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POP MUSIC

Orianthi plays through the pain

The Australian guitarist was supposed to have strutted onstage with Michael Jackson this fall. Now she's releasing a solo album and trying to move forward.

The woman with the electric guitar has played this song before. It's a Michael Jackson ballad, and the young guitarist is named Orianthi, who leans back now to unfurl a solo of smoldering melody before stepping up to the microphone to sing some torrid lyrics: "Love is a feeling / give it when I want it / 'cause I'm on fire / quench my desire. . . ."

Orianthi's eyes are closed beneath her blond bangs as she wails "Give In to Me" in a North Hollywood rehearsal studio, her four-piece rock band swaying behind her. The 1991 song (co-authored by Bill Bottrell) appeared on Jackson's 1991 album "Dangerous" and was one of at least 20 that the guitarist spent two months rehearsing with Jackson as a member of his band for a series of planned "This Is It" concerts in London.

She had been drafted to re-create signature guitar parts originated by the likes of Slash and Eddie Van Halen, to stand beside Jackson onstage at the O2 Arena and deliver real playing ability through 50 sold-out nights. Then, on June 25, just weeks before opening night, Jackson was dead of heart failure.

Soon, footage of the striking 24-year-old guitarist and Jackson dramatically playing off each other in a windblown rehearsal at Staples Center was seen across the hungry media-sphere.

"It was a huge shock for all of us. Our hearts just sank," Orianthi said of getting the news at Staples, where the band already had gathered for another full day of rehearsals. "It felt like he hadn't actually gone. It was too much of a shock. He was with us the night before and he seemed so full of energy."

The guitarist (full name: Orianthi Panagaris) expected to be well into the "This Is It" concerts by now, while preparing to release her debut solo album, "Believe," which hit retailers this week.

She began writing and recording the album for Geffen Records after arriving in Los Angeles from Adelaide, Australia, three years ago. Its release was supposed to happen during a break in the O2 schedule, but now coincides with the theatrical opening of the posthumous “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” documentary, drawn from 120 hours of rehearsal footage.

"He was a big kid who wanted to have fun, but he was so serious about his music," Orianthi said. "He was a perfectionist and wanted to make sure it came across really well for his fans. He wanted to put on the ultimate show for them."

She auditioned for Jackson in late April on a Burbank soundstage. "I was so nervous and he was staring right at me," she said, still excited by the memory. "Afterwards, he was really happy and he grabbed my arm. We started walking up and down the stage area, and he asked me if I could play the solo while walking with a real fast pace with him."

Orianthi got the job -- as guitarist and sometime vocalist -- and joined a band of veteran R&B and pop players, picking up funky instrumental bits she hadn't known before. Jackson and director Kenny Ortega also had her stretch beyond the recorded songs, she says.

"They actually wanted me to add my own flavor to it," Orianthi said. "So I added some extra stuff . . . I use my tremolo bar a lot, so I incorporated that. It's hard to solo when you're walking around, especially when you're in Michael Jackson's presence. There are easier things in life to do."

Some of what she brought to the mix also can be heard on "Believe," an album of bright pop tunes with flashes of virtuoso rock guitar. It opens with the tough commercial pop of "According to You," the album's first single and a song of youthful self-worth brought to her by producer Howard Benson.

She wrote or co-wrote most of the tracks, mingling fiery riffs with breathless pop hooks to land somewhere near Avril Lavigne and Paramore (minus any shades of punk).

"I aim to inspire a bunch of female guitar players, to get out there and take it seriously and never give up," Orianthi said. "I've seen some female players, and they get up there and play an A chord and leave . . . and it's not a good representation. You can take it seriously and love it as much as a guy loves it, not just to get up there and pose."

Growing up in South Australia, she first picked up her father's acoustic guitar when she was 6. She studied classical guitar initially, then became obsessed with the electric at 11 after seeing Carlos Santana perform, and memorized as many of his solos as she could from VHS tapes. Her first professional gig came when she was a 15-year-old rock prodigy, playing to a backing tape as the opening act for guitarist Steve Vai.

In 2003, Santana brought her onstage for 40 minutes in front of her hometown crowd. Both veteran guitarists have remained supporters, and the new album includes the instrumental "Highly Strung," as Orianthi trades riffs and leads with Vai in a quick, archetypal duel to satisfy the most obsessive guitar-head.

In recent years, she's jammed with Prince at his house and soloed on "Last Name" with Carrie Underwood on the Grammy Awards in February, when Orianthi was first spotted by Jackson's team. She was found through her MySpace page.

The final song recorded for "Believe" was a last-minute addition, inspired by the deaths of Jackson and her friend and collaborator, drummer Dianne Grainger, 24. On "God Only Knows," she sings over layers of guitar: "I can't seem to find my way out of this low / It just don't seem right / didn't have a chance to say goodbye."

"My outlook on life is to keep looking up," Orianthi said. "If you're looking down, you don't see the light. For me, it's all about embracing that and thinking positively."

» www.latimes.com

Girl-power guitar goddess Orianthi Panagaris has a lot in common with Michael Jackson.

Yes, that seems odd - Orianthi is a 24-year-old, Aussie cutie whose career is just taking off; Michael was known around the world as the King of Pop - but it’s true.

Like Michael, Orianthi was a child prodigy. As a teenager, she was trading licks with guitar heavies Carlos Santana and Steve Vai.

And, like Michael, this young lady is not afraid to blend hard rock and pure pop in perfect “Beat It” style: Orianthi’s debut, “Believe,” which arrives in stores Tuesday, mixes guitar shredding with radio-ready hooks.

Maybe that is why MJ personally chose Orianthi to play lead guitar in his band for his planned “This Is It” comeback shows.

“I don’t know exactly why he picked me, but he watched my YouTube videos and loved them,” Orianthi said from her adopted hometown of Los Angeles. “He had his choice of guitar players, but I came in and played the ‘Beat It’ solo for him. Afterward he was so happy he got up and grabbed my arm and started walking up and down the stage area with me. He said, ‘Can you play once for me?’ ”

So Orianthi ripped out Eddie Van Halen’s wicked whammy and finger-tapping solo again. Jackson was just as impressed on the second take.

“He hired me that night,” Orianthi said. “I wish he was still around. He made me believe in myself more, and I learned so much. Going into it, I thought it would be all about playing guitar solos. But the majority of it was playing chords and funky rhythms.”

Already a virtuoso, she was challenged in new ways by Jackson and his band. But it was the connections she made - with Michael, his musicians and his admirers - that made the experience so worthwhile.

“His fans have been wonderful to me, just amazing,” she gushed.

To pay back Michael and his millions of mourners, Orianthi added a last-minute song to “Believe” called “God Only Knows,” a hopeful tune intended as catharsis after the shock of the icon’s death.

But Jackson wasn’t the first star the young six-string whiz impressed. There were the aforementioned Australian gigs with Santana and Vai (who does a duet with Orianthi on “Believe”). But it was her solo backing Carrie Underwood at the 2009 Grammy Awards that had people asking “Who was that girl?” the next day.

Virtually unknown before the Underwood gig, Orianthi’s flame-throwing, face-melting guitar work on “Last Name” sent YouTube into a tizzy. Hey, even MJ streamed the clip.

“I don’t consider these opportunities steppingstones, I consider them honors,” Orianthi said of the growing list of A-listers she’s rocked. “I’m a big fan of country music, so it was an honor to have Carrie ask me to play with her band. Carlos Santana is the reason I picked up the electric guitar, so getting to play with him was amazing. And Steve Vai was my first ever (opening slot). I’ve always been a huge fan of his and can now actually call him a friend after writing a song with him for my debut record.”

As big as the Grammy moment was for Orianthi, she’s about to top it. Next week “This Is It” - the Jackson documentary filmed at the rehearsals for his London shows - opens. Orianthi hasn’t seen the movie, but has heard she gets a lot of screen time. And no doubt filmgoers will exit once again asking “Who was that girl?”

“It’s going to be very hard to sit through and watch,” Orianthi said. “It was an incredible time in my life, and I’m just so grateful Michael chose me to be part of all of it.

» news.bostonherald.com

Life has whisked Orianthi from the living room (where she learned guitar solos by watching VHS tapes of Carlos Santana) to the stage she now shares with her musical idols.

The guitarist (aka Orianthi Panagaris) from Adelaide, Australia, has performed with Steve Vai, Santana, Prince and Carrie Underwood. This week, she'll be seen playing blistering solos for Wanna Be Starting Something and Dirty Diana alongside the King of Pop in the new Michael Jackson documentary.

And Tuesday, she fulfills another dream: the arrival of her debut disc, Believe (on which she sings and plays guitar), after two years of writing and recording. The album's release, postponed from summer while she rehearsed with Jackson, now coincides with the film.

"It's a real guitar-based record," says Orianthi, 24. "There's a guitar solo on every track."

Orianthi rattles off the high points in her career as if she herself can't believe them. She began playing guitar at 6 and cut her first demo when she was 14. At 15, she was opening for Vai.

By the time she was 18, her demo had found its way into the hands of Carlos Santana, who invited her to jam with him at a concert in Australia. Then came a record deal with Geffen Records and a move to L.A.

After her attention-grabbing Grammy performance with Underwood in February, she received a MySpace message from Jackson's musical director, inviting her to audition for the lead guitarist spot on the This Is It concerts.

"I was just blown away," she says. "I didn't think it was for real."

Next thing she knew, she was playing Beat It for Jackson.

"He started walking me up and down the stage," Orianthi says. "And he asked, 'Can you play that solo for me when walking at this pace?' And I said, 'Totally.' It was an amazing moment."

Another "amazing" moment followed during rehearsals, when Jackson gave Orianthi an extra guitar solo during Black or White.

"He said, 'This is your moment to shine. I want you to play your highest note.' And he was singing this really high note, and I was trying to reach it on the guitar," she says.

Yet instead of performing for fans at O2 Arena in London, Orianthi found herself in "shock and disbelief," performing We Are the World at Jackson's memorial at the Staples Center in July.

"All of us in the band were like, 'Are we actually doing this?' " she says. "It was really hard to hold back the tears looking out there and seeing how much love there was in the room."

Although she'll never get to be part of what she says would have been "the biggest show on earth," she's looking forward to her own performances. She'll play her first single, According to You, on Good Morning America Tuesday and continue her radio promo tour through November.

"I just can't wait to get out there and play some shows," she says. "I hope this record will inspire a lot of girls to pick up the electric guitar. That would be awesome."

» www.usatoday.com