 He has Irish and Jewish ancestry.He began playing the guitar at the age of fourteen, being influenced by the music of Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Who, Aerosmith, Blue Öyster Cult, and the early work of Led Zeppelin.In the late 1970s he became involved in the punk movement, being influenced by the New York Dolls, The Stooges, Buzzcocks and The Sex Pistols, as well as AC/DC (which he views as a proto-Punk group).