July 5 marks a special milestone for one of classic rock’s pioneering guitarists.
Michael Monarch, the original lead guitarist and a founding member of Steppenwolf, turns 76 today. Best known for helping define the band’s hard-hitting sound during its formative years, Monarch also went on to perform with the all-star supergroup World Classic Rockers, extending his legacy well beyond Steppenwolf’s earliest success.
Monarch was there from the very beginning.
After co-founding Steppenwolf in the late 1960s alongside vocalist John Kay, keyboardist Goldy McJohn, bassist Rushton Moreve and drummer Jerry Edmonton, the young guitarist quickly became an essential part of the band’s distinctive blend of blues, psychedelic rock and hard rock. His powerful guitar work helped establish Steppenwolf as one of the defining rock acts of the era.
During Monarch’s tenure, the band released several of its most enduring songs, including “Born to Be Wild,” “Magic Carpet Ride,” “The Pusher” and “Rock Me.”
“Born to Be Wild,” in particular, became a cultural phenomenon after its inclusion in the 1969 film Easy Rider, helping popularize the phrase “heavy metal” through its famous lyric, “heavy metal thunder.”
“I was using my Fender Esquire guitar into a Fender Concert Amp, kind of like a Super Reverb, but without the reverb, with four ten-inch speakers,” Monarch told Guitar World of the recording session for the hit song. “It had white, round knobs and was covered in brown Tolex. I had turned everything to ten, as there was no eleven back then. Engineers Ritchie [Podolor] and Bill [Cooper] asked me to turn it down because it was too distorted. I don’t think I did, and eventually, they thought it blended with the organ in a cool way.”
Although Monarch left Steppenwolf in 1969, his contributions to the band’s earliest recordings helped lay the foundation for its lasting influence. The group’s music continues to be celebrated on classic rock radio, while songs like “Born to Be Wild” remain synonymous with freedom, motorcycles and the open road.
“After Steppenwolf, I worked on building a studio in my house,” Monarch recalled in an interview. “I had a lot of musician friends coming over to play; some of the guys from Little Feat came by a few times. I was also thinking of starting a new band. I ended up selling the house and moving to England in ’73, and I started a band there backed by the Robert Stigwood Organization. The drummer was Herman Rarebell, who later went on to play in the Scorpions.”
Monarch later reunited with fellow classic rock veterans as a member of World Classic Rockers, a touring supergroup featuring musicians from some of the biggest bands of the 1960s and 1970s. The lineup has included members of Steppenwolf, Journey, Santana, Boston, Toto, Lynyrd Skynyrd and other legendary acts, giving audiences the opportunity to hear some of rock’s most iconic songs performed by the artists who helped create them.
“There’s a big market for this band in the corporate world. We started it in ’96, and it’s still going strong; we play great venues all over the world,” Monarch said. “We played in Monte Carlo, the Bahamas, Bermuda, South Africa, Ireland, and all over the U.S. and Canada. We play Hawaii often. We also do the fair circuit, but corporate shows more.”
More than five decades after helping launch one of rock’s most influential bands, Monarch’s impact continues to resonate with fans around the world. As he celebrates his 76th birthday on July 5, his work with Steppenwolf and the World Classic Rockers stands as a reminder of the enduring power of classic rock’s golden era.
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