Eric Clapton announces Jeff Beck tribute shows at the Royal Albert Hall
One of the world’s greatest-ever guitarists, Eric Clapton, has announced some tribute shows for another universally admired six-string icon, Jeff Beck, which will be played at the legendary Royal Albert Hall. The shows are set to go ahead at the London venue on May 22nd and 23rd this year.
They will “honour the memory and artistry” of Beck, who suddenly died earlier this year on January 10th at the age of 78. The shows will be decorated with performances from a wide range of music heroes, billed as “colleagues and friends”.
As well as performances by Clapton, Beck fans will be able to see the likes of Johnny Depp, Rod Stewart, Imelda May, Gary Clark Jr and Joss Stone. Meanwhile, several members of Beck’s former live band will also appear on stage, such as Rhonda Smith, Anika Nilles and Robert Stevenson.
Tickets for the show will go on sale next Wednesday (March 15th) at 10am, while the pre-sale for registered fans arrives the day before. A final bill of performing artists will be announced closer to the day of the show, but from what has been revealed so far, the Jeff Beck tribute shows look like once to put in the diary.
Following Beck’s death at the beginning of the year, several of his musical contemporaries paid tribute to him, including Queen guitarist Brian May, who said, “Jeff was completely and utterly unique and the kind of musician who’s impossible to define. And I was absolutely in awe of him. He played some incredible stuff. My jaw dropped.
May added, “I couldn’t really pick up a guitar when he was in the room because he was so incredible; I just wanted to watch and listen. Jeff Beck is so unique and so influential on every guitarist I’ve ever met in my life. The loss is incalculable. It’s so sad not having him in the world anymore. I still can’t quite compute it in my head.”
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