BIBI MCGILL

Bibi McGill – the former lead guitarist and musical director for R&B icon Beyoncé – is also a producer, DJ, masterclass mentor and yogi. We check in with the American guitar guru mid-lockdown to talk music making, inspiration and finding inner peace…

- Rod Brakes

Bibi McGill is at home in Portland, Oregon. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, gigging is currently not on her schedule. Originally based in Denver, Colorado, she has spent the best part of her working life on the road, first as a guitarist then latterly as a certified yoga instructor. After moving to LA in the 80s, she played the regular club gig circuit for many years before eventually being plucked from the crowd to join Pink on her rise to global stardom. The moment Bibi stepped foot on stage for her live TV debut with Pink’s band she became one of the most in-demand guitarists among her peers…

“Before I could even walk off the stage, my phone was blowing up,” she tells us, referring to her 2001 performance with Pink on MTV’s Total Request Live. “From that point on, everybody was like, ‘We want that girl with the afro and the tattoos.’ From there, everybody gave me opportunities, and I’m grateful for all of them: Pink, La Ley, Paulina Rubio. And I’m grateful for Beyoncé.”

What did your role as musical director for Beyoncé entail?

“I was the MD from 2006 until 2015. It was a very intense role. I had to rehearse the band and do the soundchecks and make sure everything we rehearsed was carried out on stage. I had to call out cues on stage, speak to the production team under and behind the stage…”

While playing guitar…