Les Paul, musician and guitar designer, has died at the White Plains Hospital in New York at the age of 94 years. He died as a result of complications associated with pneumonia.
As a musician, Les Paul had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, but he was equally, if not more well known as the inventor of the Gibson Les Paul guitar and as a pioneer of multitrack recording. He developed the ‘Les Paul’, one of the first solid body electric guitars, in the 1940’s and it is still in production today.
Les Paul had a profound impact on the music industry, influencing countless artists from several generations. His own sound was influenced, in turn, was greatly influenced by Django Reinhardt. He had been performing regularly prior to his hospitalisation.