Keith Levine, guitarist for Clash and Public Image Ltd, dies at 65

Keith Levine, the founding guitarist for both clash And the Public Image Ltdhis partner died Kate Ransford and the author Adam Hammond has been confirmed. “It is with great sadness that I have reported that my good friend and legendary Public Image Limited guitarist Keith Levine passed away on Friday 11 November.” chirp Hammond. “Our thoughts and our love go to his partner Kate, his sister Jill, and all of Keith’s family and friends. The world is a darker place without his genius. I would be darker without my companion.” Levine was 65 years old.

Born Julian Keith Levine on July 18, 1957 in London, England, he fell in love with music as a child and gravitated towards ska, Bruges rock, and the Beatles. He started playing guitar in his teens and became obsessed with “yes”, greeting Steve Howe “The Greatest Guitarist in the World.” Levine wandered after attending the Yes concerts and gradually began to crawl upstage to break gear, offering to help with the tour. When he turned 15, Levine got a job on the road for Yes to clean Alan White’s cymbals and change the trap on the close to the edge a tour. When Levine tried to join the crew on Rick Wakeman’s next solo tour, Wakeman—who noticed Levine playing instruments constantly but was slow to set them up—convinced him to give up being a road and try playing music instead.

When he was 16, Levine visited west London and met Mick Jones for the first time. The two became instant friends and decided to form a band together. It is known that Levine and Bernard Rhodes, manager of the Jones London SS squad, persuaded Joe Stromer to leave his 101ers to join Clash. “[We] I talked Joe to come over to my seat at Shepherd’s Bush,” Levine explained. “I was playing guitar with him and playing some 101 notes. He said, ‘Hey man, I just love you and the way you play the guitar.'” So I said, “Are you going to do that?” And we got him into Clash.” After screwing up guitarist Paul Simonon and drummer Terry Chimes, they officially debuted on Clash in July 1976.

In September 1976, Clash fired Levene for claiming that he was no longer interested in the project. Before they parted ways, Levine co-wrote a few songs with Clash, one of them being (“What is my name”) to appear on their first self-titled album.

In 1978, Levine and John Lydon formed Public Image Ltd, using Jah Wobble for bass and Jim Walker on drums, and released their debut album, General picture: first issue. He soon established his own rocking playing style and what would define him as a guitarist. Levin said in an interview. “I didn’t do my best to be different. I only had an ear for what was wrong. So if I did something wrong, ie make a mistake or do something that wasn’t key, I was open enough to listen to it again.”