After holding a public audition to find a new guitarist, the legendary Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan, has unveiled her newest band member: Jon Dretto.
The popular social media shredder has a pretty staggering 3.5 million followers on Instagram, but beyond the many guitar store pranks and gags that have helped him amass his loyal following, Dretto has proven himself to be a gifted player on countless occasions – and he has now beat out great competition for the gig.
The Ain’t Nobody singer had set clear credentials for the gig when she announced the audition: “If you’re youngish, cute-ish, and can play that axe, you’re for me,” she had said, and though Dretto's channel may evoke polarising reactions from other shredders, he seems to perfectly meet the brief.
Unveiling the news on her Instagram, Khan says she reviewed “thousands of auditions from across the globe”. Dretto, she adds, was “handpicked for his incredible skill, presence, and passion”.
His first dates will be on the Queens: 4 Legends, 1 Stage tour, which will see Khan share stages with Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, and Stephanie Mills.
Khan – aka Yvette Marie Stevens – sought a guitarist who “lives and breathes rock, funk and soul”, and has “the fire to groove, shred, and shine”, and while there is no denying Dretto knows his way around a fretboard at enviable speeds, his reels thus far have been light on the funk and soul side of things. It will be intriguing to see how he adapts to the role.
Speaking to Guitar World in 2023 about his rise to fame without a band or record deal, Dretto had praised the changing industry landscape for his ability to express himself without the usual ties as he pivots toward original music.
“The response has been fantastic,” he’d said, his debut single, Broken Promise, fresh out at the time of the interview. “10 years ago, I would need a record deal to do what I’m doing, but because of my social media following and how I’ve structured my career, I don’t need a label’s capital to fund my music. It’s pretty cool.”
Dretto’s video content has ranged from guitar store pranks to shred-filled covers of pop songs, where he usually takes the vocal lines and dances around them.
“I thought my 20,000 online followers meant something,” he had recalled, “but a rep said, ‘This conversation starts at a million.’”
There are parallels here to the open audition Smashing Pumpkins held to find their next guitarist, with 10,000 applicants putting a full-time workforce into overdrive.
Kiki Wong, who was equally influential on social media herself, came up trumps and has since brought her metal edge to the band, and has admitted the experience has made her a far better player. Dretto may have a similar experience as he takes on the biggest test of his career so far.
