Guitarist Allan Holdsworth 1945 – 2017

Renowned guitarist Allan Holdsworth has died at the age of 70. The British rock and jazz musician’s death on Saturday, April 15 was confirmed in a post shared by his daughter Louise Holdsworth.

Born in Bradford, England on August 6, 1946, Holdsworth’s career began in the late 1960s as guitarist for the short-lived London-based ‘Igginbottom. He went on to hone a signature tapping style while going on to work in the subsequent decade with the likes of Tempest, Soft Machine, Jean-Luc Ponty, Tony Williams and others.

A solo career blossomed in the 1980s, a prolific decade that saw the release of several of Holdworth’s solo albums, including 1982’s I.O.U., 1985’s Metal Fatigue, 1986’s Atavachron, 1987’s Sand and 1989’s Secrets. Holdsworth also issued a pair of collaborative albums with Gordon Beck during that time.

Holdsworth issued a pair of albums with Chad Wackerman in the 1990s and another in 2012. Holdsworth was also integral in developing new recording techniques, including the use of the SynthAxe guitar. A career-retrospective box set The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! was issued earlier this year.

A highly influential musician, Holdsworth talents were lauded by the likes of Frank Zappa, Joe Satriani, Carlos Santana, Yngwie Malmsteen, John McLaughlin and many others. Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen told Billboard, “Holdsworth is so damned good that I can’t cop anything. I can’t understand what he’s doing.”

No cause of death was given. Here’s the message from Louise Holdsworth posted to Facebook:

Head here to donate to a fund to help with Holdsworth’s funeral expenses.