The Musician

Les Paul’s impact on countless artists from Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen, and Slash to Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, and Chet Atkins speaks to his status as a music legend whose virtuosic playing extended across all genres including jazz, country, R&B, and Rock.

As an artist, his breakthrough recording, “Lover” (1948), showcased a number of his studio innovations. These innovations led to hits with his wife Mary Ford including “How High The Moon” and 16 Top Ten songs between 1950 and 1954. His achievements are in stark contrast to an early letter from a teacher to his mother, which said: “Your boy, Lester, will never learn music.”

Les Paul’s musical career started in the Midwest as a teen playing in country bands as Red Hot Red and in his subsequent incarnation as Rhubarb Red. Before WWII, he formed the Les Paul trio. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Les Paul had a highly successful, performance and television career with Mary Ford.

After a lifetime of recordings, his final 2005 multi-Grammy award-winning album, American Made, World Played, featured Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Sting, and Eric Clapton. The album demonstrated his continued influence on many of the world’s greatest musicians.

To see more of Les Paul’s awards click here.