Ivan Kral

Ivan Král (born 12 May 1948, in Prague) is a Grammy Award-winning, Czech-born American composer, filmmaker, record producer, bass guitar player, and singer-songwriter. He works across many genres including punk, rock, jazz, soul, country and film scores. His songs have been recorded by such artists as U2, Pearl Jam, Téléphone,Patti Smith,Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Simple Minds, and John Waite, among others.

Král started his American music career during the early 1970s glam rock scene in New York where his band, Luger, performed at many trendy venues, including Max’s Kansas City. After their breakup in 1973, he joined Shaun Cassidy's backing group, then Blondie, then Patti Smith, then Iggy Pop.

Between 1975–1979, Král was co-writer, guitarist and bassist of Patti Smith Group on her first four albums; including debut, Horses (1975), called one of the All-Time 100 Greatest Albums by Time magazine in 2006. The album is in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress because it’s "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."