It’s a sad day for music lovers as Jeff Beck, one of the guitar masters of the rock era, has died. Beck breathed his last on Tuesday. He was 78, Variety reported. Breaking the sad news for music fans, Beck’s representative issued a statement saying that the legendary guitarist died after “suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis”, Variety reported.
“On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing. After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday. His family ask for privacy while they process this tremendous loss,” the statement read.
Beck recently completed a tour supporting his collaborative 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’.
Beck first came to prominence as a member of the Yardbirds and then went out on his own in a solo career that incorporated hard rock, jazz, funky blues and even opera.
Beck was among the rock-guitarist pantheon from the late 1960s that included Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. He reached the peak of both his critical and commercial success with a pair of mid-’70s all-instrumental albums, “Blow by Blow” and “Wired,” that found him moving into jazz-fusion terrain. The latter LP was recorded with keyboardist Jan Hammer, formerly of the top fusion act the Mahavishnu Orchestra, as per Variety.
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.
He delivered dramatic solos on several clamorous Yardbirds hits of 1965-66: ‘Heart Full of Soul’ (No. 9 in the U.S.), ‘I’m a Man’ (No. 17), ‘Shapes of Things’ (No. 11) and ‘Over Under Sideways Down’ (No. 13). The band’s ’66 U.K. album ‘Yardbirds’ (familiarly known as ‘Roger the Engineer,’ after the title of rhythm guitarist Chris Dreja’s cover drawing) was a veritable recital of forward-looking guitar technique.
Beck was also featured on two tracks from Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Patient Number 9’ album, released in late June of 2022, the title track ‘Patient Number 9’ and ‘A Thousand Shades.’ He is survived by his second wife, Sandra, whom he married in 2005.