b. James Joseph McGuinn, 13 July 1942, Chicago, Illinois, USA. After a period playing at various folk clubs in Chicago, lead guitarist Jim McGuinn briefly joined the Limeliters before accepting a job as an accompanist in the Chad Mitchell Trio in 1960. He played on two of their albums, Mighty Day On Campus and Live At The Bitter End, but after a couple of years became frustrated with his limited role in the ensemble. Bobby Darin, having switched from pop to folk, also recruited McGuinn for a spell, and the guitarist continued to learn his craft by appearing on sessions for artists such as Hoyt Axton, Judy Collins and Tom And Jerry (alias Simon And Garfunkel). By 1964, McGuinn was playing regularly as a soloist at the Troubadour in Hollywood, and it was there that he formed the Jet Set with Gene Clark and David Crosby. Following the recruitment of bass player Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke, the quintet emerged as the chart-topping Byrds. McGuinn was a focal point in the Byrds from the outset, thanks largely to his distinctive 12-string Rickenbacker guitar playing, Dylanesque vocal style and rectangular glasses. The only member of the Byrds actually to play an instrument on "Mr Tambourine Man", McGuinn was often nominated "leader" at recording sessions - though his authority was largely illusory during the early stages of the band's career. Never a prolific songwriter, McGuinn's importance to the Byrds lay largely in his playing and arranging skills. Always professing an interest in religion, he became involved in the sect Subud and changed his name to Roger before recording the celebrated The Notorious Byrd Brothers.

By 1968, McGuinn was the sole surviving original member and kept the Byrds going until as late as 1973. That same year, he launched his solo career with a self-titled album which ably displayed his musical versatility - combining folk, surf and even space rock. The Rickenbacker twang was even more evident on his second album, Peace On You (1974), but he lost critical ground with a hastily produced third album. A starring spot in Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, in 1975, revitalized his career at a crucial time, laying the foundations for the excellent Cardiff Rose (1976), his most complete work as a soloist. The patchy Thunderbyrd (1977), which included McGuinn's version of Tom Petty's "American Girl', coincided with a UK tour which brought together three ex-Byrds in different groups on the same bill. Within a year, the trio united as McGuinn, Clark And Hillman, re-enacting the Byrds" stormy career in microcosm when Gene Clark again left after the second album, City. Meanwhile, McGuinn had undergone another religious conversion, this time emerging as a born-again Christian.

For virtually the whole of the 80s McGuinn performed solo without a recording contract, performing over 200 dates each year in the USA. His "legendary" reputation as an innovative guitarist had grown to such an extent that, during the late 80s, Rickenbacker manufactured a "Roger McGuinn" production model. This guitar was preset to give a replica of McGuinn's trademark 12-string sound. McGuinn avoided any ill-advised Byrds reunions for most of the 80s. A legal dispute with his former colleague Michael Clarke briefly saw the guitarist re-establish the Byrds with Chris Hillman and David Crosby. After losing the Byrds name at the injunction stage, a proposed world tour and live album failed to materialize. Instead, McGuinn won a major contract with Arista Records and set about recording his first album in over a decade, Back From Rio. Critically acclaimed, the album charted on both sides of the Atlantic. McGuinn's first live album was issued in 1996, containing reworkings of old favourites together with two new studio recordings.

In the late 90s McGuinn launched his own website, through which a number of valuable recordings have been made available. The most notable of these have been the "Folk Den" sessions, featuring McGuinn performing a selection of traditional material and using his computer to record the results for posterity. A later recording Treasures From The Folk Den saw the guitarist joined by a number of accompanists, including Judy Collins, Joan Baez and Odetta. The more fully realised folk rock recording Limited Edition emerged in 2004. An impressive four-disc box set covering the Folk Den recordings was released in 2005.