Jeff Beck

Though Jeff Beck's guitar prowess and influence placed him on par with such icons of the instrument as Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, he forged an entirely different career path over the course of a five-decade career, preferring to experiment with jazz, electronica and blues-rock rather than seek chart success. He initially established himself in the mid-1960s as Clapton's replacement in the Yardbirds, who rode his penchant for squalling, feedback-driven blues-rock to a second wave of popularity before dismissing him in 1966. Beck then formed his own band, The Jeff Beck Group, which set the foundation for hard rock and heavy metal through its high-volume covers of classic blues material. The 1970s and 1980s found Beck taking a mercurial approach to music, moving from power three-pieces like Beck, Bogert & Appice to jazz-fusion on his hit record Blow By Blow (1975). Lengthy absences due to health issues undermined his output in the 1980s, but Beck roared back in the 1990s with a slew of idiosyncratic albums that saw him branch out into techno-driven material while retaining his signature guitar fury. He continued to follow his own muse into the 2000s, netting a slew of Grammys and two inductions into the Rock and Roll along the way. Jeff Beck's talent made him not only one of the most significant rock guitarists of the 20th century and beyond, but a living bridge between the guitar legends of the past and the possibilities of the instrument's future.