Guitarist was co-founder of acclaimed Steely Dan
LOS ANGELES — A rock and roll fan with a penchant for harmony and obtuse references, Walter Becker, the guitarist, bassist and co-founder of the 1970s rock group Steely Dan, which sold more than 40 million albums, died Sunday. He was 67.
His website announced his death Sunday with no details.
Donald Fagen said in a statement Sunday that his Steely Dan bandmate was not only “an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter” but also “smart as a whip,” ”hysterically funny” and “cynical about human nature, including his own.”
Steely Dan had been touring recently, but Becker had missed performances in the summer in Los Angeles. Fagen later said Becker was recovering from a procedure.
A Queens native who started out playing the saxophone and eventually picked up the guitar, Becker met Fagen as a student at Bard College in 1967.
They played with the 1960s pop group Jay and the Americans before moving to California and founding the band, which they named after a sex toy in William S. Burroughs’ 1959 novel Naked Lunch.
Their first album as Steely Dan, Can’t Buy Me a Thrill was released in 1972, and featured both “Do It Again” and “Reelin’ In the Years.”
They scored a big hit with “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number” in 1974 before hitting a high point in 1977 with the album Aja.
But it wasn’t quite enough to sustain Steely Dan past their next studio album, Gaucho. They broke up in 1981.
Becker had suffered some personal hardships during this time, including addiction, his girlfriend’s death by overdose and a serious injury he sustained after being struck by a cab. When Steely Dan disbanded, Becker retreated to Maui and began growing avocados, while Fagen attempted a solo career.
Becker eventually reunited with Fagen and, after a nearly 20 year hiatus, released two albums: Two Against Nature, which won four Grammys, including album of the year in 2001, and Everything Must Go.
They were inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.