LONDON – Hilton Valentine, the founding guitarist of the English rock and roll band The Animals who’s credited with creating one of the vital well-known opening riffs of the 1960s, has died. He was 77 years outdated.
The band’s label ABKCO Music confirmed Valentine died on Friday, saying his spouse, Germaine Valentine, informed him of his loss of life.
“Founding member and unique guitarist of The Animals, Valentine was a pioneering guitarist who influenced the sound of rock and roll for many years to return,” the label mentioned in a tweet.
Valentine, from North Shields in northeast England, fashioned The Animals in 1963 alongside singer Eric Burdon, bassist Chas Chandler, organist Alan Value and drummer John Metal.
The band’s most well-known music, 1964’s “The Home of the Rising Solar,” topped the charts in each the UK and the US The music had such resonance within the US that many individuals have been shocked. that the band got here from an industrial heartland of England.
Burdon paid tribute to Valentine on Instagram, writing, “Rising Solar’s opening piece won’t ever sound the identical! … You did not simply contact it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden information of Hilton’s passing. “
Valentine stayed with the band for 4 years and can also be heard on different band classics resembling “Do not Let Me Be Misundersknown”, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “Do not Convey Me Down”.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in 1994 and for the final a number of years Valentine has been residing within the US state of Connecticut.
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