(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