From HansonMusic twitter…
Well I just got the news that Les Paul one of musics pioneers died today at 94. I had the pleasure in 2004 of meeting and playing with him. The first new guitar I bought was a black and gold Les Paul studio (it is the sound MMMBop) and in 2004 I also got him to sign it. He was funny and a pleasure to talk to and I have never been more nervous on stage than that night (I forgot how to play for half the song even though I had played it 70 times before, how embarrassing). He also told me the story of his car wreck that happened on a icy road in Oklahoma on his way to Tulsa to see Bob Wills that almost ended his ability to play guitar at all (he had the Dr set his broken right arm so that he could still pick the guitar even though it would be permanent) Now that is Rock ‘n’ Roll! If it were not for Les and his inventions,
such as multi-track tape machines and solid body guitars (Gibson Les Paul) music today would be very different and HANSON too. Thank You Les for you talents, ingenuity, and my guitar it was an honor to have met and played with you. You will be missed -I (T & Z)P.S. Les was a BLAZING guitarist check out his Essentials Collection on iTunes. Amazing!!!