Blues legend Johnny Winter dies at 70 in Zurich

GENEVA — Texas blues legend Johnny Winter emblazoned himself into the world’s consciousness with his tattooed arms churning out lightning-fast guitar riffs and his striking long white hair flowing from under his cowboy hat.

His contrasting appearance and devotion to the blues pioneers of the 20th century turbo-charged a career in which he emulated and, ultimately, championed, his childhood hero Muddy Waters and other icons. Winters carved out a wide niche — and became an icon himself — starting in the late 1960s and 1970s with a sound that blues and country singer Tracy Nelson, prominent during the same era with her band Mother Earth, described as “Texas second generation.”

“He did not overplay, like a lot of white blues guitarists,” she said of Winter, who collaborated with the likes of Waters, John Lee Hooker and Jimi Hendrix. “His tone was a little more modern, more electric, but I could see the influences. He stayed faithful. People idolized him.”

Winter’s representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that he died in a hotel room just outside Zurich a day earlier at age 70. The statement said his wife, family and bandmates were all saddened by the loss of one of the world’s finest guitarists.

The cause of death was unclear and authorities have ordered an autopsy, said Zurich police spokeswoman Cornelia Schuoler. She said investigators are mainly looking at “medical causes” and there is no indication that anyone else was involved.

Winter was a leading light among the white blues guitar players, including Eric Clapton and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who followed in the footsteps of the earlier Chicago blues masters. He idolized Waters — and got a chance to produce some of the blues legend’s more popular albums. Rolling Stone magazine named Winter one of the top 100 guitarists of all time.