Hilton Valentine, guitarist for The Animals, dead at 77

Hilton Valentine, guitarist for British rock and roll band, The Animals, has died. He was 77.

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Valentine died Friday, wife Germaine Valentine told his record label ABKCO Music who confirmed his death. A cause was not released.

“Valentine was a pioneering guitar player influencing the sound of rock and roll for decades to come,” the label said in a statement.

Valentine started strumming a guitar when he was 13. Skiffle, a genre that fused American folk, country, jazz and blues, and became popular in the British Isles was an early influence. Valentine started his skiffle band, The Heppers. The band evolved into The Wildcats, which were a popular group throughout north England.

Valentine formed The Animals in 1963. The lineup included singer Eric Burdon, bassist Chas Chandler, organist Alan Price and drummer John Steel.

The band’s biggest hit was 1964′s “The House of the Rising Sun,” which topped charts in the U.S. and the U.K. The guitar riff is one of the most notable and a rite of passage for guitar players learning the instrument.

“The opening opus of Rising Sun will never sound the same,” Burdon said on social media. “You didn’t just play it, you lived it! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton’s passing.”

Valentine performed with the band for four years and was part of other hits including “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” and “Don’t Bring Me Down.”

The Animals were inducted into the Rock and Roll in 1994.

Valentine had more recently been living in Connecticut and performing in a skiffle band, Skiffledog.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Cox Media Group