Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant Remember Guitarist Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck. Photo: Andrew Putler/Redferns

Jeff Beck, the guitar hero who died at 78, collaborated so widely that nearly every musician remembering him has a clip or tour story to go with. “When I was 16 years old, the Spiders, who became the original Alice Cooper band, opened for the Yardbirds,” wrote Alice Cooper of Beck. “That night I experienced the greatest guitar player I had ever heard.” An early member of the Yardbirds who replaced Eric Clapton, Beck went on to found the Jeff Beck Group. “He took me and Ronnie Wood to the USA in the late ’60s in his band the Jeff Beck Group and we haven’t looked back since,” wrote Rod Stewart, remembering the group’s early days. Beck worked ’til his last days — he died January 10 due to bacterial meningitis — playing on Ozzy Osbourne’s recent album Patient Number 9 and touring with Johnny Depp, who was reportedly at Beck’s bedside at his death. “It was such an honor to have known Jeff & an incredible honor to have had him play on my most recent album,” tweeted Osbourne. Below, more tributes to Jeff Beck.