John Mayall Dies: British Music Icon Whose Bluesbreakers Featured Eric Clapton, Peter Green & Others Was 90

Erik Pedersen
·4 min read
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John Mayall Dies: British Music Icon Whose Bluesbreakers Featured Eric Clapton, Peter Green & Others Was 90

John Mayall, the newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose group the Blues Breakers helped nurture many British music legends including Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and several future members of Fleetwood Mac, died Monday in California. He was 90.

His family released a statement on social media confirming the news but gave few details other than citing “health issues.”

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“It is with heavy hearts that we bear the news that John Mayall passed away peacefully in his California home yesterday, July 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family,” the Instagram post reads. “Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors.”

Heralded as “The Godfather of British Blues,” singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mayall had a love of American blues and jazz — and a gift for spotting young talent. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, he said of the blues: “[It has] always been about that raw honesty with which [it expresses] our experiences in life, something which all comes together in this music, in the words as well. Something that is connected to us, common to our experiences.” He added, “To be honest, I don’t think anyone really knows exactly what it is. I just can’t stop playing it.”

He launched the Bluesbreakers in 1963, and during the 1960s the group would include a who’s-who of British blues and rock royalty, from Clapton and Peter Green to Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Aynsley Dunbar and future Rolling Stone Mick Taylor. The group was a commercial force in the Swinging ’60s UK, with five Top 10 LPs from 1966-70. Their 1966 debut Blues Breakers featured hotshot young guitarist Clapton, who had just left The Yardbirds and whose fiery fretwork inspired “Clapton is God” graffiti.

Slowhand left the group in 1966 and was replaced by Green, who left in 1967 to found the first edition of Fleetwood Mac with Bluesbreakers drummer Fleetwood and bassist McVie. Green was replaced by Taylor, who split in 1969 to join The Rolling Stones after Brian Jones’ death.

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Mayall and the band found intermittent success in the U.S., charting nearly 20 albums from 1968-75. Among the biggest was The Turning Point (1969), a live disc that went gold and peaked at No. 32. The group’s biggest Stateside chart success was 1970’s USA Union, which featured recent Canned Heat departees Larry Taylor and Harvey Mandel and reached No. 22.

Born on November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, Mayall moved to London in 1963, at the behest of his friend Alexis Korner, to pursue a music career after a stint in the British military. He formed the Bluesbreakers late that year with McVie, Peter Ward and others and began gigging around town. Roster changes were numerous.

Bruce joined the band for a spell in 1965 but left to join Manfred Mann and later would team with Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker in Cream, which saw massive success on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dunbar played in the Bluesbreakers in 1966-67 and played on some of their subsequent albums before going to drum for Frank Zappa, David Bowie and later Journey and Jefferson Starship.

John Mayall dead
John Mayall in the 1980s

Mayall relocated to Los Angeles in 1969 and continued to front bands. He has released dozens of albums and scored two Grammy nominations — nearly 30 years apart. Wake Up Call was up for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 1993, and his final disc, The Sun Is Shining Down, earned a nom for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2022.

Along the way, Mayall has worked with the likes of Joe Walsh, Steven Van Zandt, Alex Lifeson, Billy Gibbons, Otis Rush, Billy Preston, Marcus King and Walter Trout.

He was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005, inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2016 and elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a “Musical Influence” this year, alongside Korner and Big Mama Thornton. He continued to record and tour until about two years ago.

Mayall is survived by his children Gaz, Jason, Red, Ben, Zak and Samson, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

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