Correction: Blues legend Johnny Winter’s last performance before his death was Monday at the Cahors Blues Festival in southwestern France. This article included an incorrect date and venue.
Quick-fingered blues guitarist Winter
The Associated Press
GENEVA -- Texas blues legend Johnny Winter, known for his lightning-fast blues guitar riffs, his striking long, white hair and his collaborations with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and childhood hero Muddy Waters, has died. He was 70.
Winter was a leading light among the white blues guitar players, including Eric Clapton and the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, who followed in the footsteps of the earlier Chicago blues masters. Winter idolized Waters -- and got a chance to produce some of the blues legend's more popular albums.
His representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that Winter died in a hotel room in Zurich a day earlier. The statement said his wife, family and band mates were all saddened by the loss of one of the world's finest guitarists.
The cause of death was unclear and authorities have ordered an autopsy, said Zurich police spokesman Cornelia Schuoler. She said investigators are mainly looking at "medical causes" and there is no indication that anyone else was involved.
Winter had been on an extensive tour this year that recently took him to Europe. His last performance was Saturday at the Lovely Days Festival in Wiesen, Austria.
He was the older brother of Edgar Winter, also an albino, who rose to musical fame with the Edgar Winter Group.
Johnny Winter was one of the most popular live acts of the early 1970s, when his signature fast blues guitar solos attracted a wide following. But his addiction problems with heroin during that decade and later battles with alcohol and prescription medication, including methadone, also drew attention.
Metro on 07/18/2014