J. Geils Band Guitarist J. Geils 1946 – 2017

Legendary guitarist and founding member of The J. Geils Band, J. Geils, was found dead today in his Groton, Massachusetts home according to a report from WCVB. The J. Geils Band’s original tenure lasted from 1967 – 1985 and peaked commercially in the early ’80s thanks to best-selling singles “Love Stinks,” “Freeze-Frame” and “Centerfold.”

While Geils was born as John Warren Geils Jr. in New York City on February 20, 1946 and grew up in New Jersey, he’ll always be most closely associated with the Boston area. J. attended college at Northeastern and soon moved off to Worcester Polytechnic Insititute, where he formed the J. Geils Blues Band in 1967. Geils had a knack for finding talent and filled his band with luminaries Peter Wolf, Seth Justman, Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz and Stephen Jo Bladd. By the time the group released their self-titled debut album in 1970 they had shortened the name to The J. Geils Band.

The band toured constantly in the ’70s and shared the stage with a who’s who of the day’s rock acts. 1973’s Bloodshot featured the minor hit “Give It To Me” and was followed two years later by the more successful “Must Of Got Lost” off Nightmares..And Other Tales Of The Vinyl Jungle. As the decade progressed, the band worked more pop themes into their blues-rock formula.

MTV did wonders for J. Geils Band as videos for “Centerfold” and “Freeze-Frame” were among the most played videos of the early ’80s. “Centerfold” went all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “Freeze-Frame” also hit the top of the charts. Shortly thereafter The J. Geils Band parted ways with Wolf and broke up in 1985. A number of reunions took place between 1999 and the early part of this decade, though the group famously hit the road without its namesake in 2012. Geils spent his time restoring race cars in Massachusetts, a state he continued to call home.

J. Geils loved Massachusetts and the state loved him back. His hometown of Groton honored the guitarist with J. Geils Day on December 1, 2009. No cause of death has been revealed as of press time, though WCVB’s report mentions “foul play is not suspected at this time.” J. Geils was 71.