NEW YORK — Les Paul, the guitar virtuoso and inventor who revolutionized music and created rock ‘n’ roll as surely as Elvis Presley and the Beatles by developing the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording, died Thursday at age 94.
Known for his lightning-fast leads, Paul performed with some of early pop’s biggest names and produced a slew of hits, many with wife Mary Ford. But it was his inventive streak that made him universally revered by guitar gods as their original ancestor and earned his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most important forces in popular music.
Paul, who died in White Plains, N.Y., of complications from pneumonia, was a tireless tinkerer, whose quest for a particular sound led him to create the first solid-body electric guitar, a departure from the hollow-body guitars of the time.
His invention paved the way for modern rock ‘n’ roll and became the standard instrument for legends such as Pete Townshend and Jimmy Page.
He also developed technology that would become hallmarks of rock and pop recordings, from multitrack recording that allowed for layers and layers of “overdubs” to guitar reverb and other sound effects.
“He was truly the cornerstone of popular music,” said Henry Juskiewicz, chairman and chief executive of Gibson Guitar, which mass produced Paul’s original invention. “He was futurist, and unlike some futurists who write about it and predict things, he was a guy who actually did things.”
The news of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from the music world.
“Les lived a very long life and he got to a lot of his goals. . . . At least he realized that he was legend in his own time while he was alive,” said Richie Sambora, Bon Jovi’s guitarist and a friend of Paul’s.
The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the middle to late 1940s.
Gibson solicited Paul to create a prototype for a guitar and began production on the Les Paul guitar in 1952. The Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie’s auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.
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