Legendary blues guitarist Johnny Winter dead at 70

Legendary blues guitarist Johnny Winter dead at 70
(Image credit: Screenshot/Youtube)

The world has lost another rock legend: Johnny Winter, the iconic blues guitarist, has died at age 70, the Associated Press reports. Winter was on tour in Europe with his band when he died in a Zurich hotel room, a rep confirmed to the AP. No cause of death has been given.

Winter was known for his high-energy blues riffs and collaborations with the likes of Muddy Waters and Jimi Hendrix. He rose to fame in the late 1960s after he was spotted by a Columbia Records executive and signed a contract with a $600,000 advance — a sum that was, at the time, one of the biggest record deals ever. Winter went on to perform at Woodstock and release several Grammy-nominated albums. He was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1988.

"[Winter's] wife, family, and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of their loved one and one of the world's finest guitarists," a rep for Winter said in a statement.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Watch Winter's rollicking performance at Woodstock below. --Samantha Rollins

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Samantha Rollins

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.