John Mayall, a newly inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose band the Blues Breakers influenced numerous British music giants, including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and several future Fleetwood Mac members, died on Monday in California. He was ninety.
His family confirmed the news via social media, but provided few information beyond claiming “health issues.”
Jerry Miller of Moby Grape has died.
Jerry Miller, the 81-year-old co-founder of Moby Grape and one of rock’s guitar greats, has died.
“It is with heavy hearts that we bear the news that John Mayall passed away peacefully in his California home yesterday, July 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family,” the tweet reads. “Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors.”
Mayall, known as “The Godfather of British Blues,” was a singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist with a passion for American blues and jazz, as well as a knack for discovering emerging talent. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, he remarked of the blues: “[It has] always been about that raw honesty with which [it conveys] our experiences in life, something which all comes together in this music, and also in the words. Something related to us, common to our experiences.” He continued, “To be honest, I don’t think anyone truly knows what it is. “I can’t stop playing it.”
He formed the Bluesbreakers in 1963, and during the 1960s, the band featured a who’s-who of British blues and rock royalty, from Clapton and Peter Green to Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Aynsley Dunbar, and future Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. The trio was a commercial force in the Swinging ’60s UK, with five Top Ten albums from 1966 to 1970. Their debut album, Blues Breakers, in 1966, featured hotshot teenage guitarist Clapton, who had recently left The Yardbirds and whose ferocious fretwork inspired the graffiti “Clapton is God”.
Slowhand quit the band in 1966, and was replaced by Green, who left in 1967 to form the original Fleetwood Mac with Bluesbreakers drummer Fleetwood and bassist McVie. Taylor replaced Green, who left in 1969 to join The Rolling Stones following Brian Jones’ death.
Mayall and the band had sporadic success in the United States, charting over 20 albums between 1968 and 1975. Among the most successful was The Turning Point (1969), a live album that went gold and peaked at No. 32. The group’s biggest US chart success was 1970’s USA Union, which peaked at No. 22 and featured former Canned Heat members Larry Taylor and Harvey Mandel.
Born on November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Mayall relocated to London in 1963, at the request of his friend Alexis Korner, to pursue a music career after serving in the British military. Late that year, he founded the Bluesbreakers with McVie, Peter Ward, and other musicians and began performing around town. The roster saw multiple changes.
Bruce briefly joined the band in 1965 before leaving to join Manfred Mann. He then formed Cream with Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker, which had enormous success on both sides of the Atlantic.
Dunbar was a member of the Blues breakers from 1966 to 1967, and he played on some of their subsequent recordings before moving on to drum for Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Journey, and Jefferson Starship.
John Mayall died.
John Mayall during the 1980s.
Mayall moved to Los Angeles in 1969 and continued to front bands. He’s published dozens of albums and had two Grammy nominations, almost 30 years apart. Wake Up Call was nominated for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 1993, and The Sun Is Shining Down, his final album, received a nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2022.
Along the way, Mayall collaborated with Joe Walsh, Steven Van Zandt, Alex Lifeson, Billy Gibbons, Otis Rush, Billy Preston, Marcus King, and Walter Trout.
He was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005, inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2016, and elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a “Musical Influence” this year, alongside Korner and Big Mama Thornton. He continued to record and perform until around two years ago.
Mayall is survived by his six children: Gaz, Jason, Red, Ben, Zak, and Samson, as well as seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
