Legendary Blues Musician Johnny Winter Dies at Age 70

Legendary blues musician Johnny Winter, has died at the age of 70, according to USA Today. His representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that Winter died in a hotel room in Zurich on Wednesday. According to the statement released, his wife, family and bandmates were all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists.

Winters had been on an extensive tour of Europe this summer. His final performance was on Saturday at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, Austria.

Voted as one of the worlds top 100 guitarist in Rolling Stone Magazine, Johnny Winter had been a guitar hero without equal. Signing with Columbia Records in 1969, he immediately laid out the blueprint for his fresh take on classic blues with a powerful combination of authentic Texas funk and his own high energy interpretation for the legions of fans just discovering the blues via the likes of Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

Constantly shifting between primal country blues in the vein of Robert Johnson to scorching electric slide guitar, Johnny had always been one of the most respected singers and influential guitar players in rock and the clear link between British blues rock and American Southern rock ala the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Throughout the 70s and 80s he was the unofficial torch bearer for the blues, championing and aiding the careers of his idols like Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

Since 1969 and his self-titled debut, Johnny had recorded almost 40 albums of classic rock and blues and was one of the top arena rock acts in the mid-70s. In the late 70s he produced and played on a stunning series of Grammy award winning albums with Muddy Waters, who affectionately referred to Johnny as his "son." The recordings served as a "comeback" for his idol while also refreshing his own deep and unwavering love of the blues.Today Johnny Winter is enjoying an unparalleled resurgence performing to sold out shows worldwide even after a long life full of honors and accomplishments such as a triumphant appearance at Eric Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Festival with Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy and Clapton that has been immortalized on the Emmy award winning DVD. In a ceremony with Slash presenting in Nashville, Gibson Guitars released the signature Johnny Winter Firebird guitar that has been his beloved trademark for years.

A Live through the 70s DVD is a hit along with his Live Bootleg Series CDs that have all entered the Top 10 Billboard Blues charts. Two unique instructional DVDs have been produced by Cherry Lane/Hal Leonard to the gratitude of players around the world.

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