Les Paul Honored by Rock and Rock Hall of Fame

It has become quite common over the years to hear someone walk into a music store and ask for a ‘Les Paul’. The name has come to indicate a golden standard of music – a golden standard of sound. So it comes as now surprise then, that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, will be paying tribute to legendary music innovator Les Paul this year.

Widely known as being the ‘Father of the Electric Guitar’, Les Paul has enjoyed a long and successful career as both a musician and an innovator. Frustrated by the fact that audiences struggled to hear him play his music on his acoustic guitar, Paul got to work solving the problem. In 1941 he produced the first solid-body electric guitar and the world of Rock and Roll was never the same again. By 1952 it was being commercially produced by Gibson and it became a favorite with popular musicians such as Billy Gibbons, Jimmy Page and Duane Allman, as well as aspiring rock stars around the world. Les Paul didn’t rest on his laurels. As part of his efforts to improve the music world he loved so much, he went on to invent the first eight-track tap recorder, which was later produced by Ampex in 1956.

But Les Paul was not only an inventor, he was a musician and he never left off making music. Over the years he has achieved legendary status, having played along with big names like Eddie Van Halen, Tony Bennet, Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. Even today at 93 years of age, Les Paul continues to play every week at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City. A more fitting person could not have been chosen to be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s upcoming event. The event is entitled “Rock and Roll Retrospective: the Les Paul Phenomenon” and it will pay tribute to Les Paul and see other legendary musicians performing live. This is the 13th Annual American Music Masters series. The week long event will begin on November 10 and will feature a tribute concert that will take place on November 15 at Cleveland’s State Theater. It is hoped that Les Paul will be able to attend in person. Tickets will go on sale on September 24, so if you are a Les Paul fan, don’t miss out on this opportunity to pay tribute to your music legend.