Guitar legend Jeff Beck has died at the age of 78. Jeff Beck, who first made a name for himself back in the ’60s.
Wednesday, his family said on social media, “On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing.”
Beck recently completed a tour supporting his album with Johnny Depp, “18.” He received seven Grammys for instrumental performances, and an eighth for his 2009 work on Herbie Hancock’s “The Imagine Project.”
A fleet, imaginative soloist, Beck brought formidable instrumental firepower to British band the Yardbirds, which he joined in 1965 as a replacement for Eric Clapton.
Entirely at home with the group’s blues roots, he burnished their pop hits with an adventurous and virtually unprecedented use of feedback, sustain and fuzz.
After a precipitous exit from the Yardbirds where he had been joined by another future guitar star, Jimmy Pag, he established his own band, the Jeff Beck Group, which was fronted by vocalist Rod Stewart, soon to become a solo star. The unit proved as unstable as it was powerful and lasted for just two albums.
During the ’70s, Beck assembled a second, more R&B-oriented edition of his group, and briefly formed a short-lived power trio with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.
From the early ’80s onward, the temperamental Beck — a notorious perfectionist in the studio and a prickly bandmate — would sporadically reappear, retrench, retire and reappear again.
Jeff Bleck Last Video Footage Before Death
His latter-day work ranged from an homage to rockabilly singer Gene Vincent to instrumental sets reflecting the influence of techno, electronica and ambient music.
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. Acknowledged as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992, he said in a brief speech, “They kicked me out…fuck them!” He entered the hall as a solo performer in 2009.
Jeff Beck Cause Of Death
“After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.