Paul Gilbert studerte og underviste ved Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) i Los Angeles. Han dannet og ble en ledende skikkelse i bandet Racer X, kjent for sine raske og komplekse sanger. I 1989 forlot Gilbert Racer X for å danne Mr. Big, som hadde en hit med «To be with you» fra albumet Lean into it (1991). Etter å også ha forlatt Mr. Big, er Paul Gilbert nå soloartist og spiller også av og til med Racer X. Paul Gilbert er kjent som en teknisk drevet gitarist.
Diskografi
Racer X
Street Lethal (1986)
Second Heat (1988)
Extreme Volume - Live (1988)
Extreme Volume II - Live (1992)
Technical Difficulties (1999)
Superheroes (2000)
Snowball Of Doom (2002)
Getting Heavier (2002)
Snowball Of Doom 2 (2002)
Mr. Big
Mr. Big (1989)
Raw Like Sushi 1 (1990)
Lean Into It (1991)
Raw Like Sushi 2 (1992)
Bump Ahead (1993)
Japandemonium (1994)
Channel V At The Hard Rock Live (1996)
Hey Man (1996)
Big Bigger Biggest (1996)
What If... (2010)
...The Stories We Could Tell (2014)
Defying Gravity (2017)
Solo
Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (1992)
King of Clubs (1997)
Flying Dog (1998)
Beehive Live (1999)
Alligator Farm (2000)
Burning Organ (2002)
Paul the Young Dude / The Best of Paul Gilbert (2003)
Gilbert Hotel (2003)
Acoustic Samurai (2003)
Space Ship One (2005)
Get Out Of My Yard (2006)
Silence Followed By A Deafening Roar (2008)
Fuzz Universe (2010)
Vibrato (2012)
Stone Pushing Uphill Man (2014)
I Can Destroy (2016)
Behold Electric Guitar (2019)
Werewolves of Portland (2021)
'TWAS (2021)
The Dio Album (2023)
Gjesteopptredner
Black Sheep – Trouble in the Streets (1985)
Missing Lynx – Atomic Basement Tapes (1985)
Darrell Mansfield Band – Revelation (1985)
Jeff Berlin – Pump It! (1986)
Joey Tafolla – Out of the Sun (1987)
Todd Rundgren – Nearly Human (1989)
Various artists – Guitars That Rule the World (1992)
Samad – Samad (1994)
Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus – C. Appice's Guitar Zeus (1996)
Akira Takasaki – Wa (1996)
Gregg Bissonette – Gregg Bissonette (1998)
Pat Torpey – Odd Man Out (1998)
Pat Torpey – Y2K: Odd Man Out (1999)
Various artists – In Rock Soundtrack (2000)
Hughes Turner Project – HTP (2002)
Various artists – Battle Gear III: The Edge (2003)
Kim Fox – Return to Planet Earth (2003)
Various artists – Guitar Wars (2003)
Marco Minnemann – Mieze (2004)
Pintsize – Five Feet... No Inches (2005; kreditert som "Dick Image")
Marco Minnemann – Contraire de la chanson (2006)
Wisely – Parador (2006)
Jeff Pilson's War and Peace – Light at the End of the Tunnel (2006)
Jeff Martin – The Fool (2006)
Neal Morse – Sola Scriptura (2007)
Neal Morse – Lifeline (2008)
MC Lars - The Green Christmas (EP) (2008)
MC Lars – This Gigantic Robot Kills – (2009)
Bowling for Soup – Merry Flippin' Christmas Volume 1 (2009)
MC Lars – "Guitar Hero Hero (ft. Parry Gripp and Paul Gilbert)" (2009)
Various artists - Crappy Records Presents: Have a Crappy Summer (2012)
Jarinus - "Why's It So Hot? (ft. Paul Gilbert)" (2012)
Neal Morse – Momentum (2012)
Nick Johnston- In A Locked Room On The Moon (2013)
Jacky Vincent – Star X Speed Story (2013)
Ciro Manna – XY (2015)
Ayreon – The Source (2017)
Mari Hamada - Gracia (2018)
Jason Becker – Triumphant Hearts (2018)
Donnie Vie – Beautiful Things (2019)
Nick D'Virgilio - Invisible (2020)
Highway Sentinels - The Waiting Fire (2022)
Gjestelåtskriver
Anti-Mortern - New Southern (2014)
Tamás Szekeres - White Shapes of Blue (2019)
Tribute album framtredende
Various artists – Smoke on the Water: A Tribute (1994)
Various artists – Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle (1996)
Various artists – Merry Axemas: A Guitar Christmas (1997)
Various artists – Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper (1999)
Various artists – Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker (2001)
Yellow Matter Custard – One Night in New York City (2003)
Various artists – Spin the Bottle: an All-Star Tribute to Kiss (2004)
Various artists – Numbers from the Beast: An All-Star Tribute to Iron Maiden (2005)
Hammer of the Gods – Two Nights in North America (June 12, 2006)
Cygnus and the Sea Monsters – One Night in Chicago (2006)
Amazing Journey – One Night in New York City (March 18, 2007)
Yellow Matter Custard – One More Night In New York City (2011)
Various artists - Classic Rock Presents: American Gods - - A Transatlantic-Inspired Trip! (2017)