Blues and rock musician John Mayall — the “godfather of British blues” — died at age 90 on Monday.
“It is with heavy hearts that we bear the news that John Mayall passed away peacefully in his California home yesterday, July 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family,” his family confirmed in a statement Tuesday. “Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors.” A cause of death was not immediately revealed.
“John Mayall gave us ninety years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain,” the statement continued, sharing that he was “surrounded with love” by his ex-wives Pamela and Maggie, his secretary Jane, and his close friends.
“Keep on playing the blues somewhere, John. We love you,” his family wrote.
Mayall is credited as being a blues pioneer in England in the late Sixties. His band, The Bluesbreakers, once included the likes of Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Mick Taylor. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is set to induct Mayall in October, after the organization’s committee granted him the Musical Influence Award, alongside Alexis Korner and Big Mama Thornton, earlier this year.
Mayall was born in Cheshire, England, and loved American blues and jazz from an early age. He taught himself how to play piano, guitar, and harmonica before he moved to London to form the Blues Breakers, which included Clapton after he departed the Yardbirds.
Mayall’s most-revered body of work was his debut LP, Blues Breakers, which Rolling Stone ranked No. 195 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003. “Ex-Yardbird Eric Clapton’s solos here inspired his ‘Clapton Is God’ cult,” read Rolling Stone‘s description. “The band expertly covers Robert Johnson and Freddie King, and blows up Ray Charles’ ‘What’d I Say’ with a long drum solo that predicts Cream.”
Mayall released several albums through the Seventies after moving to Los Angeles in 1969. He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2016.
In 2020, Mayall released a 1967 recording of the song “Curly” alongside the late Peter Green and John McVie. The recording was done for BBC Sessions before Green left the band to form Fleetwood Mac. The track was included in a box set titled The First Generation: 1966-1974, which dropped in 2021.
That year, Mayall told Rolling Stone, as he turned 88, that he had decided to “hang up my road shoes,” though he promised to release another album, The Sun Is Shining Down.
The obituary post pointed to an interview Mayall did with The Guardian, sharing how he connected with blues because of its “raw honesty, connection, and community.” The statement also shared a quote from Mayall about the future of blues that read, “To be honest, I don’t think anyone really knows exactly what it is. I just can’t stop playing it.”