Tony Peluso

Anthony F. Peluso (March 28, 1950 – June 5, 2010) was an American guitarist and record producer. He was lead guitarist for pop duo The Carpenters from 1972 to 1983.

Peluso played the fuzz guitar solo on the Carpenters' song "Goodbye to Love". He also contributed a disc jockey impersonation that opens the duo's cover of "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" and was the deejay who links the medley of oldies tracks on Side 2 of the Carpenters album Now & Then.

Career Peluso came from a musical family, his mother being a successful opera singer and his father being the music director for NBC radio on the west coast. His mother was Emily Hardy (1908–1983), a soprano who performed most notably with The San Francisco Opera Company (debut 1933, Musetta, La Bohème) and the Metropolitan Opera (debut 1936, Gilda, Rigoletto). Tony's father was Thomas A. Peluso, composer and conductor (1899–1963).

He began his own musical career in 1968, when he formed a band called The Abstracts with three college friends. The band recorded one album for the small Pompeii label, on which he sang, played guitar and wrote most of the songs. However, the album was not a commercial success, mainly due to poor distribution, and the group disbanded shortly after its release

Peluso later played alongside Bobby Sherman and Paul Revere & the Raiders as well as leading the backing band Instant Joy for Mark Lindsay when Lindsay took a break from Paul Revere & the Raiders.

The Carpenters In 1972 Richard Carpenter and John Bettis had written a new song, "Goodbye to Love", for the Carpenters. While the Carpenters were working on the song, Richard decided that there should be a fuzz guitar solo on it. He recalled Tony Peluso from a time when Mark Lindsay and Instant Joy opened for the Carpenters. The solo was played from the electric guitar through a fuzz box straight into the mixing console onto the tape.

Peluso subsequently joined the Carpenters recording and touring band as lead guitarist.

Peluso went on to produce and/or engineer for artists such as Kenny Loggins, Seals and Crofts, Apollonia Kotero, Player, Animotion, Stephanie Mills, The Triplets, Bloc, The Fixx, New Monkees, Dave Koz and Boyz II Men.

Peluso won four Grammy Awards during his career, and was awarded numerous gold and platinum records representing sales in excess of 150 million units during his diverse music career.

He died at age 60 in Los Angeles on June 5, 2010, from heart disease. He is survived by two sons.