Duane Eddy was an early rock and roll guitar hero known for his influential twangy sound, heard on songs like “Peter Gunn” and “Rebel Rouser.”
- Died: April 30, 2024 (Who else died on April 30?)
- Details of death: Died in Franklin, Tennessee of cancer at the age of 86.
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Duane Eddy’s legacy
Duane Eddy was already playing the guitar by the time he was five. He formed a band at age 16, and while performing for a local radio station in Arizona, he caught the attention of producer Lee Hazlewood (1929–2007). The music maker helped Eddy develop what would become his signature: a full, twangy sound produced by playing leads on the bass strings of his guitar.
Eddy’s first song to chart, “Movin’ and Groovin’,” in 1958, influenced Chuck Berry (1926– 2017) and the riff on the Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ USA,” but it was his second song, “Rebel Rouser,” that proved to be a breakthrough. It reached No. 6 on the charts and sold a million copies. More successes followed, including “Cannonball,” “Shazam,” and “Peter Gunn,” which became a worldwide, Grammy Award-winning hit in 1986 when he remade the 1960 song with The Art of Noise.
Eddy also had an acting career in the 1960s, appearing in films such as “Because They’re Young,” “The Wild Westerners,” and “The Savage Seven,” among others.
In a span of just six years between 1958 and 1963, he had 15 top 40 hits, plus had seven top 20 albums in the UK. Eddy is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum.
Tributes to Duane Eddy
Full obituary: The New York Times
