Les Paul

Les Paul created a solid-body electric guitar in 1941, but Leo Fender mass-produced the Fender Broadcaster four years before it was ready for production by Gibson in 1952, depriving Paul of the popular credit for the innovation. Nevertheless, the Les Paul gained a devoted fanbase, and many rock guitarists preferred it because of its adaptability and balance.

Lester William Polsfuss was born Les Paul on June 9, 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Paul's early musical prowess, according to at least one source, wasn't exceptional. One teacher told his mother that Lester would never be able to learn how to play the piano. He trained himself to play the harmonica, guitar, and banjo as a young youngster, but no one could stop him from trying.

Paul began performing in country bands in the Midwest by the time he was a teenager. As the Rhubarb Red, he also performed live on St. Louis radio stations.

In 1941, Paul, a perfectionist, thought he could outdo the standard amplified guitar. To do this, he gave what was essentially a wooden board with a guitar neck strings and two pickups. Paul referred to it as "the log," and despite some early criticism, mostly over its appearance, it provided the exact sound its inventor was seeking.

Paul met the former Colleen Summers, a vocalist who had played with Gene Autry's band, after divorcing his first wife, Virginia Webb. She started recording with Paul under the alias Mary Ford. Les Paul and Mary Ford at Home, their own television program, ran for the most of the 1950s after they got married in 1949.

Paul's reputation and legend in the music business only grew in his senior years. Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Sting, and Eric Clapton were among the musicians that appeared on his final studio album, American Made, World Played, which was released in 2005. Two Grammy Awards went to Paul for the record.

Paul passed away on August 12, 2009, following pneumonia-related complications, according to the publication Rolling Stone. While his gravestone in Waukesha, Wisconsin, states August 12 as the precise day, other sources indicate August 13 as the death date. Along with his mother, Paul was buried in the Prairie Home Cemetery.