Jim Beard, best known as Steely Dan’s keyboardist, passed away at the age of 63 due to complications from a sudden illness.
Beard’s representative confirmed the news of the musicians’ move to Variety in a sentence. It was revealed that Beard died in a New York hospital surrounded by his loved ones. Steely Dan’s bandmates also posted a special tribute to Beard on their website.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of our friend and colleague,” the post reads. “Jim Barba 1960-2024”.
Variety reports that during his successful music career, Beard had participated in several world tours for Pat Metheny, McLaughlin and Shorter, and Steely Dan. He joined Steely Dan as the group’s keyboardist in 2008.
He had been traveling and performing with the group for the Eagles’ tour. long goodbye route. His last performance with Steely Dan took place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 20.
Beard was nominated for seven Grammy Awards during his career. He won in 2007 for his performance in A little Skunk Funk with the Brecker brothers. He also recorded six solo albums, his last album being Show of hands in 2013.
Jim Beard is survived by his son and daughter, Victor and Caitlin Beard, as well as his mother, Sarah, his sister Nancy Canale, and his brother, Bill Beard.
Jim Beard once said that he first became a musician when he was four years old.
During a 2011 interview, Jim Beard talked about when he first became interested in music.
“I remember I was 4 years old. “My dad was kind of a tech nerd, he built our TV from a kit, he built our stereo from a kit,” he explained. “We had a weird stereo, one of the speakers was in a cabinet on the living room floor and the other was in the ceiling on the other side of the room.”
“But when I was young, my idea of a good time was just lying on the floor in front of the speaker and listening to records. Anything from…a lot of that was Herb Albert records…”
Jim Beard also said that he started taking classical music lessons when he was six years old. He had the same teacher for about 12 years and participated in competitions. He later earned a degree in music from Indiana University.
“After that, I went on a cruise for a year, planning to save money to move to New York. But I didn’t save any money! And I moved to New York anyway.”
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn