Geffen (1987–1990)<br>Metal Blade (1991) | associated_acts = {{hlist|[[Y&T]]|[[Hear 'n Aid]]}} | website = [https://meniketti.com/ meniketti.com] }}

'''David Alan Meniketti''' (born December 12, 1953) is an American musician, best known as singer, songwriter, and lead [[guitarist]] for [[hard rock]]/[[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Y&T]]. He has also released three solo efforts (including "Live in Japan"), one of which is more blues-oriented. He currently tours worldwide with [[Y&T]].

With the death of guitarist Joey Alves in March 2017, Meniketti is the last surviving member of the band's classic lineup (1974–1986), which also included bassist Phil Kennemore (d. 2011) and drummer Leonard Haze (d. 2016).

==History== Dave Meniketti was born and raised in [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[California]] where he has been a [[San Francisco Bay Area]] vocal and guitar musician for over four decades. He was influenced by a wide variety of artists growing up, such as [[Jimi Hendrix]], [[John Coltrane]], [[Leslie West]], [[James Brown]], [[Led Zeppelin]]. These diverse influences appear in both his singing and his guitar playing. He has been highly ranked in Best Guitarist polls in newspapers, magazines, and television shows around the world.{{Citation needed|date=February 2026}}

As the lead singer/lead guitarist with Bay Area rockers [[Y&T]], Meniketti has sold over four million records worldwide. With Y&T, he has recorded 19 albums, and continues to tour the world each year. His style has influenced some of the major stars in rock and over the years he's been asked to join many top bands including [[Ozzy Osbourne]], [[Peter Frampton]], [[Whitesnake]] and others. [[Faith No More]], [[Secret Chiefs 3]], and former [[Mr. Bungle]] guitarist [[Trey Spruance]] said in an interview with [[Kerrang|Kerrang! magazine]] in 1991: "... of course, I owe it [his guitar playing speed] all to Y&T. Dave Meniketti is my god."

In the movie [[Anvil! The Story of Anvil]], in the bonus feature interview [[Lars Ulrich]] of [[Metallica]] talks at length about seeing one of his favorite bands Y&T for the first time at a club in Hollywood in December 1980. [[Lars Ulrich]] credits Y&T as the reason he decided to become a musician, saying: "That was the turning point for me wanting to play music. . . . You could tell that they loved what they were doing."

In the early 1990s, while Y&T took a break from recording and performing, Meniketti built his own recording studio and proceeded to record his first solo album titled ON THE BLUE SIDE, which represented his passion for the blues. He would later release a follow-up album simply titled MENIKETTI. Recorded in Tokyo, a live concert CD was released by Avex Records in 2003 titled MENIKETTI LIVE IN JAPAN.

In the summer of 2013, [[Sammy Hagar]] invited Dave to perform a set of [[Montrose (band)|Montrose]] tunes with the original Montrose band members for two Northern California shows on Sammy's "Four Decades of Rock" tour. One of the reasons Sammy chose Dave was Hagar's feeling that Meniketti would be the right choice to do justice to the memory and playing style of Ronnie Montrose.

Meniketti and his wife, Jill, produced fine wines for eight years under the Meniketti Wines label, which is no longer active.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Meniketti Wines|url = http://menikettiwines.com/about-us/|website = menikettiwines.com|accessdate = 2015-12-14|archive-date = 2023-01-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230127143528/http://menikettiwines.com/about-us/|url-status = bot: unknown}} (archive.org link)</ref>

==Equipment== Currently, Dave plays Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters. He has been playing a sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard since the early 1970s, and even during the late-'80s when such a guitar was considered out of style, as seen in the music video for Contagious. In the 2000s, George Bisceglia of Bisceglia Guitars built Dave a custom made LP style guitar. Meniketti has also been seen playing Fender Stratocasters and Kramer guitars. In 2018 he added Yamaha's new line of Revstar guitars.

For amplification, he uses [[Diezel]] VH4 heads, with a [[Mesa/Boogie]] Dual Rectifier as a back-up.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}}

{{Y&T}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meniketti, Dave}} [[Category:American heavy metal guitarists]] [[Category:American heavy metal singers]] [[Category:1953 births]] [[Category:American people of Italian descent]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Lead guitarists]] [[Category:Musicians from Oakland, California]] [[Category:Singers from California]] [[Category:Guitarists from California]] [[Category:American male guitarists]] [[Category:20th-century American guitarists]] [[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]