Jon Levin

For other people named Jonathan Levin, see Jonathan Levin (disambiguation).

Jon Levin
Jon Levin performing with Dokken on June 21, 2008 in West Fargo, ND
Background information
Born	(1966-03-18) March 18, 1966 Woodmere, New York, USA
Genres	Heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, lawyer
Instrument(s)	Guitar, piano, cello, trumpet, vocals
Years active	1985 - present

Jon Levin (born March 18, 1966) is the current guitarist for the American heavy metal band Dokken.

Biography

Early years

Jon Levin was involved with music very early on in life. He began playing piano at age 4, trumpet by age 7, and guitar at age 9. Instead of having formal lessons, Levin played along to his favorite musicians including Randy Rhoads, Eric Clapton and later George Lynch from Dokken, whose place Levin would eventually take. He played in a club band called Devias at age 19 in the Long Island, New York area, and then auditioned for and joined German band Warlock at age 22. When the grunge scene took over in the early 1990s, Levin took a break from being a musician because he wasn't interested in that type of music. Levin relocated to the West Coast and became an entertainment lawyer. In his capacity as an entertainment lawyer, Jon has served as legal counsel, working with Jim Paidas, of Paidas Management, on a myriad of licensing programs; some of which include Orange County Choppers, Dog the Bounty Hunter, American Hot Rod, and Rockstalgia.

Dokken

In 1998, Levin got a call from Jeff Pilson, Dokken's bassist, who asked him to play some solos on a demo. He anticipated playing on a solo album for Pilson, but when he arrived at the studio, Dokken in its entirety was there. Levin played on a Dokken track called "Dancin' (The Irish Song)" which originally was supposed to be included on the Erase the Slate album but was later included on the Long Way Home import instead. However Levin did not join the group until late 2003. He is praised by many hardcore Dokken fans for his George Lynch-influenced style of playing.

Discography

With Doro

• Force Majeure (1989)

With Dokken

• Hell To Pay (2004)
• Lightning Strikes Again (2008)
• Broken Bones (2012)