US blues legend Johnny Winter dies at 70: Facebook page
US blues legend Johnny Winter has died aged 70 in a hotel room in Switzerland.
US blues legend Johnny Winter has died aged 70 in a hotel room in Switzerland, according to a statement on his official Facebook page.
"His wife, family and bandmates are all saddened by the loss of their loved one and one of the world's finest guitarists," the statement read, adding Winter passed away in Zurich on Wednesday.
Born in Texas in 1944, Winter began playing the clarinet aged five, and switched to the ukelele and then the guitar a few years later.
According to his official website, he formed his first band when he was 14 years old, and his big breakthrough eventually came in 1968 when Rolling Stone magazine dubbed him the hottest item after Janis Joplin in an article about the Texas music scene.
Johnny Winter
It is as yet unclear how the blues guitarist and singer died, but he had been due to release his new album in September.
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