“He hopped on a plane and flew in to do literally 20 seconds of notes... That was the last thing he recorded for the record”: Nile Rodgers worked with Stevie Ray Vaughan during his rapid ascent – and oversaw the guitar hero's final recording session

Stevie Ray Vaughan (left) plays his iconic #1 Strat onstage, Nile Rodgers, seated, holds an ESP guitar.

Guitar World's December 1990 issue was dedicated to Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was tragically killed on August 27 of that year in a helicopter crash.

The accident came just as Vaughan was in the midst of a new ascendancy. Having kicked the substance abuse problems that dogged him throughout the mid-'80s, the guitar hero had returned to the limelight in grand style in 1989 with the classic In Step album.