Kevin Patrick Shields (born 21 May 1963) is an American-Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the
alternative rock band
My Bloody Valentine. Shields performed in a number of small unsuccessful bands in
Dublin, Ireland, as a teenager, before forming My Bloody Valentine with drummer
Colm Ó Cíosóig in 1983. Although initially experiencing limited success, the band would later become extremely influential on the evolution of alternative rock with their two original studio albums
Isn't Anything (1988) and
Loveless (1991), both of which pioneered a subgenre known as
shoegazing. Shields' texturised guitar sound and his experimentation with his guitars'
tremolo systems resulted in the creation of the "glide guitar" technique, which became a recognisable aspect of My Bloody Valentine's sound, along with his meticulous production techniques.