John Mayall, the British blues musician whose band was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other stars, has died aged 90.
A statement on Mayall’s Instagram page said he died on Monday at his home in California.
“The health problems that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of the world’s greatest road warriors,” the post read.
Mayall is credited with helping to develop the English approach to Chicago-style urban rhythm and blues, which played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s.
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At various times his band, the Bluesbreakers, included Clapton and Jack Bruce, later of Cream; Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor who played for five years with the Rolling Stones, Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor of Canned Heat and Jon Mark and John Almond who formed the Mark-Almond Band.
Although Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious former students, he was still performing into his late 80s.
“I never had a hit record, I never won a Grammy and Rolling Stone never did a story on me,” he said in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent in 2013.
“I’m still an underground artist.”
Born on November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Mayall once said: “The only reason I was born in Macclesfield was because my father drank and that was where his favorite pub was.”
His father also played guitar and banjo, and his boogie-woogie piano records captivated his teenage son.
Mayall was often called the “father of British blues”, but when he moved to London in 1962 he aimed to absorb the blues scene led by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies.
The Bluesbreakers relied on a fluid community of musicians who moved in and out of various bands.
His 1968 album, Blues from Laurel Canyon, signaled a permanent move to the United States and a change in direction.
In 1982 he reformed the Bluesbreakers, recruiting Taylor and McVie, but after two years the personnel changed again.
In 2008, Mayall announced he was permanently retiring the Bluesbreaker name, and in 2013 he fronted the John Mayall Band.
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