Walter Becker died on September 3. He was 67 years old. Becker was best known for his work as the lead guitarist of the 2001 Hall of Fame inductee Steely Dan, where he co-wrote iconic classic rock albums such as Aja and Pretzel Logic. Musicians from a variety of musical genres, such as Julian Lennon (John Lennon’s son), expressed their grief over his passing.

Becker was born on February 3, 1950, in Queens, New York. He died following a lengthy but unreported illness. At the end of his illness, he was bed-ridden and unable to perform his music. Becker missed what would have been his last two scheduled Steely Dan concerts, Classic West (Dodgers Stadium in Los Angeles) and Classic East (Citi Field Stadium in Flushing, Queens). In his career Steely Dan was never a touring band; instead the band spent time in recording studio.

Steely Dan, is a jazz rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, with pianist Donald Fagen, Becker, and drummer Chevy Chase, who later left to become a comedian.  The members were attending Bard College when Fagen saw Becker performing at a coffee shop. Fagen was so impressed that he went up to Becker to ask if he wanted to be in a band with him. “When we first started to do this kind of stuff, and when Donald and I were writing songs and showing them to people, I sang a lot of the songs because I sang much louder,” said Becker in a 2008 interview with Time Out New York. Before they became known officially as Steely Dan, they were in multiple jazz groups prior to recruiting other members.

Steely Dan became best known for its album Aja and songs like “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number”, and “Reeling in the Years.”  “They were so in control of every single note,” said Fabrizio Francese, a former roadie and session musician, who once sat in on a Steely Dan rehearsal. “They stopped and said, ‘Oh, you guys missed this note at the fourth measure, note 3.’ And they were right! Somebody in the brass section had just slightly, and uh, [added] a little inflection on one note, and they wanted to make it better”, added Francese.  Many artists, including Cake, Boz Scaggs, Ice Cube, and Mark Ronson have cited Steely Dan as an important musical influence.

Fagen, the sole member left in the band, recently announced a tour, starting on October 12, that will be dedicated to Becker. The tour will kick off in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In a tribute to Becker, Fagen said, “I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band.”