A former guitar instructor from Spokane, Washington, Kennedy has worked as a session musician and songwriter, making both studio and live appearances with several artists, and has been involved with several projects throughout his career.

He began his music career in 1990 as the lead guitarist of the instrumental jazz ensemble Cosmic Dust, with which he released one studio album.

With fellow Citizen Swing member Craig Johnson, Kennedy founded the rock band The Mayfield Four, for which he provided lead vocals and guitar.

While Alter Bridge was on tour in 2008, Kennedy and former members of Led Zeppelin met and improvised as a group in an informal jam session, but the band never fully materialized.

[4] His father, Richard Bass, died when he was four years old and his mother subsequently went on to marry a Methodist minister,[5] and the family took the surname Kennedy.

Kennedy began playing trumpet at the age of ten and was in a teen air guitar band with then best friends Michael Murphy, Mark Terzenbach and Bruce Kidd at 13.

He found his singing voice by listening to his parents' Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder records, and also states that he was influenced by Robert Plant.

[4] After participating in the Rock Off in Spokane, Washington on May 22, 1987, with his band Bittersweet, which consisted of Myles Kennedy (guitar), Mark Terzenbach (bass), Joel Tipke (keyboards), Zia Uddin (drums), and Jason Stewart (vocals), he met Mark Fekete (lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist) of Amethyst, And filled in as their lead guitarist for a season.

Using the skills he learned from this course, in 1990 he began playing guitar for a jazz group called the Cosmic Dust Fusion Band, which was formed by keyboardist Jim Templeton in 1990.

"[21] However, three previously unreleased songs appeared on a fan-run Myspace page dedicated to and approved by The Mayfield Four in early 2010, causing rumors of a possible reunion to begin circulating.

[19] After The Mayfield Four's unforeseen breakup, and due to a hearing disorder called tinnitus that he developed because of listening to music that he was recording at earsplitting volumes, Kennedy fell into depression in 2002.

[29] Unlike One Day Remains, which was largely written by Tremonti, Blackbird featured Kennedy's guitar playing as well as more of his songwriting contributions.

Having joined Alter Bridge primarily as lead vocalist, Kennedy began to play rhythm guitar during live performances following the release of One Day Remains.

After Zeppelin's one-off reunion in 2007, guitarist Jimmy Page and bassist John Paul Jones reportedly felt the band "still had something to offer.

[40] When asked if the record would be a departure from his previous work, he replied that it is different and again referred to the singer-songwriter approach that would be featured on it and that it would not be a hard rock album.

[40] In an interview with Guitarist UK magazine, he said that some of the songs will feature jazz, blues, and R&B influences, while others still "get quite atmospheric and ethereal," comparing the sound to Daniel Lanois and Massive Attack, while assuring fans that the rock style will still be present.

[56] In the same Guitarist interview, he confirmed the titles of three songs that will appear on his record: "The Light of Day", "Complicated Man", and "The Bar Fly".

Other musicians who appeared on the album include Ozzy Osbourne, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, Kid Rock, and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.

[68][69] The other members of Slash's band are rhythm guitarist Bobby Schneck (replaced as of the Apocalyptic Love tour with Frank Sidoris), bassist Todd Kerns (formerly of Age of Electric), and drummer Brent Fitz (formerly of Theory of a Deadman).

[71] On November 14, 2011, Slash released a concert film and live album titled Made in Stoke 24/7/11 featuring Kennedy and the rest of his band.

In 2001, he appeared on the album Striped Suit: Lo-Fi by the jazz-rock band Mulligan, playing guitar solos on the songs "Faron" and "Make It Three".

[83] He also worked with the Spokane based nu-metal band Five Foot Thick on their 2003 album Blood Puddle, providing backing vocals to the song "Ducked Out".

From there, he discovered Songs in the Key of Life, which he has since stated is one of his favorite albums, and today cites Stevie Wonder as a major influence on his singing.

He has also cited other jazz players and soul singers John Coltrane, Al Green, Mike Stern, Miles Davis, Otis Redding, Frank Gambale, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, and Curtis Mayfield as early influences.

[95] At one point, he received lessons from Ron Anderson,[96] a bel canto vocal coach who has worked with a wide range of singers, including Axl Rose, Shania Twain, Enrique Iglesias, Chris Cornell, Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Vedder, Kelly Clarkson, and several others.

His early work with Cosmic Dust and Citizen Swing featured a jazz-influenced rock flavor, combining several advanced techniques used in jazz.

[104] Second Skin, Apocalyptic Love, World on Fire and The Ides of March are the only albums to feature lyrics written by Kennedy that contain profanity.

[4][5] According to Alter Bridge lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, Kennedy is an atheist,[105] although in an article titled Losing My Religion from a November 2010 issue of Kerrang!

In addition, he co-founded the Future Song Foundation, a charity organization "that provides funding to ensure that kids have access to musical instruction and instruments which are fundamental parts of a complete education", with his wife in 2015.

[112] A proponent of wildlife conservation efforts, Kennedy is a supporter of the International Fund for Animal Welfare and is outspoken of his criticism of the ivory trade on X.