Brad Whitford was born in Winchester, Massachusetts on February 23, 1952, and like his bandmates found music at an early age.  In 1971, after attending the Berklee College of Music, he was introduced to the members of Aerosmith, and was asked to join the band (to replace guitarist Ray Tabano, whose outlandish behavior and indifferent skills were hardly an asset to the band).  Whitford agreed, and joined the lineup at the beginning of Aerosmith's rise to success.

With Joe Perry, Whitford has been one of the major contributing songwriters for the band, and occasionally steps to the forefront on songs like "Back in the Saddle" (where he plays lead guitar to Perry's bass).  Perry and Whitford were the two members who became fed up with the direction of the band in 1979 and left; they collaborated on the Joe Perry Project, but never saw much success.  Whitford rejoined the band in 1984, and along with his bandmates entered a rehab program for his own alcohol abuse.

Today, Perry is considered the more popular of the band's two guitarists, but Whitford's smooth and refined sound is an important part of the heart of Aerosmith.  The two guitarists form a sort of yin-yang in the band; harder-edged, raw emotional playing versus careful, precise, highly-trained technique.  Whitford's weapon of choice is the Floyd Rose guitar, which is considerably more versatile than the Gibson Les Paul his bandmate usually sports.  In addition to his work with the band, Whitford is an avid race driver.