Warren Haynes Issues Statement About The Late Johnny Winter

Gov’t Mule/Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes has performed with legendary blues man Johnny Winter a number of times over the years. Winter was even supposed to perform at Gov’t Mule’s Island Exodus event in January. Unfortunately that appearance won’t come to be as Winter died on Wednesday at the age of 70 in a Swiss hotel room.

[Photo by Dino Perrucci]

Yesterday, Warren Haynes posted some thoughts about Winter’s passing on his website:

I am saddened to hear of the passing of Johnny Winter. I grew up at a time when there was a lot of great guitar-based music and Johnny was one of my first guitar heroes and a huge influence. He was an influence of every guitar player of my generation, consequently if you were a guitarist from a younger generation you were influenced by Johnny Winter whether you knew it or not. He was one of the few guitarists who created a style of playing that everyone who came later recognizes. I treasured the few times we’ve played together over the years, and I was proud to call him my friend. He will be missed.

-Warren Haynes

If you missed it, be sure to check out our list of 10 amazing Johnny Winter performance clips.