THE ANGELS.- He singer and musician John Mayallpioneer of British Blues of the 1960s and an influential figure on the rock scene, died in the United States at the age of 90, his family announced on his official Facebook page.
According to the publication, he died on Monday at his home in the state of California, although it did not mention the exact cause of his death.
“The health problems that forced John to end his career have finally brought one of the world’s greatest travelers to rest in peace,” the family’s statement said.
Born in Macclesfield, near Manchester in 1933, Mayall left behind six children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, according to the Facebook post.
It is singer, harmonica player, keyboard player and guitarist He was one of the main actors in the blues boom, a wave that swept England in the mid-1960s.
“He was a great pioneer of British blues,” Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger said on social media.
“He had a wonderful eye for talented young musicians, including (guitarist) Mick Taylor, whom he recommended to me (to join the band), paving the way for a new era for the Stones,” the British singer wrote.
Trajectory
With Mayall’s encouragement, the British Taylor was the Stones’ guitarist for several years from 1969 and recorded five albums with them, some of the most important in the band’s history.
In 1963, John Mayall, already 30 years old, arrived in London from the north of England. A graduate in Fine Arts, he decided to leave his job as a graphic designer to dedicate himself to a career as a blues musician, a style with roots in the black population of the United States.
Leading his band The Bluesbreakers, he developed a sophisticated blues style.
In addition to Taylor (1967 to 1969), several young guitarists who would later become very famous were revealed there, starting with Eric Clapton, or also Peter Green, co-founder of the famous British group Fleetwood Mac.
John Mayall emigrated to California in 1968, where he continued to develop his progressive blues.
When he began playing the blues in the 1960s, “this music was something new for white England,” he told AFP in a 1997 interview. After settling in the United States, in 1972 he decided to launch a tour of the country with a group composed almost exclusively of black musicians.
Source: AFP
