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This section is factually correct, but sadly, it also displays a problem: All the people listed are guitar players.

Holdsworth was born in Bradford, where he was raised by his maternal grandparents, Sam and Elsie Holdsworth.[19] Sam Holdsworth was a jazz pianist who had previously moved to London to pursue a career in music, but had eventually returned to Bradford.[20] Holdsworth was given his first guitar at the age of 17 and received his initial music tuition from his grandfather. His professional career began when he joined the Glen South Band, which performed on the Mecca club circuit across Northern England.'''

'''Holdsworth first recorded in 1969 with the band 'Igginbottom on their lone release, 'Igginbottom's Wrench (later reissued under the group name of "Allan Holdsworth & Friends"). In 1971 he joined Sunship, an improvisational band featuring keyboardist Alan Gowen, future King Crimson percussionist Jamie Muir and bassist Laurie Baker. They played live but never released any recorded material.[21] Next came a brief stint with jazz rock band Nucleus, with whom Holdsworth played on their 1972 album, Belladonna; likewise with progressive rock band Tempest, on their self-titled first studio album in 1973.[22] His playing can also be heard on a live BBC Radio concert from that year, which was released several decades later in 2005 as part of Under the Blossom: The Anthology, a Tempest compilation album most notable for the song "Gorgon". There has been an urban myth, propagated in part by the singer Donovan, that Holdsworth played the fuzztone solo on Donovan's 1968 hit "Hurdy Gurdy Man", but the solo was actually played by Alan Parker.[23][24]'''

'''Whilst U.K. continued with different musicians, Bruford returned to the core line-up of his solo band now simply named Bruford, with Holdsworth retained as guitarist. Their second album, One of a Kind, was released in 1979 and featured extensive contributions by Holdsworth, but by this point he wished to pursue his own musical aspirations and soon left the group, albeit with some reluctance.[21][27]

'''

Holdsworth's first significant collaboration was with jazz pianist Gordon Beck on the latter's Sunbird album in 1979. Their first collaborative release The Things You See followed in 1980, and was a largely similar effort but without percussion or bass. Soon afterwards, Holdsworth joined up with drummer Gary Husband and bassist Paul Carmichael in a trio that became known as False Alarm. This was Holdsworth's first outing as a bandleader and, after the acquisition of former Tempest singer Paul Williams, the band was renamed I.O.U. Their self-titled debut album was released independently in 1982, followed by a mainstream reissue through Enigma Records in 1985.[28]

In the late 1980s, Holdsworth set up his own recording studio named The Brewery in North County, San Diego, which would become one of the main recording locations for all of his studio albums beginning with Secrets in 1989, and throughout the 1990s. In a 2005 interview, he stated that he no longer owned the studio following his divorce in 1999.[22][25][30] Secrets introduced pianist Steve Hunt, who went on to play keyboard as a member of Holdsworth's touring band, and for two further albums.[32]

A collaboration in 1990 with fusion guitarist Frank Gambale came about in the form of Truth in Shredding, an ambitious collaborative project put together by Mark Varney (brother of Shrapnel Records founder Mike Varney) through his Legato Records label.[33] In December of that year, following the death of Level 42 guitarist Alan Murphy in 1989, Holdsworth was recruited by the band to play as a guest musician during a series of concerts at London's Hammersmith Odeon. With former I.O.U. partner Gary Husband now being the drummer for Level 42, these circumstances all led to Holdsworth contributing guitar work on five tracks for their 1991 album, Guaranteed.[34] Holdsworth would also play on Chad Wackerman's first two studio albums, Forty Reasons (1991) and The View (1993).[35]

Holdsworth's first solo album of the decade was 1992's Wardenclyffe Tower, which continued to feature the SynthAxe but also displayed his newfound interest in self-designed baritone guitars built by luthier Bill DeLap.[36] With the 1994 release of Hard Hat Area, Holdsworth's touring band for that and the following year was composed of Steve Hunt, Husband and bassist Skúli Sverrisson. A collaboration in 1996 with brothers Anders and Jens Johansson resulted in Heavy Machinery, an album with more hard-edged playing from Holdsworth than was usual. In the same year, he was once again joined by Gordon Beck on None Too Soon, which comprised interpretations of some of Holdsworth's favourite jazz standards.[37]

Holdsworth, Chad Wackerman (centre) and Jimmy Johnson (right) in Huntington Beach, 2006

On 7 April 2017, Manifesto records released the box set The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! The Allan Holdsworth Album Collection, which comprises remastered versions of 12 of Allan's solo albums.[45] These 12 albums also have been released in a vinyl box set under the name The Allan Holdsworth Solo Album Collection, marking the first time many of these albums have been available on vinyl.[46] At the same time, Manifesto also released the 2-CD compilation Eidolon, which features tracks selected by Holdsworth himself.[47] Holdsworth was able to promote these albums briefly, as he died only a week later from high blood pressure.[48] According to The Guardian, he played his final gig in San Diego on 10 April 2017.[49]

Manifesto Records has released six posthumous albums as of 2022. All are archival live recordings sourced from jazz festivals or state broadcasters. Live in Japan 1984, released in 2018, is the first authorized release of the widely bootlegged "Tokyo Dream" laserdisc, with a limited edition bonus DVD. "Warsaw Summer Jazz Days '98", released in 2019, contains a CD and DVD of a concert that was originally broadcast on Polish TV. 2020 saw the release of "Frankfurt '86", a CD and DVD of Holdsworth's 1986 appearance at the Deutsches Jazz Festival.[50] In 2021 two different concert recordings from Holdsworth's appearances at the Leverkusen Jazz Festival were released, the first from 1997 and the second from 2010. In 2022 Holdsworth's 2014 appearance at the Jarasum International Jazz Festival in Korea was released.

Another of his most identifiable traits was the use of rich, fingerpicked chords (often awash with delay, chorus and other complex effects), which were articulated and sustained using volume swells to create sounds reminiscent of the horn and saxophone.[56] He said that he preferred both of these instruments to the guitar, the latter of which was not his first choice of instrument upon receiving one from his father when beginning to play music.[57][58][59] It was because of this unfamiliarity with the guitar, combined with attempting to make it sound more like a saxophone, that he originally began to use legato without realising that it was not a common method of playing at the time.[36] Furthermore, he was influenced greatly by such saxophonists as John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Michael Brecker and Charlie Parker,[59][60][61] while some of his favourite guitarists were Django Reinhardt, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney, Charlie Christian and Hank Marvin.[58][61]

Holdsworth was highly influential among advanced guitarists and was considered one of the most technically accomplished and most unusual players. According to Guitar World magazine he is "as influential as Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Van Halen".[62] Van Halen, Frank Zappa, Shawn Lane, Steve Vai,[63] John Petrucci,[64] Neal Schon and Gary Moore have proclaimed Holdsworth one of the most advanced guitarists of his time.[62]