Guitarist, inventor, “Wizard of Waukesha,” and card-carrying bad ass Les Paul has died, according to the Associated Press. He was 94. Paul apparently passed away on Thursday from complications brought on by pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, N.Y.
Paul is celebrated for his technological innovations that contributed greatly to the sound of modern music, particularly rock ‘n’ roll. He developed the solid-body guitar and pioneered the use of multi-track recording, which allowed recording artists to build tracks from instrumental parts recorded separately and then mixed together.
But more than anything Paul was a working musician, and he kept on playing pretty much until the end of his life. The A.V. Club saw Paul perform earlier this year at the Iridium, a Times Square jazz club where the legend performed two sets every Monday for the past 15 years. Even when his hands were deformed by arthritis, you couldn’t take his black Gibson away. Hopefully he’ll take one to the grave.