R.I.P. Allan Holdsworth

From Ultimate-Guitar:

Guitar legend Allan Holdsworth passed away today (April 16) at the age of 70.

His daughter Louise stated via Facebook: "It is with heavy hearts that we notify everyone of the passing of our beloved father.

"We would appreciate privacy and time while we grieve the loss of our dad, grandad, friend and musical genius.

"We will update close friends and family when service arrangements have been made and will notify the public of an open memorial service, which all would be welcome.

"We are undeniably still in shock with his unexpected death and cannot begin to put into words the overwhelming sadness we are experiencing. He is missed tremendously. -Louise, Sam, Emily & Rori."

Mostly known for his work in the realm of jazz fusion, Mr. Holdsworth was cited as one of the key influences of a wide array of guitar players, including Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Shawn Lane, John Petrucci, Alex Lifeson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Guthrie Govan, Michael Romeo, Tom Morello, Richie Kotzen, and even Frank Zappa, who once called Allan "one of the most interesting guys on guitar on the planet."

Guthrie Govan once said about Holdsworth: "I think it's potentially dangerous when a rock type player hears a bit of Allan Holdsworth or Frank Gambale and then dives straight into that style of playing; not only is the technical aspect daunting, there's also all that musical knowledge and understanding going on behind the scenes, and it's really hard to absorb both of those aspects at once without your playing just starting to sound worse."

Several months back, Tom Morello singled out Holdsworth's 1985 track "Metal Fatigue" as the No. 1 song that inspired him to think outside the box as a guitarist, telling Music Radar:

"The big introduction to outside playing for me was Allan Holdsworth. I remember a friend of mine playing me his song 'Metal Fatigue.' And admittedly, while the singing is kinda hokey, the guitar playing is insane. It was the first time I heard someone go outside of the expected melodic parameters, and that sounded fantastic to me.

"The DigiTech Whammy pedal felt like such a revelation when I got one in 1991 - I had been trying to find a way to approximate the harmonizer used on that Allan Holdsworth song. I bought a rack harmonizer but I couldn't even figure it out."

Rest in peace, icon.

This one really hits hard for me.

R.I.P.

I posted about this one on Facebook, didn't figure many here would give too much of a shit. Holdsworth was one of the all-time greats. He was like the Coltrane of the guitar, forreal.

a true innovator