PRS turns 40: Watch John Mayer, Mark Lettieri, Orianthi and more perform at PRS’s 40th Anniversary celebration
On 24th January, PRS held its 40th birthday bash. The celebration saw 1,400 artists and music industry personnel bumping shoulders at California’s House of Blues, where they were treated to an evening of performances by PRS’s extensive roster of talent.
Hosted in conjunction with NAMM 2025, the exclusive event saw the likes of John Mayer, Mark Lettieri, Orianthi and others performing. And the whole celebration has now been uploaded to PRS’s YouTube channel for all to see.
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The full concert recording is nearly 3 hours long, so you can indulge in the entire evening of music. Or you can pick and choose which artists to enjoy, as each track is helpfully timestamped in the description.
The evening was hosted by Paul Reed Smith himself, who kicks things off by paying respect to the LA fire victims. “All the artists who are playing tonight have signed a guitar,” he announces. “This is the beginning of a whole bunch of auctions that we’re gonna be a part of to try to raise money, and every penny is going to go to the fire victims.”
Once the celebrations are in full swing, the PRS roster unleashes a slew of solid performances. Paul Reed Smith also serves up some tunes, knocking out his Eightlock band, as well as hopping on stage to perform with some of his PRS artists, including John Mayer.
Personalised pre-recorded messages are also peppered in between performances. They come from a host of guitar royalty, such as Steve Vai, Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti.
The evening closes on a triumphant toast from Mayer. “The guitars are great,” he praises. “You can’t last 40 years if the guitars aren’t great!”
“Many of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say ‘They’re too nice,’” he jokes. “What’s too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes … bad intonation? The product is incredible!”
Reflecting on the evening, Smith says: “What a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video. I couldn’t be more proud to still be here 40 years later.”
PRS’ 40th anniversary celebrations are set to continue throughout the year. The company has teased new gear, as well as already releasing some limited edition 40th Anniversary custom guitars.
To keep in the loop, check out PRS 40.
The post PRS turns 40: Watch John Mayer, Mark Lettieri, Orianthi and more perform at PRS’s 40th Anniversary celebration appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
