Editing Adrian Belew (section)

===Solo career, part three (1989–present)===

Belew revived his solo career with 1989's ''[[Mr. Music Head]]'', on which he played virtually all the instruments (with the exception of double bass). The album was split between relatively straightforward pop and more experimental songs, with a strong emphasis on Belew's signature electric tones, plus plenty of percussion and an unusual approach to acoustic production. ''Mr. Music Head'' also generated a hit single (No. 5 on the US Modern Rock chart) in the shape of "Oh Daddy", on which Belew duetted with his 11-year-old daughter Audie.

In 1990, Belew produced a similar follow-up with ''[[Young Lions (album)|Young Lions]]''. This featured a number of cover versions, plus two guest appearances by his past and current employer David Bowie, who'd hired Belew as musical director for his then-current [[Sound+Vision Tour]]. The album generated another US Modern rock chart hit (No. 2) with the Belew-and-Bowie duet "Pretty Pink Rose", and a minor hit on the same chart with the subsequent single, "Men In Helicopters" (No. 17).

The following year, Belew released ''[[Desire of the Rhino King]]'', a compilation of digitally remastered material from his first three (now out-of-print) albums.

The next phase in Belew's career saw him pursuing a more traditional singing and songwriting style (albeit with his trademark unusual guitar tones), which owed a lot to his old heroes the Beatles. 1992's ''[[Inner Revolution]]'', and 1994's ''[[Here (Adrian Belew album)|Here]]'' (as well as 1993's self-explanatory and back-catalogue-revisiting ''[[The Acoustic Adrian Belew]]'') were all heavily song-oriented and accessible, but sold less than Belew expected. 1996's ''[[Op Zop Too Wah]]'' blended Belew's songwriting approach with more avant-garde instrumental parts.

In parallel to Belew's work with a revived [[King Crimson]], he released the first in a proposed Experimental Guitar Series, ''[[The Guitar as Orchestra: Experimental Guitar Series, Vol. 1]]'', in 1997. This was an album of [[Atonality|atonal]] contemporary classical music entirely realized on [[MIDI]] guitar using digital models of orchestral instruments. Belew has mentioned plans for releasing more records in the Experimental Guitar series, including one called ''The Animal Kingdom'', but no more yet have been released.

[[File:Adrian_Belew_Bowie_2022.jpg|240px|thumb|Belew in 2022, performing with [[Todd Rundgren]] on the "Celebrating David Bowie" tour]]
Belew's subsequent releases were two more acoustic albums, 1998's ''[[Belew Prints: The Acoustic Adrian Belew, Vol. 2]]'', and the 1999 ''[[Salad Days (Adrian Belew album)|Salad Days]]'' compilation, as well as the ''[[Coming Attractions (album)|Coming Attractions]]'' album of works-in-progress. In 2004, he collaborated on a spoken-word-and-instrumentation album with [[Kevin Max]], called ''[[Raven Songs 101]]''. Between 2005 and 2007, Belew released the ''Side'' series of albums:  2005's ''[[Side One]]'' and ''[[Side Two]]'', 2006's ''[[Side Three]]'', and 2007's ''[[Side Four]]'', with a variety of guest performers, including Tool's [[Danny Carey]] and [[Primus (band)|Primus]]' [[Les Claypool]].

In April and May 2006, Adrian toured Australia with local musicians [[John Prior (musician)|John Prior]] from [[Matt Finish]] playing drums, and Al Slavik playing bass guitar and [[Chapman Stick|Stick]] (as well as singing backing vocals). In August 2006, he performed in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, on The Acoustic Planet Tour with [[Bela Fleck & the Flecktones]] and [[Umphrey's McGee]].

Later in 2006, Belew formed a new long-term trio, which his fans rapidly christened the Adrian Belew Power Trio,{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} featuring former [[The Paul Green School of Rock Music|Paul Green School of Rock]] students [[Eric Slick]] on drums and [[Julie Slick]] on bass. This band featured on the 2007 live recording ''[[Side Four]]'' and the 2009 download-only ''Live Overseas''.

In 2008, Belew played at the Adelaide Guitar Festival.<ref name="adelaide">{{cite web
 |last=Kelton 
 |first=Sam 
 |title=Zappa prodigy Adrian Belew still rockin' 
 |work=Adelaide Now 
 |date=November 27, 2008 
 |url=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/zappa-prodigy-still-rockin/story-e6frea6u-1111118169771 <!--was http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24720127-5018246,00.html --> 
 |access-date=2009-04-22 
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115000811/http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/zappa-prodigy-still-rockin/story-e6frea6u-1111118169771
 |archive-date=2013-01-15
 |url-status=live
}}</ref> In June 2009, the Adrian Belew Power Trio released an all-new studio record titled simply ''e.'', featuring a five-part long-form Belew instrumental composition. During the same month, Belew released ''A Cup of Coffee and a Slice of Time'', an album credited to "Clay & Belew". This was an album of improvised classical-based interpretations of Belew songs (both solo and from King Crimson) mostly performed by pianist Michael Clay, with additional guitar, cello, and [[music concrete]] contributions from Belew.

Belew has been a frequent collaborator of [[Nine Inch Nails]], appearing on the albums ''[[The Downward Spiral]]'', ''[[The Fragile]]'', ''[[Ghosts I–IV]]'', and ''[[Hesitation Marks]]''. Bandleader [[Trent Reznor]] briefly named Belew as the group's touring guitarist in 2013, but he ultimately left the group before playing any live dates.<ref name="pitchfork.com">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/51069-adrian-belew-quits-nine-inch-nails-it-didnt-work/ |title=Adrian Belew Quits Nine Inch Nails: "It Didn't Work" |date=June 7, 2013 |publisher=Pitchfork |access-date=2022-12-11 |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908084045/http://pitchfork.com/news/51069-adrian-belew-quits-nine-inch-nails-it-didnt-work/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On January 16, 2019, Belew announced an expansion of his "Power Trio" to a quartet with the addition of Saul Zonana and a 2019 tour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.musicnewsnet.com/2019/01/guitar-legend-adrian-belew-back-on-tour-with-with-a-new-quartet.html|title=Guitar Legend Adrian Belew Back on Tour With A New Quartet!|website=Music News Net|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116202507/https://www.musicnewsnet.com/2019/01/guitar-legend-adrian-belew-back-on-tour-with-with-a-new-quartet.html|archive-date=January 16, 2019}}</ref>

In 2022, Belew participated in the "Celebrating David Bowie" tour, featuring [[Angelo Moore]], [[Todd Rundgren]], and others.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://consequence.net/2022/08/celebrating-david-bowie-2022-tribute-tour/ | title=Celebrating David Bowie 2022 tribute tour to feature Todd Rundgren, King Crimson's Adrian Belew, and more | date=August 16, 2022 | access-date=October 10, 2022 | archive-date=October 10, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010220916/https://consequence.net/2022/08/celebrating-david-bowie-2022-tribute-tour/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2023, Belew joined [[Jerry Harrison]] of Talking Heads on the Remain In Light tour, which featured music from the Talking Heads album ''[[Remain in Light]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.remaininlight.net/|title=Remain in Light Tour Site|access-date=June 25, 2023|archive-date=May 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524222604/https://www.remaininlight.net/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2024, Belew began a tour with Tony Levin, [[Steve Vai]], and [[Tool (band)|Tool]] drummer [[Danny Carey]] as Beat, performing music by the 1980s incarnation of King Crimson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beat-tour.com/|title=BEAT Tour Site|access-date=July 17, 2024|archive-date=June 28, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628115423/https://beat-tour.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rolling Stone Article for 'BEAT' Tour |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=April 2024 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steve-vai-tool-danny-carey-king-crimson-beat-tour-1234996077/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515123646/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/steve-vai-tool-danny-carey-king-crimson-beat-tour-1234996077/ |archive-date=May 15, 2024 |access-date=April 1, 2024}}</ref>