Two icons turn 60.

As we know, Trevor's 60th birthday is less than a week away but this year also marks the 60th year of the Fender Stratocaster, the guitar which its maker proclaims as no less than "The World's Greatest Electric Guitar" and Trevor's signature solo on "Owner of a Lonely Heart" is cited by the company in their publicity for the anniversary.

On the page devoted to celebrating the Strat's history at the official website, "Owner" is listed in a montage of famous songs featuring the instrument...

...and in a press release issued by Fender it also receives a special namecheck.

An especially colorful year for the Stratocaster came in 1983 with two chart-topping comebacks: David Bowie's Let's Dance, on which millions of listeners worldwide get their first tastefully blistering earful of a young Texas blues virtuoso named Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Yes's 90125, on which South African guitarist Trevor Rabin uses his '62 Strat, most notably for a strikingly angular solo on number-one hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart."

In a chronicle which features so many classic rock riffs, melodies and solos, it's wonderful to know that Trevor has been recognized for adding to such an amazing history, of coaxing brilliance - as many others have done - from a faithful and fantastic instrument.