Jeff Beck said he could “die happy” after a tribute from Jimi Hendrix
This week, we were met with the tragic news that Jeff Beck, the guitarist famed for his work with The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group, has died aged 78. “After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday,” Beck’s family wrote in a statement. “His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss.”
Since the announcement, tributes have poured in from the likes of Rod Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, Jimmy Page, Tony Iommi, Dave Davies, Gene Simmons and many more. The guitar hero had been active onstage and in the studio as recently as late 2022. His most recent album was a collaborative effort with actor Johnny Depp, titled 18, which was released in July last year.
Hollywood star Depp first met Beck in 2017; they formed a tight friendship, and it didn’t take the pair long to start jamming together. Since the news of Beck’s death, it has been reported that Depp joined the legendary rocker at his bedside shortly before he passed.
During the Amber Heard defamation trial last year, Depp revealed that Beck and his wife had been his closest allies through the ordeal. “There’s a couple who very much helped to keep me alive and sane and happy through the weirdness, and that’s Jeff and [his wife] Sandra,” Depp told Hollywood Authentic last year.
In October 2022, Beck and Depp appeared together on SiriusXM to discuss their musical collaboration and friendship. During the conversation, Depp discussed Beck’s influence on fellow guitar hero Jimi Hendrix. “It’s nice to remind these people, ‘Hey… Jimi Hendrix wouldn’t have played the same way if it hadn’t been for that guy,’” Depp said, pointing to Beck. “I mean, that’s a really strange concept to put into your head.”
In his song ‘In From the Storm’, a track that appeared on Cry of Love, Hendrix used the catchy riff from The Jeff Beck Group’s 1969 song ‘Rice Pudding’. After Depp mentions Hendrix, the host reminds listeners of the late guitarist’s touching tribute to Beck in his final solo album, The Cry of Love.
“He did,” replied Beck remembering the tribute. “That is… That’s… I mean, I can die happy when I know that he played that,” he added, putting his hand over his heart to show respect from one virtuoso to another.
Despite the tribute, Beck lamented that “there’s not one single photo of me and Jimi in this planet, there’s not one single photo of us together. Unless there’s someone out there who’s got one? There’s one picture that was taken with me on bass off out of the shot, and Ronnie Wood is peering behind a screen. So I know I was playing bass, because why was he behind the screen? He was looking round and Jimi was there with my Les Paul upside down. So I know I was onstage. But why did the guy only take [a photo of] him? I know I’m ugly, you know, but there’s a limit,” he jokes as Depp giggles in the seat next to him.
Listen to Jeff Beck’s ‘Rice Pudding’ and Jimi Hendrix’s ‘In From the Storm’ below.
