Bibi McGill (born Belinda McGill)[1] is an American guitarist, yogi, producer and DJ best known as the lead guitarist and musical director of Beyoncé's backing band, the Suga Mamas, as well as for her work with P!nk, Paulina Rubio and Chilean rock group La Ley.
In an interview with the Denver Post, McGill's mom recalled her playing guitar in the style of blues musician B.
When she started playing guitar, everyone kept calling her BB Queen but she didn't like the name so she changed the spelling to Bibi McGill.
When she saw that there were limited opportunities in the music scene in Denver, McGill moved to Los Angeles and began playing gigs in small clubs such as the Whiskey and The Viper Room.
Before getting the gig with Pink, she auditioned for Courtney Love and was waiting for Mick Jagger to return to the United States because he was looking for a female guitarist.
A member of Beyonce's team called McGill's father who was a barber at the time and has cut his hair for years.
The team member heard about McGill through her father and recommended her when Beyoncé did a worldwide press release for auditions.
[9][16][17][18][19][20][5] McGill reprised her pyrotechnic solo on Beyoncé's Mrs. Carter Show World Tour that same year.
[21] McGill is known for her aggressive, funky and soulful rock style of guitar playing that has been often compared to Jimi Hendrix and Randy Rhoads.
Once she branched out into rock, she listened to Led Zeppelin, Heart, The Eagles, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden.
McGill has listed Randy Rhoads as her main influence for her style and is her all-time favorite guitarist.
McGill stated in an interview with Curlynikki that first became inspired to wear an afro when she wanted something lower maintenance and less costly.
McGill stated in an interview with Curlynikki that they are inspired by creativity, art, images, and ideas that she thought were beautiful and meaningful.
[23] In 2011, McGill was inspired to start her own line of organic, gluten free, vegan Kale Chips when growing her own food in her garden.
She became certified to teach yoga in 2004 in Koh Samui, Thailand with Paul Dallaghan, an Ashtangi from Ireland, and studied meditation, Sanskrit, history and philosophy.
[22] In between touring with Beyoncé, McGill has been teaching yoga at Root Whole Body in Portland, Oregon since moving there in 2007 when she wanted a more peaceful environment.
She was drawn to the medicinal properties of tea and the fact that it can heal different aspects of your biological and physical body, digestion and energy.
She has produced Gurunam Singh's 2015 single "Gobinday" and a "Believe" a song featuring the students of Open School North in Portland during her artist residency.
[31] McGill can also be heard on composer Carol Duboc's 2016 album "Open The Curtains" featuring other well known female musicians such as Sheila E., Patrice Rushen, Mindi Abair, Rhonda Smith and Jennifer Batten and Venzella Joy's "Orange Moon EP" who was a fellow Beyoncé bandmate.