Rock of ages
Music legends of 1960s and ’70s gather to say farewell to guitar genius Jeff Beck
HE was one of the most influential of rock guitarists, his talent dazzling both fans and fellow musicians from the moment he first stepped into the limelight in the 1960s.
So it was only fitting that the giants of that era turned out to say goodbye to Jeff Beck yesterday.
The musician was laid to rest at St Mary’s Church in Sutton, south London, a short walk from where he was born. He died aged 78 on January 10 after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis.
A host of stars came to pay their respects, including Rod Stewart, 78, and Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, 75.
Both were members of his band The Jeff Beck Group in 1967 before going on
Bonding over their love of guitars
to be stars in their own right.
Wood was accompanied by his wife Sally Humphreys, 45.
Fellow guitarist Eric Clapton, 77, who was replaced by Beck as a member of The Yardbirds in 1965, also came to pay his respects, alongside Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, 74, and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, 76.
Singer Tom Jones, 82, Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde, 71, and Boomtown Rats rocker Bob Geldof, 71, were at the farewell, along with comedians Harry Enfield and Vic Reeves, as well as movie actor Johnny Depp, who had been touring with Beck in the United States until November.
Beck and Depp became close friends after meeting in 2016 in the former’s dressing room and bonding over their love of guitars.
They then agreed to work on an album together and released ‘18’ last July before going on tour. It has been nominated for three Brit awards. Depp, 59, reportedly visited Beck at his hospital bedside and is said to have been left ‘totally devastated’ by his death.
Beck is survived by second wife Sandra Cash. He had no children.
The pair married in 2005 in Tunbridge Wells when he was 61 and she was 41, and Paul McCartney was among the guests.
She designed the cover for Beck and Depp’s album, which features the pair as teenagers. Beck emerged in the British blues boom of the 1960s and was ranked fifth in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’. He won eight Grammy awards.
His fingers and thumbs were insured for €7.8million.
His mercurial career also saw him share the stage with some of music’s biggest names in the 1980s including Jon Bon Jovi and Kate Bush.