Guitar legend Les Paul dies at age 94

lespaul_pic (AP) – 50 minutes ago

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, died on Thursday. He was 94.

According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side.

As an inventor, Paul helped bring about the rise of rock ‘n’ roll and multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the “tracks” in the finished recording.

Eddie Van Halen performed at this tribute to the father of electric guitar, Les Paul. Broadcast on the Cinemax network on 8/18/88 from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY. Ed talks with Les Paul and then performs “Cathedral” and an instrumental version of “Hot For Teacher”:

Les Paul, Guitarist Extraordinaire:

New York Times article – Les Paul, Guitar Innovator, Dies at 94

http://www.bellapop.com Bran Halen

Les Paul, Thank you for your guitar, pickups and everything else you have done for rock “n” roll. You will be missed.
Kimberly

So sad:( Rest in peace!!!! Thank you for everything, you will be missed<3
http://none Ducky / Dirty Duck

Les Paul,

Thank you for being a HUGE part of our rock n roll world!

R.I.P
ben

RIP LES.
http://merchnow.com Blindbubbacheeks

Sad as hell. I own 4 Les Pauls. Best guitars ever.
Pete

You know what? This guys life was incredible. I watched a special on him recently and was blown away at all that he had done.

Until his final days he’s been jamming his regular weekly gig, doing what he loved, so we should all be so lucky.

This guy embodies what we should all do – do what you love, till the day you die. He was such an interesting cat, and hey, 94 years is a good long life.

Rest in peace Les – I’m sure you will.
Darren from Brooklyn

May flights of angels bring you to your final resting place,and I hope you made it to Heaven before the devil found out you were dead. R.I.P.
RickieVanWhalen

LES IS A LEGEND
Bocephus

Simply.

The Best.
kayser sozay

RIP Les Paul. Great video of Ed’s tribute. Tony Levin is filthy on bass. And is that Jan Hammer of Miami Vice fame on the keys?
Atomic Pete

I had the honor of shaking his hand back in 1986
when he was getting his hands in cement at the
Hollywood Guitar Center. Nice man.
A legend. R.I.P Les.
Ryan

Pete, you said it best man. Life’s short, so you should take a lesson from Les Paul and do what you want with your life, not what somebody else tells you to. Thanks, Les. Not only were you an awesome guitarist, but you were an innovator.

Ryan
Mark Sachs

The One and Only, Les Paul. I seriously doubt that anyone will ever make the impact on rock and roll that Mr. Paul did! I mean 50 years from now there will still be a kid in his basement or bedroom with his first Les Paul trying to master licks that he heard on a classic rock and roll record. Eternal Thanks to Mr. Les Paul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Johnny

God Bless the Father of the electric guitar….
Nate

What a great man and what a life!! Even though I am a fender man there is no denying the power and beauty of a LP!!

R.I.P.
Troy Con

Thanks and R.I.P. to Les Paul. Without you we probably would not have the EVH we have now.

One day, we will all be here praising EVH, but not anytime soon I hope!!!

Eddie, we need a tribute solo………….
Jeff

R.I.P Les. We owe thanks to you more than any influence in music period.
Ludwig

Les Paul was a brilliant guitarist and a true pioneer. Where would music be without his invention of multi-track recording and the electric guitar? And he gave us the sexiest looking guitar ever the ‘Gibson Les Paul’ RIP Les Paul. And this is coming from a drummer.
Robert

The world has lost the single most influential person the music industry has ever seen. Les Paul gave the world the solid-body electric guitar, sound-on-sound recording techniques, and many, many audio recording inventions.

I was in New York City and had a chance to see Les Paul perform at the Iritium Jazz Club, where he played every two shows every Monday night for the past 10 or 15 years.

Through a chance opportunity, I got to go backstage and chat with him for about 20 minutes. He autographed a box set of his CDs I brought and I mentioned that I wish that I had my Les Paul guitar with me. He said, “Go home and get it and I’ll sign it for you.” “The problem was that I live in California,” I explained. He said, “Well, maybe next time, but make it soon. I’m not buying green bananas anymore!” That was is 2002.

In 2006, I flew back to NYC with my guitar in hand (for the sole purpose of seeing Les again), and he made good on his word and signed my guitar with a gold paint pen I brought. The same guitar has also been signed by Bo Diddley (RIP), Chris Isaak, Dick Dale, Lee Rocker, Bill Kirchen, Buzz Campbell, and a few others. They all signed with different colored Sharpies. But only Les got the gold pen treatment (as it should be). And every one of those guys said a variation of the same thing: “Wow, signing a guitar that Les Paul signed is an real honor.”

I feel lucky that I got to shake his hand, take a few pictures and have him sign my guitar. I feel real lucky. His backing band at the Iritium Jazz Club are all top-notch musicians who’ve played with Less for many years. They, as well as Les’ family, are in my thoughts.
Jor-L5150

love that clip with ed. amd yeah , tony levin shredded.

RIP , les. we owe ya bigtime.
MICAL VEE

Even though the frankenstrat is my favorite the les paul has always been a killer guitar!! I saw somewhere on the internet thst someone had striped up a les paul to look like eddies. Very cool.
lucky

Wow. My Les Paul was always my favorite guitar, and still is. Amazing man and musician. RIP
Kayser Sozay

Very cool story Robert.
http://vhnd emery

We all love you Les. you gave sooooooo much . Rock`em in Heaven and keep`em up all night. RIP
stephan chartier

I am so sad today i got to meet him in toronto 5 years ago he was and still is my hero he will be missed by all who play the guitar and all who love rock and roll my heart is broken Rest in peace you dear man may god bless you and your familey ):
Flying Ed

Rest in peace Les; a true musical genius and inventor of a revolution. I remember watching a show over here in the UK around ’92 and they showed a clip of him playing jazz with Mary Ford; man, he was blazing ! Probably the world’s first shredder come to think of it. And what a lovely guy too. There’s a great clip on the NY Times website where he jokes with a bandmate that he’s still playing at 70 – Les was 93 at the time !!
Thanks for changing the world Les; you sure made it a better, and louder place !
Nathan Mobbs

LEGEND
An unfortunate and it but it had to happen soon. :’(
We’ll all miss this man.
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ROCK ON.
Skutch

He gigged until the last day. What a great guy.
SCAR

Folks, raise your shot glasses and celebrate the life of Mr. Les Paul!!!!
Kevin Malone

Cheers to Les Paul and to a life well lived.

On a side note; who here wouldn’t love to see Eddie, Alex, and Wolfgang do an instrumental tour in smaller theaters.

No singer, no BS, just great music!
http://www.rushisaband.com RUSH IS A BAND

Les Paul……………Rest In Peace……
=VH=

Thanks for everything, Les. We all owe you our gratitude.

Also wanted to add it looked like Ed had a ball playing with Tony Levin. Sounded good.
Rob

Thanks for everything Les..you the man…
FAMAC

That was a great performance on that video. Not only was Les jamming, but Mary Ford had some massive overdubbing which was totally cool towards the end of that number.
Jungleland2

Loved to see Ed with Tony Levin here. The Key-tar has to go though!

Guitar players can be very self absorbed, it is great to see how Ed, Billy Gibbons, Slash, Satch etc. are so respectful and humbled by Les Paul. The respect he’s earned says something about the man he was.
john

multi track recording was his baby…..Les loved to tinker
john

that song was awesome because the band was full of great musicians…amazing how good Ed sounds with a real bass player
Troy Con

I forgot to add, “Cathedral” is one of my all-time fav’s from EVH. To this day, I’ve never heard anyone make a guitar sound so precious, unique and utterly beautiful. “Cathedral” just takes me to another world, nothing has ever sounded like it.
Jason A.

Les Paul God Bless you! Your accomplishments amplifies throughout the world. The sweet sound of the electric guitar soothes the souls. Your an inspiration to many. You’ve always shown that you’re never too old to pick up a guitar and learn if you haven’t already. R.I.P Les. A fellow Waukesha native.