Legendary guitarist and all round musical innovator Les Paul has died in hospital today, due to complications arising from pneumonia.
The 94 year old, born Lester William Polfuss in Wisconsin in 1915, was most famously know for not only pioneering the first solid body guitars, but also his innovative studio techniques such as multi-tracking.
However it was his pioneering design for the iconic guitar which bears his name – the Gibson Les Paul – for which he will be forever remembered.
A life long ‘Tinkerer’ as well as a majorly accomplished jazz guitarist, Paul began toying with the idea of a solid bodied guitar in the late 1930’s, when he produced his famous ‘Log’ guitar.
From then on Paul had a string of hits throughout the 1950’s – mostly with his wife, Mary Ford – and continued to produced music, right up until the age of 90, remarkably wining two Grammys, despite have been hospitalised several weeks earlier.
Les Paul: June 9, 1915 – August 13, 2009. R.I.P.
Full obituary next week on The Quietus
