Les Paul, whose innovations with the electric guitar and studio technology made him one of the most important figures in recorded music, died Thursday, according to a statement from his publicist. Paul was 94, CNN reported.
He died in White Plains, New York, from complications of severe pneumonia, the statement said.
Paul was a guitar and electronics mastermind whose creations - such as multitrack recording, tape delay and the solid-body guitar that bears his name, the Gibson Les Paul - helped give rise to modern popular music, including rock 'n' roll. No slouch on the guitar himself, he continued playing at clubs into his 90s, despite being hampered by arthritis.
"If you only have two fingers (to work with), you have to think, how will you play that chord?" he told CNN.com in a 2002 phone interview. "So you think of how to replace that chord with several notes, and it gives the illusion of sounding like a chord."
Lester William Polfuss was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on June 9, 1915.
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