Born in London, UK, and raised in Brooklyn, Vernon Reid began playing the guitar at 15, taking an early interest in jazz. In 1980, he joined drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson's jazz/funk outfit Decoding Society, appearing on six albums. Actively pursuing an interest in avant-garde music, he started accumulating collaborations with artists such as John Zorn and Public Enemy, before forming influential heavy metal group Living Colour in the early 1980s. Their debut, Vivid, came along in 1988. As a solo artist, Reid has collaborated on various projects since, including the duo of Yohimbe Brothers with DJ Logic, and has released a couple of solo albums since 1996, including 2006's Other True Self. Three years later, the guitarist got together with Living Colour to record Chair in the Doorway. In 2012, played the Festival with supergroup Spectrum Road.