Legendary blues guitarist John Mayall has passed away, aged 90.

Although John was born in nearby Macclesfield, he spent his formative years in Cheadle Hulme, where he grew up and went to school. He is, then, an honorary son of Stockport.

His dad was also a guitarist who would play in local pubs. John was a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, having mastered not just the guitar, but also harmonica and piano.

John Mayall is well-known for his work with his band The Bluesbreakers. (Image - CC 2.0 Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence Photo Credit perole originally posted to Flickr as John Mayall 1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Mayall_1.jpg Unchanged)

He has been described as 'the Godfather of the British Blues', and had a crucial role in cementing the American Blues tradition in the UK.

To say John played alongside the best would not be an exaggeration. His Bluesbreakers band saw him play alongside the likes of Eric Clapton and Peter Green, and later in his career he played with Joe Bonamassa, Gary Moore, Walter Trout.

John was and will always remain Blues royalty, as much a stalwart of that lineage as BB King and Robert Johnson.

He was known as one of the oldest living active musicians, and earlier this year he was announced as one of 16 new inductees in the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

John Mayall, aged 37, pictured performing in 1970. He is credited with generating huge interest in the 1960s blues revival. (Image - Public Domain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Mayall_(1970).png)

John Mayall's death was announced on his official accounts on social media.

A statement on Instagram read: "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.

"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.

"John Mayall gave us ninety years of tireless efforts to educate, inspire and entertain. 

"In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, John reflected, '[blues] is about – and it's 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.'

"That raw honesty, connection, community and playing of his will continue to affect the music and culture we experience today, and for generations to come. 

"An appointed OBE (Officer of the British Empire), 2x Grammy-nominated artist and recent inductee to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, John is survived by his six children, Gaz, Jason, Red, Ben, Zak and Samson, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

He was made an OBE in 2005. (Image - CC-BY 2.0 Gary Chvatal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Mayall_80s.jpg Unchanged)

"He is also surrounded with love by his previous wives, Pamela and Maggie, his devoted secretary, Jane, and his close friends. We, the Mayall family, cannot thank his fans and long-list of bandmembers enough for the support and love we were blessed to experience secondhand over the last six decades. 

"John closed that same Guardian interview by reflecting further on the blues, "To be honest, I don't think anyone really knows exactly what it is. I just can't stop playing it." Keep on playing the blues somewhere, John. We love you."

The late blues legend can be listened to on Spotify with his band The Bluesbreakers and as a solo artist.

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