“Stevie Ray Vaughan was a little worse for wear. He was eating KFC out of a box and then ate the box as well”: Jeff Beck’s wild tales of Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Frank Zappa

Jeff Beck posing for a photograph with a guitar in 2009.

Jeff Beck was the guitar hero’s guitar hero. The British axeman – who died in 2023 – dazzled with his sizzling six-string sonics for more than half a century. From the psych-tinged R&B of The Yardbirds, to the Jeff Beck Group with Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart, to the radio-friendly jazz/rock instrumental masterpiece Blow By Blow, a Who’s Who of guest appearances (Mick Jagger, Roger Waters, Brian May, Paul Rodgers, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner) and beyond, Beck he constantly exploring and moving forward. In 2009, he sat down with Classic Rock to look back on some of his more memorable encounters.