Leslie West
The musician dies at the age of 75 after a cardiac arrest
Leslie West was a founding member of Mountain.
© imago images / ZUMA Press
Leslie West of the hard rock band Mountain is dead. The 75-year-old musician died on Wednesday as a result of cardiac arrest.
He was a founding member of the hard rock band Mountain ("Mississippi Queen") and stood with her on the legendary stage in Woodstock in 1969: Leslie West (1945-2020) is dead. The musician died on Wednesday morning (December 23) after he suffered cardiac arrest two days earlier.
Larry West Weinstein confirmed the news of his brother's death to the music magazine "Rolling Stone". Accordingly, he was already hospitalized on Monday (December 21) as a result of a cardiac arrest near the city of Daytona (US state Florida). He did not regain consciousness in the following days.
Leslie West, a contemporary of Eric Clapton (75, "Tears In Heaven") and Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970, "Voodoo Child"), founded Mountain in 1969 with Felix Pappalardi (1939-1983), Steve Knight (1935-2013) ) and Corky Laing (72). The group saw themselves as a follow-up to the rock formation Cream ("White Room") and celebrated their breakthrough at the legendary Woodstock Festival in the same year. Over the decades, Mountain formed again and again, the band was for many fans as the first hard rock band in the world.
"Mississippi Queen" was heard on "The Simpsons"
The track "Mississippi Queen", which appeared on Mountain's debut album "Climbing!" In 1970, will be particularly remembered. The song has been part of countless soundtracks as well as the animated series "The Simpsons" and was imitated by guitar amateurs in the game "Guitar Hero III".
Thoroughbred musician West, who was amputated part of his right leg in 2011 due to his diabetes, also worked with numerous other musicians throughout his life. Among them: The Who ("Pinball Wizzard") and Ozzy Osbourne (72, "Ordinary Man").