John Mayall, pioneering figure of British blues, dies aged 90

24 July 2024, 05:45 | Updated: 24 July 2024, 06:13

John Mayall performing in Go Go, West Hollywood
John Mayall performing in Go Go, West Hollywood. Picture: Getty

By Flaminia Luck

John Mayall, the British blues musician whose influential band the Bluesbreakers was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars, has died aged 90.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

A statement on Mayall's Instagram page said the musician died Monday at his home in California.

"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," the post said.

Mayall is credited with helping develop the English take on urban, Chicago-style rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s.

John Mayall playing the guitar in 1979
John Mayall playing the guitar in 1979. Picture: Alamy

At various times, the Bluesbreakers included Clapton and Jack Bruce, later of Cream; Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor, who played for five years with the Rolling Stones, Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor of Canned Heat and Jon Mark and John Almond, who went on to form the Mark-Almond Band.

Mayall protested in interviews that he was not a talent scout, but played for the love of the music he had first heard on his father's 78-rpm records.

"I'm a band leader and I know what I want to play in my band - who can be good friends of mine," Mayall said in an interview with the Southern Vermont Review. "It's definitely a family. It's a small kind of thing really."

Although Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious alumni, he was still performing in his late 80s.

Read More: At least six dead and seven missing after fishing boat sinks 200 miles off Falkland Islands

Read More: Three years to prepare for war: New head of British army says UK's fighting force needs to double

"I've never had a hit record, I never won a Grammy Award, and Rolling Stone has never done a piece about me," he said in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent in 2013. "I'm still an underground performer."

Known for his blues harmonica and keyboard playing, Mayall had a Grammy nomination, for Wake Up Call which featured guest artists Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Mick Taylor and Albert Collins.

He received a second nomination in 2022 for his album The Sun Is Shining Down and was made an OBE in 2005.

He was selected for the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class and his 1966 album Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton is considered one of the best British blues albums.

Born on November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Mayall once said, "The only reason I was born in Macclesfield was because my father was a drinker, and that's where his favourite pub was."

His father also played guitar and banjo, and his records of boogie-woogie piano captivated his teenage son.

Mayall said he learned to play the piano one hand at a time - a year on the left hand, a year on the right, "so I wouldn't get all tangled up."

The piano was his main instrument, though he also performed on guitar and harmonica, as well as singing in a distinctive, strained-sounding voice. Aided only by drummer Keef Hartley, Mayall played all the other instruments for his 1967 album Blues Alone.

Mayall was often called the "father of British blues," but when he moved to London in 1962 he aimed to soak up the nascent blues scene led by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Eric Burdon were among others drawn to the sound.

The Bluesbreakers drew on a fluid community of musicians who drifted in and out of various bands.

Mayall's 1968 album Blues from Laurel Canyon signalled a permanent move to the United States and a change in direction. He disbanded the Bluesbreakers and worked with two guitars and drums.

The 1970s found Mayall a low ebb personally, but still touring and doing more than 100 shows a year.

In 1982, he reformed the Bluesbreakers, recruiting Taylor and McVie, but after two years the personnel changed again.

In 2008, Mayall announced that he was permanently retiring the Bluesbreaker name, and in 2013 he was leading the John Mayall Band.

A statement on Mayall's Instagram page said the musician died Monday at his home in California
A statement on Mayall's Instagram page said the musician died Monday at his home in California. Picture: Alamy

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Artist's impression of the new national biosecurity centre at Weybridge, Surrey

New centre to tackle 'risk of future pandemics' gets billion-pound investment

Screenings for cervical cancer save at least 2,000 lives each year in the UK

NHS to offer at-home cervical cancer screening test kits that 'could save 5,000 lives per year'

Zelensky visits 10 Downing Street for talks with Keir Starmer on Monday

Zelensky warns Putin could launch an attack on NATO 'within five years'

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt arriving at the F1 The Movie premiere in Leicester Square.

'Interview with the Vampire' co-stars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise make 'surprise' public reunion after 24 years

The first Brits are arriving in the UK after being evacuated from Israel.

First Brits rescued from Israel touch down at Heathrow Airport as more to arrive in coming days

The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) said professionals are in distress

Stretched mental health services leaving psychiatrists ‘in emotional and ethical distress’

Jobs will be created at warehouses in locations including Hull and Northampton

Amazon’s new UK warehouses to hire thousands as Starmer hails ‘win’ for Britain

Iran has launched an attack on a US military base.

Trump claims Israel and Iran have agreed 'complete and total ceasefire' in wake of Iranian strike on US air base

A Qatar Airways flight from Manchester was forced to divert earlier this evening

UK flight bound for Doha forced to turn back after Iran launches missiles at US air base in Qatar

Sir Keir Starmer will fly to the Hague today for crunch meetings against a backdrop of global volatility in the Middle East and Ukraine.

UK and NATO allies to include 'money spent on tackling small boats' to boost defence spending in bid to appease Trump

The

Thousands raised after family die in motorway crash - daughter, 8, is only survivor

Kate Shemirani, conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer and former nurse

Daughter of notorious conspiracy theorist died of cancer after 'falling for mother's theories', her brothers say

Emma Raducanu during a practice session during Eastbourne Open, where she is currently competing

Raducanu says Wimbledon 'did amazing job' after stalker tried to buy match tickets

Large fire engulfs the abandoned Hotspur Press mill building near Oxford Road in Central Manchester. Credit Milo Chandler/Alamy Live News

Major fire in Manchester city centre causes serious disruption

Notorious criminal John 'Goldfinger' Palmer was murdered at his home in Brentwood in Essex in 2015. His killer has never been found

Who killed John 'Goldfinger' Palmer? Police make fresh appeal 10 years after his death

An RAF flight has left Israel carrying 63 UK nationals and their dependents, as the UK government begins evacuating British citizens from the country amid ongoing attacks between Iran and Israel.

First RAF flight evacuates 63 Britons from Israel as Lammy confirms one UK national injured in Iran missile attacks