Thurston Moore's ringing, feedback-heavy guitar playing was a prime influence on many '90s rock musicians, including Nirvana's Kurt Cobain.

Moore — and Sonic Youth's other guitarist, Lee Ranaldo — trailblazed an uncompromising, noisy, free-form guitar-based sound that delighted critics and inspired young bands to veer away from the mainstream.

Moore was born 41 years ago today in Coral Gables, Fla. He was raised in Bethel, Conn., and moved to New York to play music professionally. Moore met Ranaldo when the two played with avant-garde composer Glenn Branca, who specialized in extended works of guitar dissonance.

In 1981 Moore and Ranaldo formed Sonic Youth with Moore's girlfriend, Kim Gordon (bass), and Richard Edson (drums). When Edson left to pursue acting, the group tried out a few drummers before settling on Steve Shelley.

The band's initial albums, such as 1983's Confusion Is Sex, carried on in the musical tradition of Branca and featured depressing lyrics. Sonic Youth began receiving attention for the many unusually tuned guitars the bandmembers would set up behind themselves onstage. Some of the instruments contained foreign objects, such as screwdrivers, positioned between the strings for sonic effect.

Sonic Youth turned to more traditional song structures on Bad Moon Rising (1985), featuring tracks such as "Society is a Whole" and "Ghost Bitch." Their next three albums, EVOL (1986), Sister (1987) and Daydream Nation (1988), were critically hailed and became blueprints for the emerging indie-rock movement of the '90s. The latter yielded the college-radio hit "Teenage Riot."

In 1988 the group issued a sardonic tribute to Madonna called The Whitey Album under the name "Ciccone Youth." Two years later came Sonic Youth's major label debut, Goo (DGC), which was their first record to reach the top half of the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Dirty (1992) included the modern-rock favorites "Youth Against Fascism," "100%" and "Sugar Kane." Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star (1994) became Sonic Youth's highest-charting album at #34. The following year, Moore issued his solo album Psychic Hearts, featuring such cuts as "Ono Soul" and "Patti Smith Math Scratch."

After headlining 1995's Lollapalooza tour, Sonic Youth issued Washing Machine. They followed it with a number of experimental EPs on their own Sonic Youth Records label. The EPs, which were numbered SYR 1, 2 and 3, included such tracks as "Anagrama"

(RealAudio excerpt) and "Slaapkamers Met Slagroom."

In 1998 Sonic Youth released A Thousand Leaves. This month a rental truck containing a bevy of the group's customized guitars and other instruments was stolen.

"We are dragged into the future kicking and screaming," Ranaldo wrote in an e-mail about the theft. "We'll have to find new instruments and look forwards instead of back."

The band is planning to issue several new EPs in the coming months. Moore issued another solo project late last year: Root, a 25-track LP of new songs remixed by various artists, including Stereolab and Blur.

Other birthdays: Manuel Charlton (Nazareth), 58; Mark Clarke (Uriah Heep), 50; Verdine White (Earth Wind and Fire), 48; Mecca (Digable Planets), 26; and Steve Goodman, 1948-1984.