“I can’t think of any current guitar heroes that I have. All of my guitar heroes are into their seventies or no longer with us”: Towa Bird is one of Gen Z’s biggest guitar stars – and she built her own brand of energetic rock from classic influences

Towa Bird plays a white Kramer The 84 Illusionist onstage.

Traditional paths to rock ’n’ roll stardom – blockbuster album sales and sold-out tours – may have become less and less common in our post-everything world, but Towa Bird isn’t worried. She’s busy punching her own ticket to the top.

Over the past few years, the breakout TikTok guitarist has ridden a wave of online celebrity to a major-label record deal, an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers and a scorching performance on Olivia Rodrigo’s Disney+ documentary, Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u. Now, with her debut album, American Hero, the 25-year-old guitarist is finding new ways to use her instrument in popular music by pulling from her classic-rock roots.