Beck, who rose to fame as part of the Yardbirds and the Jeff Beck Group, died Tuesday, according to a statement from his official Twitter account.
Jeff Beck, recognized as one of the most admired and influential guitarists in rock ‘n’ roll history, died on Tuesday at age 78.
“On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck’s passing,” Beck’s representatives wrote Wednesday on his official Twitter account. “After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday.”
Beck rose to fame in the 1960s after joining the Yardbirds, a flourishing British rock group, and quickly went on to form his solo career with his band, the Jeff Beck Group. The rock legend was an eight-time Grammy Award winner, earning his first in 1985 for best rock instrumental performance for his single, “Escape.”
Beck was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame twice—once as a member of the Yardbirds in 1992 and as a solo artist in 2009. Last year, the guitar virtuoso toured with actor Johnny Depp, amid Depp’s legal entanglements with his ex-wife, after the duo recorded a cover album together, titled “18.”
Tributes from fellow rock ‘n’ roll legends poured in within minutes after news of Beck’s death. Singer-songwriter Rod Stewart tweeted a two-part thread in honor of Beck’s influence on his own career, as Ronnie Wood, now of The Rolling Stones, and Stewart helped fill out the Jeff Beck Group in 1967.
