Fred Tackett, best known as guitarist for the Americana jam band Little Feat, was born on 30 August 1945 in Little Rock, Arkansas, making today his 81st birthday. A multi-instrumentalist skilled on guitar, mandolin and trumpet, he has built a wide-ranging career as a session musician and songwriter, working with artists including Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Webb, alongside his long tenure with Little Feat, a band famously admired by Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page.

Tackett began playing trumpet at age five before taking up guitar as a teenager, inspired by Elvis Presley, and went on to play in school and jazz bands before moving to Los Angeles. There he met Little Feat founder Lowell George, contributing as a sideman on albums such as Dixie Chicken (1973) and Time Loves a Hero (1977) and writing "Fool Yourself", though he did not officially join the band until 1987. He also toured with Bob Dylan in 1979 and co-wrote material for George's solo album before George's death that year. Little Feat reunited in 1988 with Tackett as a full member, and the band released Strike Up the Band in May 2025, their first record of original material in 13 years, ahead of their farewell tour launched in April 2025.