FRANKLIN, TN - Duane Eddy, one of rock’s first guitar heroes and an idol of George Harrison, Jeff Beck, John Fogerty, Dan Auerbach, and many other guitar-slingers who followed, has died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 86.

A source close to the family confirmed Eddy’s death to Rolling Stone.

Released in 1958, Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser” wasn’t the first instrumental hit, but it was one of the most arresting. Arriving just a few years into the birth of rock & roll, “Rebel Rouser” announced that the raucous new genre was impacting even non-vocal music: The echoey, vibrato-drenched twang of Eddy’s guitar sounded like a space-age version of an Old West TV-series theme. Subsequent singles, like “Forty Miles of Bad Road,” built on that foundation.

Born in New York state, Eddy, who began playing guitar around the time he was in kindergarten, spent his teenage years in Arizona after his family relocated there. At a local radio station, he met producer and songwriter Lee Hazelwood and the two went on to record “Rebel Rouser,” a galloping blast of twangy guitar and saxophone.

Story Date: May 4, 2024