Band: Lionel Ritchie/American Idol

Greg Suran is a guitarist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, now residing in Los Angeles. He is currently the guitarist for Lionel Richie, Sunny Day Real Estate & the house band on American Idol. Formerly with the B-52s, Joe Walsh, Goo Goo Dolls, Liz Phair, and Jewel. He majored in classical guitar performance while also studying composition and arranging at University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, near his birthplace. Throughout his life, Suran had played in well-known rock bands, including Sunny Day Real Estate, The Goo Goo Dolls (2002–2007),[7] Machines of Loving Grace, Local H, Cupcakes (a band he formed), which released an album on Dreamworks Records. He has also recorded and/or toured with a diverse range of pop artists such as Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair, Five For Fighting, Colbie Caillat, and Jewel. He has recorded guitar on feature film scores/soundtracks such as Rent, Treasure Planet, and Biker Boyz. Suran had worked as a musician in theater for many years with the Blue Man Group and a production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. He toured with Joe Walsh from 2011 to 2013 on the "Analog Man" tour, then also for two tours with French pop star Mylene Farmer in 2009 and 2013, then also with Don Felder, formerly of the Eagles, from 2013–present. He worked as a session player and touring musician in Los Angeles until he joined the B-52s in 2013, after Keith Strickland left, and remained with the band until their farewell tour in 2022. He has also been a guitarist in the house band for the television show, American Idol, for four seasons since its reboot on ABC in 2018.