The music community is mourning the death of The Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the musician’s family announced that he died the day before from bacterial meningitis. He was 78.
“On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound grief that we communicate the news of Jeff Beck’s Passing,” his family said in a statement. “He abruptly had bacterial meningitis, and yesterday he peacefully went away. His family asks for privacy as they mourn this awful death.”
Many of Beck’s old acquaintances and colleagues paid tribute to him after learning of his death, including his former Yardbirds bandmate Jimmy Page. In 1965, he replaced Eric Clapton as guitarist 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 otherworldly music. His approach is distinct. His inventiveness appears to know no limitations. Jeff, I will miss you, as will your legions of fans. Peace be with you, Jeff Beck,” Page wrote on Instagram.
Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood assisted Beck in forming The Jeff Beck Group a year after he left The Yardbirds. Truth and Beck-Ola are two of the albums they collaborated on.
Stewart, 78, on the day Beck died, wrote on Instagram that the beloved artist “was on another realm.”
“He relocated me and Ronnie Wood to the United States in his band, the Jeff Beck Group, in the late ’60s, and we haven’t looked back since,” he wrote.
“He was one of the few guitarists who would listen to me sing when performing live. Jeff, you were the greatest. Everything is much appreciated. RIP.”
Meanwhile, Wood took to Twitter to share his thoughts, writing that “one of my band of brothers has left this planet.”
“I’m going to miss him terribly,” he wrote.
“I send my heartfelt sympathies 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 following Tweet, he stated that they had broken “all the rules” as a band.
“It was magnificent, ground-breaking rock ‘n’ roll,” he wrote. “In his tribute, listen to the wonderful song “Plynth. ” Jeff, I will always love you. Grace from God.”
