Over the past two days, scores of guitarists and musicians around the world have paid tribute to Steely Dan guitarist Walter Becker, who passed away Sunday, September 3, at the age of 67.
Donald Fagen, Becker's longtime bandmate and collaborator, was among the first to make a statement, saying "Walter Becker was my friend, my writing partner and my bandmate since we met as students at Bard College in 1967."
At the conclusion of the note—which you can read in its entirety here—Fagen also promised to keep Steely Dan going, mentioning that "I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
Below, you can see a host of other guitarists and musicians paying tribute to Becker, who helped define Steely Dan's sound for decades.
#RIPWalterBecker Very sad news. They're one of my favorite bands. https://t.co/u2qmSbZp3Z
— Nile Rodgers (@nilerodgers) September 3, 2017
I was once in a band that played only Steely Dan songs. It was hard and lots of fun. RIP Walter.
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) September 3, 2017
Walter Becker, you changed my life with music. You are so loved
Straight to the stars.... My friend pic.twitter.com/vqVeglX5Tc
— Ryan Adams (@TheRyanAdams) September 3, 2017
- A post shared by Slash (@slash) on Sep 3, 2017 at 9:21am PDT
