Jeff Beck, legendary guitarist from English rock band The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group, has died at 78.
The news was announced Wednesday on Beck’s verified Twitter account.
“On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” read a statement provided to USA TODAY, which noted that the musician died Tuesday “after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis.”
“His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss,” the statement added.
Beck was among the rock-guitarist pantheon from the late 1960s that included Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. In his lengthy career, Beck won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice: once with the Yardbirds in 1992 and again as a solo artist in 2009. He ranked fifth on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”
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In 2010, when asked by USA TODAY if he regretted not becoming a more famous deity, Beck joked, “Didn’t I? Oh, damn! No, I couldn’t cope with any of that. What a terrible thing. Probably the worst thing you can ever have.”
Born Geoffrey Arnold Beck in Surrey, England, he started playing guitar in college and performed in numerous area bands before coming to prominence as a member of The Yardbirds in 1965. Beck famously replaced Clapton in the blues-rock group on the recommendation of Page, a fellow session musician who would also later join the band.
With Beck in the fold, The Yardbirds enjoyed some of its greatest success with songs including “Heart Full of Soul,” “Shapes of Things” and a cover of Bo Diddley’s “I’m a Man.”
Beck’s inconsistency on tour, as well as an occasional fiery temper, led to his dismissal from The Yardbirds, but it didn’t quell his musical ambitions. Beck’s distinctive playing style included frequent improvisation as well as his love of harmonics and the whammy bar on his preferred guitar, the Fender Stratocaster.
His solo career continued with his next artistic endeavor, The Jeff Beck Group, which incorporated hard rock, jazz, blues and funk and introduced Rod Stewart and pre-Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood to mainstream success.
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After the 1972 demise of group, he enlisted two musicians he long-admired – bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice – to form the supergroup Beck, Bogert and Appice. But the musical marriage was short-lived and the trio dissolved in 1974, having only released one self-titled album.
He then teamed up with legendary Beatles producer George Martin to help him fashion the genre-melding, jazz-fusion classic “Blow by Blow” (1975) and “Wired” (1976).
Beck was introduced to a younger generation in 1985 with his album “Flash,” featuring a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” with old friend Stewart on vocals. The video for the song yielded heavy rotation on MTV, while the instrumental “Escape” earned Beck the first of his Grammys.
The guitarist played behind a diverse cast of singers through the decades, including Brian Wilson, David Bowie, Macy Gray and Luciano Pavarotti, and is featured on Ozzy Osbourne’s latest album, “Patient Number 9.”
His guitar work also can be heard on the soundtracks of such films as “Stomp the Yard,” “Shallow Hal,” “Casino,” “Honeymoon in Vegas,” “Twins,” “Observe and Report” and “Little Big League.”
In July, Beck and friend Johnny Depp released what would be Beck’s final album, “18,” a collection of Depp originals and covers of artists including Lennon and Janis Ian. The pair embarked on a fall tour, which ended in November. They were Beck’s final live performances.
In 2016, Beck told USA TODAY he still practiced his Fender Stratocaster every day, even on vacation. Even he seemed a bit surprised that he was still at it.
“When I was 22, and I read it was John Lennon’s birthday at 29, I thought, ‘Knock it off pal, time to fold the tent.’ But here we are, it’s incredible,” he said at the time. “The fans are still there.”
There were times, he told USA TODAY in 2011, “when I treated my guitars as a nuisance. But they are my best friends.”
“I looked at one the other day and thought, ‘Thanks a lot, pal, you got me all around the world.’ People give me so much for making noises with it. And it’s just a lump of wood with some wires.”
Contributing: Marco della Cava and Jerry Shriver, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press
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