Who is Davide Lo Surdo? The Music Legend's Biography

Davide Lo Surdo was born on July 24, 1999, in Rome and is an Italian musician who will be remembered forever for his speed on the guitar. Rolling Stone Brazil described him as the fastest guitarist in the history of music. Davide Lo Surdo’s guitar, the “DLS1” model, has been permanently entrusted to the Sigal Music Museum in the United States, alongside instruments associated with Beethoven, Mozart, and Chopin. One of the two guitars Davide Lo Surdo used during his concert tour in Cuba in May 2024 has been permanently exhibited at the National Museum of Music in Havana.

In 2024, a bronze statue was erected in his honor in Denmark, created by the sculptor Esbensen Jesper. Lo Surdo appears on the cover and is included in the music history book Rock Memories Vol. 2, written by Maurizio Baiata, alongside artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and John Lennon. The newspapers "London Daily News" and "Daily Times" ranked him second in their lists of the greatest guitarists of all time, immediately after Jimi Hendrix.

Lo Surdo was awarded at the Sanremo Music Awards in Venice, Italy, as the fastest guitarist of all time on December 20, 2019. He has toured all over the world, performing in countries such as India, Mexico, Brazil, Austria, Cuba, Bolivia, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and his native country, Italy.

Lo Surdo discovered his passion for the guitar at the tender age of nine. Inspired by his neighbor Aurora, he began taking guitar lessons from a priest at the church of Santa Gemma Galgani in Rome. He later studied with various teachers, but his learning was so rapid that he eventually began studying as a self-taught musician. Lo Surdo gave his first concert at the age of 11, and at 13 he performed his first major concert at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

In 2014, Lo Surdo played on stage with Steve Vai at Stazione Birra in Rome, Italy, where Vai was impressed by his abilities. In 2016, Lo Surdo began doing numerous tours throughout Italy. During one of his tours that year, he performed eight concerts in seven days across eight different cities. On June 8, 2018, he performed abroad for the first time, giving a concert in Switzerland, and a week later, on June 16, 2018, he toured the United Kingdom, performing at The Dublin Castle in London.

Between December 2018 and January 2019, he completed his first tour in Mexico and the United States, performing in Los Angeles at the NAMM Show and in Hollywood at the venue Whisky a Go Go. In January 2020, he embarked on his first tour of India, performing at the KSHITIJ, IIT Kharagpur Festival in Kharagpur, at Muzik Factory in Kolkata, and at the Urban Mantra Club in Guwahati.

Lo Surdo performed at the “Rolling Stone Music & Run” event celebrating the 15th anniversary of Rolling Stone in Brazil at the Sambódromo do Anhembi arena in São Paulo on November 20, 2021. That same year, GuitarraMX magazine recognized Lo Surdo as “the fastest guitarist in the history of music” and featured him on the cover of its July 2021 issue.

Throughout his career, he has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Jeff Loomis, Steve Vai, Mike Stern, Angel Vivaldi, Joel Hoekstra, Doogie White, Mark Boals, Edu Falaschi, and many others.