Rock guitar master Jeff Beck dies at 78

A guitar virtuoso and innovator who was one of the world’s great rhythm and blues interpreters, Beck died “peacefully” after being stricken with illness.

“On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” said a statement on the English-born musician’s website. After being suddenly diagnosed with bacterial meningitis, he passed away peacefully.”

“His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”

Beck’s death quickly reverberated throughout the music world, with tributes pouring in from rock icons such as Ozzy Osbourne, with whom Beck once collaborated, and Kiss lead singer Gene Simmons, who called Beck’s passing “heartbreaking”. Gave.

“Nobody plays guitar like Jeff,” Simmons posted on Twitter. “Please watch the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and see the greatness. RIP.”

Mick Jagger called Beck – an eight-time Grammy winner who was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – “one of the world’s greatest guitar players”.

Punk-poet laureate Patti Smith wrote, “He was cool as moccasin feet, yet mercurial, innovative, impossible to categorize.” “One of the masters of my generation.”

“A guitarist in the highest sense.”

– ‘Limitless’ imagination –

Born Geoffrey Arnold Beck in England on June 24, 1944, the self-taught artist began tinkering on borrowed guitars and even tried building his own.

He has cited guitarists ranging from Les Paul to Ravi Shankar to Django Reinhardt as influences, and has made a living experimenting with new sounds and fusions that push the boundaries of rock.

Beck played in several groups while at art school in London, and by the time the Yardbirds hired him in 1965, he had recorded pioneering rock sounds.

He auditioned after the departure of one of the band’s star guitarists, Eric Clapton, and helped pioneer the British avant-garde rock sound with several groundbreaking recordings, including the fuzz-filled guitar licks on “Heart Full of Soul”.

By 1966 he was paired with fellow guitar wizard Jimmy Page in the Yardbirds, who went on to found British blues rock sensation Led Zeppelin.

On Beck’s death Page posted, “The six-stringed warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal feelings.”

“Jeff could broadcast music out of the ether. His technique was unique. His imaginations were apparently limitless.”

– ‘guitarist’ guitarist’ –

A year later Beck formed his own band – the Jeff Beck Group, consisting of Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass – and quickly gained widespread acclaim.

“Guitarist’s guitarist,” tweeted Beck’s composer Paul Young, who said the virtuoso was “loved by everybody.”

Beck found solo success in 1975 with the sleeper hit “Blow by Blow”, produced by George Martin of Beatles fame, which Beck later credited with saving his career.

By the 1980s he had dropped the regular use of a guitar pick, preferring to pluck with his thumb to produce innovative sounds.

The Recording Academy quoted Beck as saying, “I don’t care about the rules. In fact, if I don’t break the rules at least 10 times in every song, I’m not doing my job properly.”

He found regular success collaborating with his peers and was a regular feature during the 1980s, performing on albums by the likes of Tina Turner, Roger Waters and Jon Bon Jovi, who called Beck a “legend”.

Most recently he teamed up with actor Johnny Depp, who teamed up with the rocker for an album consisting primarily of covers shortly after his controversial defamation lawsuit.

In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the artist at number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

“Jeff Beck was on another planet,” Stewart said of his former bandmate. “He was one of the very few guitar players who actually listened to me sing and responded while playing live. Jeff, you were the greatest, my man.

“thank you for everything.”

The text of this story is published from a wire agency feed without any modification.