DEAN ROLAND Rhythm Guitar

Dean Roland was born Oct 10, 1972. Ed's younger brother, he is third out of four Roland sibs. He also has another older brother and a younger sister.

Nine years younger than Ed, Dean didn't take up the guitar until he was 19. "When the inspiration hit, it hit hard," says Dean, who had never played in a band prior to his joining Collective Soul in early 1993.

"Playing guitar was all I wanted to do. Being in Collective Soul was part of that excitement." For Ed and Dean, their blood relationship isn't vastly different from the one that bonds the band as a whole. "We're all that tight," says Dean. "As a kid, I was at Will's house as much as I was at my own. And Shane and Will have been best friends forever and Ross hung out at the Turpin's all the time because he lived right across the street. We've been connected that way for as long as I can remember."

Dean recently got married to Shannon Reynolds, on June 13, 1998.