Duane Eddy, credited for putting the “twang” in early rock ‘n’ roll, died Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
He was 86.
A pioneering rock guitarist, Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide as he mastered his distinctive bass string sound.
Eddy died of cancer Tuesday at the Williamson Health hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, according to his wife, Deed Abbate.
“Duane inspired a generation of guitarists the world over with his unmistakeable signature ‘Twang’ sound,” Eddy’s representative was quoted as saying on Variety’s website.
“He was the first rock and roll guitar god, a truly humble and incredible human being. He will be sorely missed.”
Eddy’s admirers include some of the biggest names in rock. George Harrison and Paul McCartney of the Beatles both said they were influenced by Eddy’s guitar style. Bruce Springsteen counted Eddy as one of his rock idols, AP reported.
“I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. I’m not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best,” he told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview. “A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.”
The term “twang” defined Eddy’s work on the guitar, as in the songs “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn,” and albums “Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel,” his first, to his 1993 box set, “Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology.”
“It’s a silly name for a nonsilly thing,” Eddy told the AP in 1993. “But it has haunted me for 35 years now, so it’s almost like sentimental value — if nothing else.”
Eddy was born in Corning, New York, and grew up in Phoenix, where he began playing guitar at age 5.
He scored music for several movies including “Because They’re Young,” “Pepe” and “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” according to the AP.
Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, paid tribute to Eddy in a statement, saying “the Duane Eddy sound will forever be stitched into the fabric of country and rock & roll.”
“Instrumentalists don’t usually become famous. But Duane Eddy’s electric guitar was a voice all its own. His sound was muscular and masculine, twangy and tough. Duane scored more than thirty hits on the pop charts,” said Young.
“But more importantly, his style inspired thousands of hillbilly cats and downtown rockers — the Ventures, George Harrison, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Marty Stuart, to name a few—to learn how to rumble and move people to their core.”
Dave Davies, a founding member of The Kinks, paid tribute on X, formerly Twitter.
Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.