Animals lead guitarist Hilton Valentine dies

Musician created opening riff of ‘House of Rising Sun’

LONDON — Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock ’n’ roll band The Animals who is credited with coming up with one of the most famous opening riffs of the 1960s, in “The House of the Rising Sun,” has died. He was 77.

The band’s label, ABKCO Music, confirmed that Valentine died on Friday, saying it was told of his death by his wife, Germaine Valentine. The cause of death was not given.

“Valentine was a pioneering guitar player influencing the sound of rock and roll for decades to come,” the label said in a statement.

The band’s most famous hit came in 1964, when its rock-infused take of the traditional folk song “The House of the Rising Sun” topped the charts in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

The song, whose opening riff has been a rite of passage for budding guitarists around the world ever since, had such resonance in the U.S. that many were surprised to hear that the band came from the industrial heartland of England.

Valentine took up the guitar at 13 in his hometown, North Shields, in northeastern England, subsequently getting involved in the skiffle craze — a fusion of American folk, country, jazz and blues — that was sweeping the U.K. His skiffle band, The Heppers, evolved into The Wildcats, a rock band that became popular across northern England, partly because of Valentine’s habit of rolling on the floor while playing his guitar.

Having learned his craft, Valentine formed The Animals in 1963 alongside singer Eric Burdon, bassist Chas Chandler, organist Alan Price and drummer John Steel.

Burdon paid tribute to Valentine on Instagram, writing: “The opening opus of Rising Sun will never sound the same! … You didn’t just play it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton’s passing.”