Legendary blues guitarist Johnny Winter performs on stage during a concert at the Valencia Jazz Festival in this file photo taken July 19, 2008
Reuters/Zurich
Johnny Winter, an American blues rock guitarist, vocalist and band leader known for his virtuoso slide-guitar solos and raspy vocals, was found dead in a hotel room outside Zurich, Swiss police said on Thursday. He was 70.
Along with his brother, Edgar Winter, also a well-known blues musician, the Texas-born Winter revered African-American blues tradition and began performing in his teens.
"His wife, family and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists," his publicist Carla Parisi said. Winter had been on tour in Europe.
Johnny, distinctive because he and brother Edgar were albino, broke into national fame in 1968, when Rolling Stone magazine dubbed him the hottest musician outside Janis Joplin.
In 1969, he played the Newport Jazz Festival, where he performed with B.B. King, one of his musical idols, and at Woodstock.
He also produced albums for his idol, Muddy Waters, in the 1970s, helping to burnish the reputation of the legendary bluesman.
Among Winter's best known songs was "Still Alive and Well", a blues rock stomper recorded after he resurfaced from heroin addiction in the 1970s.
