The rock world is in mourning: British guitarist Jeff Beck, who rose to fame with the 1960s rock band The Yardbirds, died Wednesday of meningitis at the age of 78. Since then, tributes from the best rock stars on the planet have arrived to salute the memory of the one who served as a legend.
Starting with Mick Jagger. The Rolling Stones leader posted on Instagram an excerpt from a performance in which he shared the stage with the guitarist:
“With the passing of Jeff Beck, we have lost a wonderful man and one of the best guitarists in the world. He will be sorely missed by all,” he wrote in the caption.
Brian May, guitarist for Queen, also expressed his bitterness. “Disgusted and very saddened to learn of Jeff’s death,” he wrote on the same social network, captioning a series of photos with him:
“He was inimitable, irreplaceable. The absolute pinnacle of guitar players. And an extraordinary human being. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say, but right now…I’m speechless.”
group debut
Born in June 1944 in London, Jeff Beck is considered one of the best rock, hard rock, blues and even jazz guitarists of all time, along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, with whom he played in the band The Yardbirds. He had also founded the hard rock group The Jeff Beck Group with guitarist Ron Wood and singer Rod Stewart in the late ’60s and ’70s, before a long solo career.
“Jeff Beck lived on another planet,” recalls the latter. “He brought Ronnie Wood and me to America in the late 1960s with his band, the Jeff Beck Group, and we haven’t looked back since.”
“He was one of the few guitarists who when I played really listened to me sing and responded to me,” he concludes. “Jeff, man, you were the best. Thanks for everything.”
Able to switch from one style to another (rock, hard rock, blues, jazz) and constantly innovate with the sound of his instruments and amplifiers, Jeff Beck was not a fan of acoustic guitars and played electric guitars from Fender and Gibson. He was also known for his distortion effects with his instrument.
“Nobody played the guitar like Jeff”
He experienced solo triumph in the mid-1970s with the album blow by blow. This success will never be denied and will earn him eight Grammy Awards. In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him fifth on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
It is in this extraordinary talent that many of the musicians who pay tribute to him insist. young paul, in particular, salutes the memory of the “guitarist’s guitarist”. Gene Simmons of the band Kiss adds that “nobody played the guitar like Jeff.” paul stanleyof the same formation, he believes that “he had laid out a path that was impossible to follow”.
Ozzy Osbourne, who had recently visited him, recalls a “terrible loss”: “It was a great honor to have met him and an incredible honor that he agreed to play on my last record. patient number 9.
One of Jeff Beck’s latest projects is the album 18, released last summer, in collaboration with Johnny Depp. The actor’s band, Hollywood Vampires, pays tribute to a “legacy that he will live on through his music” and hails “an inspiration to all of us.”
Source: BFM TV
