Earlier today it was announced that Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan, passed away aged 67.
Becker’s own website broke the news, and at this stage no further details have been provided.
Co-founder of Steely Dan, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy winner, Walter Becker, has passed away at the age of 67.
“Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967,” bandmate Donald Fagen wrote in a tribute to Becker.
“He was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny.”
Despite numerous roster changes between the release of Steely Dan’s debut 1967 LP Can’t Buy A Thrill and their last studio album Everything Must Go in 2003, Becker and Fagen remained permanent members, twin cornerstones of the shifting supergroup.
Touring through to even this year, Becker missed Steely Dan’s Classic East and West concerts in July as he recovered from an unspecified illness.
A gargantuan talent in the realms of rock and the blues, Becker’s presence will be missed forever.
Via Rolling Stone.