Rickey Minor

Rickey Minor (born September 6, 1959) is an American music director, composer and music producer. Minor is best known as the musical director and bandleader on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno from 2010 to 2014, taking over after Kevin Eubanks left. Minor was born in Monroe, Louisiana and raised by his mother, Helen Blevins, in South Central Los Angeles, CA. Much of his musical training was self-taught. Minor has served as musical director for numerous superstar tours, including: Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Ray Charles, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé and for television productions, including: the Grammy Awards, the NAACP Image Awards and the Super Bowl, of which he's received four separate Emmy nominations in the musical direction category. In addition to his work as musical director for American Idol, he served as bandleader on Fox's Don't Forget the Lyrics!. As bandleader, Minor differed from Eubanks in terms of material used. While Eubanks would play original music with the band, Minor on the other hand played established hits ranging from heavy metal to rap to classic rock to soul. Minor resides in Southern California. His book, There's No Traffic on the Extra Mile, was released in January 2009. He has one son, Sean Minor.