British guitarist Jeff Beck has died at the age of 78. According to his family, the musician had meningitis and died “peacefully” on Tuesday.
Beck came to prominence in the 1960s with the band The Yardbirds. That group was also the cradle of the musical careers of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. The guitarist then went on to form The Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice, before continuing on his own under his own name.
He has released a total of eighteen studio albums – solo and with bands. The guitarist made his latest record together with actor Johnny Depp. The two also toured last year. The actor and the musician were good friends. According to insiders, Depp was with Beck shortly before he died.
Beck was less commercially successful than other guitarists of his generation, but is still regarded as one of the best guitarists. The leading music magazine Rolling stone ranked Beck fifth in his top 100 best guitarists list. The guitarist has won six Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice.
Several celebrities reacted to the guitarist’s death. “With the passing of Jeff Beck, we have lost a wonderful man and one of the greatest guitarists in the world. He will be dearly missed,” Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger wrote on Twitter.
According to singer Rod Stewart, Beck was “from another planet”. He also looked back on their performances together. “He was one of the few guitarists who really listened to me when I sang and responded when I played live.”
