Who could imagine that an 81-year-old man could have changed rock music when he was younger? Well it's true, and Les Paul did it. This musician and inventor has sold hundreds of thousands, if not millions of albums. He has also created something that has changed rock and pop history, the solid-body electric guitar. Music and inventing all started before he became famous, when Les Paul was very young.

             Les Paul was born on June 9, 1915 in Wankesha, Wisconsin. At a very young age, Paul developed a big interest in music and electronics. His first electronic construction was a crystal radio set. On that radio, Les Paul listened to his favorites like Carson Robinson, Gene Autry and Nick Lucas. These musicians inspired Paul to play music himself.

             Paul began to play music a very young age. On his mothers player piano, he learned notes. He then started to play the harmonica and banjo. It wasn't until then that Paul had an interest in the guitar. His first was a Sears Roebuck mail-order guitar. Les became attached to his guitar and started to develop talent. As Les got older, he started to sing and play his guitar at local road-houses and drive-ins. To make himself more audible to the cars at drive-ins, Les Paul made his first attempt at guitar amplification. He amplified the sound of his Sears Roebuck with a phonograph needle wired to a radio speaker. Around the same time, Paul improvised his first crude recording machine. As Les became more popular, he started to travel to places out of his local area. .

             Les's traveling leads him to get a job at a Chicago radio station. While working at the station, Les practiced his music on the side. From 1932 to 1937 Paul stayed at the station. He then took a four-year break, to return in 1941. He only stayed one more year. In 1941 Gibson Guitar Company allowed Les to develop guitars for a living. While working there, Les came up with the idea of creating a solid-bodied electric guitar.