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.
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.
Watch Winter's rollicking performance at Woodstock below. --Samantha Rollins
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
