With the news last week that guitar legend Les Paul passed away at age 94, I asked a couple of Christian musicians to share some thoughts on the man who changed the music industry:

“Les Paul was an absolute pioneer in the recording of music, as well as the overall tone and sustain that electric guitars can now create. Everyone can be inspired by what he did.”

“Les Paul was one of those free-thinking individuals, so rare in human history, who looked at things as they were and asked, What if? His early work on amplified instruments led to one of the first and most successful electric solid-body guitars, the Gibson Les Paul, still a top seller after nearly sixty years. His invention of multi-track technology literally changed music recording forever. Today’s music fans may not know it, but whenever they listen to their favorite songs they are being impacted by the God-given creativity and pioneering work of Les Paul. We will miss him!”

“Les Paul was not only an inspiration to me and millions of guitarists around the world. He was also an innovater in areas most people don’t know about. I (being a producer as well as a musician) see his invention of overdubbing in a studio environment as being pure genious. Also, his innovations with delays (sound on sound) paved the way for us to have experimental guitarists such as the Edge and Jimi Hendrix. Where would we be without them? Les Paul will be missed. His humble attitude and pure love of his instrument is inspiring. Hopefully he’s smiling down and playing right now…”

“Les Paul, the creator of the iconic guitar that bears his name, died this week at the age of 94. In addition to his world-famous guitar designs, he also pioneered multi-track recording, a standard recording tool for today’s music. This was a man passionate about music, who continued to play guitar into his 90’s, and even had his arm set in a guitar-playing position after breaking it severely in 1948. He contributed more to music than I can fully grasp. Everyone making their living in the music business owes Les Paul a massive debt, and he will be dearly missed.”

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