Pat Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He emerged as one of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians in 1975 when he joined vibraphonist Gary Burton's band and recorded Bright Size Life with bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. He released his next record, Watercolors, in 1977. Watercolors featured pianist Lylye Mays who was to become a frequent musical collaborator with Methney.

The Pat Metheny Group was founded in 1977. The group's early recordings featured a unique sound, with Metheny's Gibson ES-175 guitar and Mays' Oberheim and Sequential Circuits Prophet V synthesizers and Steinway piano. Metheny later used the Roland GR300 guitar synthesizer and the Synclavier guitar system made by New England Digital. Mays expanded his setup with the Synclavier keyboard and later with many other synthesizers.

The current Pat Metheny Group members are Pat Metheny (guitars), Lyle Mays (piano and keyboards), Steve Rodby (double bass, electric bass), Antonio Sanchez (drums), Cuong Vu (trumpet). Other musicians that have been hired regularly for Metheny Group tours are: Mark Ledford (vocals, trumpet, guitar); David Blamires (vocals, miscellaneous instruments); Armando Marçal (percussion); Pedro Aznar (vocals, guitar, percussion); Richard Bona (vocals, guitar, bass & percussion).