Idolized by musicians and music lovers of his generation, but also by young people, guitarist Jeff Beck, who died at the age of 78 from bacterial meningitis on Tuesday, leaves a legacy in the blues rock both as a member of the group yardbirds like solo.
The founder of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, said goodbye to the “warrior of the six strings” on his social networks, who highlighted his “unique technique and his unlimited imagination.”
Rod Stewart, singer in the band Jeff Beck Group, defined him as “a musician from another planet” while guitarist David Gilmour said goodbye “devastated” by the news of the death of his “friend and hero”, whose music moved him and inspired.
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Jeff Beck was on another planet. He took me and Ronnie Wood to the USA in the late 60s in his band the Jeff Beck Group
and we haven’t looked back since. pic.twitter.com/uS7bbWsHgW—Sir Rod Stewart (@rodstewart) January 11, 2023
Mick Jagger lamented the death of “a wonderful man and one of the best guitarists in the world”, words accompanied by a video of a joint performance.
For Jon Bon Jovi it is about the disappearance of a “legend” and Ozzy Osbourne wrote on Twitter: “I cannot express how sad I am to learn of the passing of Jeff Beck. What a terrible loss to his family, friends and his many fans. It was such an honor to have met Jeff and an incredible honor to have had him play on my most recent album, Patient Number 9.
Ronnie Wood, also a member of The Rolling Stones, shared the stage with the guitarist in Jeff Beck Group, moments that he has remembered like this: “Now that Jeff is gone, I feel like one of my brothers has left this world, and I I will miss a lot. I am sending my condolences to Sandra, her family and everyone who loved him. I want to thank you for all of our first days together at the Jeff Beck Group, conquering America.”
Joe Perry, co-founder of Aerosmith, has defined him as “the Salvador Dalí of the guitar”. “Watching him play was hearing the ultimate 6-string alchemist create magic in a world of his own. With his death, the world is a poorer place ”, he has written on social networks.
I can’t express how saddened I am to hear of @JeffBeckMusic‘s passing. What a terrible loss for his family, friends & his many fans of him. It was such an honor to have known Jeff & an incredible honor to have had him play on my most recent album, #PatientNumber9.
long live #JeffBeck pic.twitter.com/hG6O9tzfij— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) January 11, 2023
These are some of the multiple condolences expressed since last night upon learning of the death of Jeff Beck (1944, Wallington, London), according to a report from the agency efe where it stands out that since he was little he showed qualities that led him to participate in a church choir before being seduced by the electric guitar, an instrument that he learned to play almost self-taught.
He enrolled in the Wimbledon School of Art and began as part of groups such as The Nightshift, The Rumbles and The Tridents. In 1965, at Jimmy Page’s suggestion, he was called to play with the Yardbirds to replace Eric Clapton. Although he only spent 20 months, it is said that it was the best stage of the group.
Shortly after he decided to try solo and in 1968 he published his first album, Truth, where he fused rock, jazz and blues, a mixture in which he demonstrated his mastery of the guitar that led the Rolling Stones to consider a signing that never took place; In the 1970s, he released emblematic albums such as blow by blow Y Wired.
Who received several Grammys and was a member of the Rock Hall of Fame for his solo career (2009) and as a member of the Yardbirds (1992), he came to form the band Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart as singer, a stage in which he stands out the theme “People get ready”.
In the nineties he returned with force thanks to collaborations with Jon Bon Jovi or Kate Bush, but he also played with other great artists such as Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Morrissey, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Cindy Lauper or Budy Guy.
In recent years he played with actor Johnny Depp, a great friend of his and with whom he toured last year. Together they recorded the album isolation.
In fact, one of Beck’s most well-known last performances was last May with the actor in Sheffield (England) just after the mediatic defamation trial that pitted Depp against his ex-wife Amber Heard ended.
Jeff Beck’s career of more than fifty years did not go unnoticed by young musicians either, and proof of this is that Joss Stone called him for his projects.
Other of his studio albums were crazy legs, who else, you had it coming either Jeff.
After launching the album in 2010 Emotion & Commotionthe guitarist published his last studio album in 2016: loud hailercreated with guitarist Carmen Vandenberg and singer Rosie Bones.
That same year he published the book “Beck01” in a limited way, as a biography and including unpublished photographs of a lifetime on stage, hiding his eyes with sunglasses and hugging a guitar.
The musician, married to Sandra Cash, previously in the sixties he was together with Patricia Brown.
He was part of the pantheon of late-’60s rock guitarists that includes Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix.
Efe/OnCuba.
