Europe 1 with AFP 2:46 p.m., January 12, 2023

British guitarist Jeff Beck, who carved his legend within the group The Yardbirds of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton in the 1960s, died Tuesday at the age of 78 from meningitis.

The musician, icon of rock, blues and even jazz, had won eight Grammy Awards.

Many singing stars pay tribute to him.

Briton Jeff Beck, "guitarist of guitarists" of rock, blues and even jazz, who carved out his legend in Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton's The Yardbirds group in the 1960s, died Tuesday at the age of 78 from a meningitis.

"On behalf of his family, it is with profound sadness that we share the news of the passing of Jeff Beck. After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he passed away peacefully yesterday," according to a statement Wednesday evening on the site. of the musician who has won eight Grammy Awards in recognition of his virtuosity, his multiple influences and his sense of innovation on the electric guitar in nearly 60 years of career.

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All his peers from Mick Jagger to Jimmy Page, mostly Britons of the same generation born in the 1940s, bowed to this "genius".

Jagger, leader of the Rolling Stones, paid tribute in a video on Twitter to "a wonderful man and one of the greatest guitarists in the world".

With the death of Jeff Beck we have lost a wonderful man and one of the greatest guitar players in the world.

We will all miss him so much.

pic.twitter.com/u8DYQrLNB7

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) January 11, 2023

"An incredible icon, a genius guitarist"

"No one played guitar like Jeff," said Israeli-American Gene Simmons of hard rock band Kiss, also on Twitter.

Heartbreaking news to report the late, great Jeff Back has sadly passed.

No one played guitar like Jeff.

Please get ahold of the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and behold greatness.

RIP.

pic.twitter.com/3qnPOCyhUj

— Gene Simmons (@genesimmons) January 11, 2023

His heavy metal sidekick, Black Sabbath founder Tony Iommi called Jeff Beck "an incredible icon, a guitarist of genius".

"There will never be another Jeff Beck," he said.

British heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne spoke, still on Twitter, "the incredible honor of having played with him on (his) very last album".

I can't express how saddened I am to hear of @JeffBeckMusic's passing.

What a terrible loss for his family, friends & his many fans.

It was such an honor to have known Jeff & an incredible honor to have had him play on my most recent album, #PatientNumber9.


Long live #JeffBeckpic.twitter.com/hG6O9tzfij

— Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) January 11, 2023

Musician Paul Young said he was just as "devastated by the sudden and tragic death of the legendary guitarist" adding that Geoffrey Arnold Beck was nothing less than "the guitarists' guitarist".

Devastated to hear of the sudden and tragic death of legendary guitarist Jeff Beck.

He was loved by everyone in the know;

the guitarists guitarist!

My condolences to his family & friends RIP.

pic.twitter.com/OcCv1jSNvx

— Paul Young (@PaulYoungTalk) January 11, 2023

Born in June 1944 near London, Jeff Beck is considered one of the best rock, hard rock, blues and even jazz guitarists, the equal of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix.

Beck joined Page in the rock band The Yardbirds in 1965, just after the departure of the equally brilliant Clapton.

The duo carved out their legend with albums and tracks 'Shapes of Things' and 'Over Under Sideways Down', before Page founded Led Zeppelin.

On Instagram, Jimmy Page, 79, hailed "the six-stringed warrior (who) is no longer here for us to admire the charm he was able to cast on our mortal emotions."

Founder of a hard rock band named after him

Capable of moving from one style to another (rock, hard rock, blues, jazz) and constantly innovating with the sound of his instruments and his amps, he founded at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s the group of hard rock The Jeff Beck Group with then unknown British singer Rod Stewart, and Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones.

Stewart said Wednesday evening that "Jeff Beck (came) from another planet".

"He took me and Ronnie Wood to the States in the late 1960s in his band The Jeff Beck Group and we haven't looked back since," he wrote on Twitter, along with a photo. of the two men.

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Jeff Beck then began a very long solo career where he enjoyed success in the mid-1970s with the album

Blow By Blow

.

In the 1980s and 1990s, he played with the greatest and chained concerts: Mick Jagger, Tina Turner, Roger Waters, Jon Bon Jovi... During a jazz festival in 2009 in Montreal, he had recognized that it was "very hard to put your finger on where my sound came from".

Renowned for his distortion effects with his guitar

Rocker, bluesman, jazzman, he also said he was influenced by Les Paul, Ravi Shankar or Django Reinhardt.

He is also famous for his distortion effects with his guitar, a sound experimented at the same time by Pete Townshend's The Who.

In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him fifth in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

Last July, he even released an album and played in concert with his friend, the American actor and musician Johnny Depp.

Jeff Beck was not a fan of acoustic guitars and preferred electric brands Fender and Gibson.

The impact @jeffbeckmusic had on music is immeasurable.

The Fender Family is deeply saddened by his passing, and we're keeping his loved ones in our thoughts during this difficult time.

Thank you, Jeff, and may your legacy continue to pave the way for generations to come.

pic.twitter.com/ntDBUs7tNe

— Fender (@Fender) January 12, 2023

The American manufacturer estimated in a tweet that Beck "was and will always be a source of inspiration. Thank you for the music".