The music world is in mourning following the death of The Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck.
The musician’s family revealed his death the day before from bacterial meningitis in a statement posted on Wednesday. He was 78.
“On behalf of his family, we communicate the news of Jeff Beck’s passing with deep and profound regret,” his family stated. “He abruptly had bacterial meningitis, and yesterday he calmly went away.” His family requests privacy as they mourn this tragic passing.
Many of Beck’s old friends and colleagues, including former Yardbirds bandmate Jimmy Page, paid tribute to him after learning of his passing. In 1965, he took over as guitarist for Eric Clapton in the English rock band Page.
“We can no longer wonder at the spell the six-stringed Warrior could build around our finite emotions because he is no longer among us. Jeff had access to strange music. His approach is unique. His imagination appears to have no bounds. Jeff, you will be missed by me and your legions of followers. Jeff Beck, may peace be with you,” Page posted on Instagram.
A year after leaving The Yardbirds, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood helped Beck launch The Jeff Beck Group. Truth and Beck-Ola are two albums on which they worked.
Stewart, 78, posted on Instagram on the day Beck died that the beloved artist “was on another dimension.”
“In the late ’60s, he relocated me and Ronnie Wood to the United States in his band, the Jeff Beck Group, and we haven’t looked back since,” he wrote.
“He was one of the few guitarists that would listen to me sing live. Jeff, you were fantastic. Everything is much appreciated. RIP.”
Meanwhile, Wood expressed his feelings on Twitter, stating, “one of my band of brothers has left this globe.”
“I’ll miss him tremendously,” he wrote.
“I express my condolences to [his wife Sandra], his family, and everyone who knew and loved him. He helped the Jeff Beck Group dominate America in our early days together, and I want to thank him for that.”
In a subsequent Tweet, he claimed they had violated “all the rules” as a band.
“It was wonderful, revolutionary rock ‘n’ roll,” he wrote. “Listen to the great song “Plynth” as a tribute to him. ” Jeff, you will always be in my heart. God’s grace.”
