Allan Holdsworth - R.I.P.

[Studio Custom]

Just now, MCChris said:

Exceptions to the rule. Those guys also linked up with the likes of Roth, Hagar and Coverdale (didn't Vai get a big chunk of change just for joining Whitesnake?).

At G4 Vai let it be known he made his money by being on the forefront of downloading.  When downloading was just starting and there wasn't much content he sold millions of copies of Flexible.  But if I recall, he was paid $1m to finish the WS album and tour for Adrian Vanderburg. 

Satch basically said he makes about $500k a year with endorsements and touring. 

[sixesandsevens]

RIP

[MCChris]

So according to this he died with a net worth of $260K. But not all of those assets are necessarily liquid, nor do his next of kin necessarily have access to his assets if there was no will. 

[DBraz]

25 minutes ago, MCChris said:

So according to this he died with a net worth of $260K. But not all of those assets are necessarily liquid, nor do his next of kin necessarily have access to his assets if there was no will. 

Thats really sad.  Music, for most, is indeed a hard living.  

[Studio Custom]

32 minutes ago, MCChris said:

So according to this he died with a net worth of $260K. But not all of those assets are necessarily liquid, nor do his next of kin necessarily have access to his assets if there was no will. 

It's not much for someone of his fame, but we have no idea how he lived or spent his earnings.  Either way you slice it, it's not good for someone 70.  As you said, it might just be his half of equity in his home. 

[tbonesullivan]

Another problem, which is unfortunately widespread in the musical industry and entertainment in general, is that business sense and investment sense does not really abound. Things like life insurance, smart investments, etc etc don't really come naturally. Many also hear that someone's "Got a guy" who can make their money into more, so instead of going to somewhere reputable like Lynch, Edward Jones, etc and putting their money into mutual funds and other stable investments, they give it to people who lose it all.

That's why pink floyd had to take that whole tax holiday from the UK: the company that was going to make them tons of money blew it all, and they didn't have enough left to pay their own taxes.

But to get back on track, if he died without a will, it can take years to sort everything out, especially if it is a complicated family unit. Without a basic life insurance policy, finding money in all that for the funeral expenses can be a PITA. We also do not know the circumstances of his death, and there may be a bunch of incoming medical costs they need to worry about as well.

[redline]

I was lucky enough to see UK in 1978, 2nd row. Life changing.

RIP guitar nut craft beer guy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eirykuoehA

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e9rt4UeTNU

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeGzkdijeEA

[ARM OF HAMER]

                       Most of these type of "INSTRUMENTAL" Jazz/Rock/Fusion musicians don't make a ton of cash. [Its the genre of this type music which is awe inspiring to see and hear someone play with such command of a instrument but it is really only appreciated by a few,many who are musicians themselves]........Vai and Satch would be the exception along with a few others.They don't have health insurance along with many of the other things you need for backup when things go south.I don't have any "Insider knowledge" about Allan's personal life  but I remember a tour not long ago that was supposed to happen and didn't...............health?.............one can only speculate.I saw him and Ronnie Montrose together long ago, another brilliant guitarist who played the type of music he wanted to and did not make a lot of cash doing it.I for one I'm not surprised at his current net worth but like has been mentioned I have no idea how he used his income such as it was.

                                                                                 

[Brooks]

Satch and even Vai's music is waaaay more accessible than AH's music. His melodic & harmonic ideas are complex and somewhat challenging to listen to even for a guitar geek like me. He was a true innovator. RIP

I love his 70s era sideman stuff like Lifetime & Bruford;

 

[Boomerang~Junkie]

Its nice to see at least the GFM page has blown the top of its fundraising goal of $20K, so the family won't be stuck in a financial bind over his funeral costs.

These last few years have been brutal on the music industry.  Um, um, um - that must be one BAD-ASS jam session the Big Man is conducting up there . . . . 

RIP.

 

[Hamer_SS_guy]

Have been a fan of his when I bought his Road Games album in 1985. Have lots of his albums and the material he did with UK, Lifetime, Tempest, Bruford, Gong... great player. I really liked the Road Games and the Secrets albums, and the one he didn't want published, Velvet Darkness. Sad, to see so many artists go now. It's so hard to see them go, probably because nobody of the newer artists have an impact on me anymore. For me, it is like seeing the whole music scene dying and a bit of being stuck in the past...

[KH Guitar Freak]

I still remember one of the instructional videos he did that he mentioned that he didn't even like the guitar THAT much. He was probably more into saxophone or something. That guy has a quirky but nice sense of humour. RIP

[Pieman]

On ‎4‎/‎17‎/‎2017 at 9:58 AM, Studio Custom said:

You would had hoped he would have been making good money at his craft.  I guess not. 

 

 

You would be surprised how many people die suddenly without leaving cash on hand to pay the funeral director or the cemetery, etc.  leaving that up to the family to come up with the money - - and at a terribly challenging time emotionally.

[Brooks]

Frank Gambale:

I am deeply saddened to hear the news about my friend and musical guitar genius Allan Holdsworth’s death.
I loved him. I’ll never forget the first time I heard him was on Jean-luc Ponty’s Enigmatic Ocean. His solos and tone on the first tune and that album are what stands in my mind as some of the most beautiful brilliant guitar playing ever recorded. From there I went on to discover more and more amazing guitar playing with Tony Williams Lifetime and his solo albums were mind-bending. I was about 17 at this time. A kid from Canberra, Australia and by this time had been playing guitar since I was 5 or 6 yet I had absolutely no idea what he was doing and I had absolutely no idea how to even begin playing like that. He quickly became a genius I classified as inimitable.

I loved what he stood for. I loved his uncompromising musicality and innovation on the guitar. He carved a path where no one had gone before. To lead is MUCH harder than to follow. He led. He led multitudes of guitar players and indeed players of all instruments into wildly new possibilities. He bent our ears. His music was deeply complex, like an Einstein equation on a blackboard that often times left most listeners bewildered, confused, uncomfortable, disoriented….but for those of us who had spent many years playing and studying music, revering those unique humans that go far beyond what we think is possible, we got it!
I wrote Allan a letter many years ago praising him as highly and as eloquently as I could because, I got it. I wanted him to know that I got it and I told him, because I wanted him to know, that what he had achieved was brilliant, genius, art in its highest and purest innovative form and that I loved him for it. I told him also that, whether or not the world, that often celebrates talentless, insipid, pointless and over-hyped pseudo music genius’, understood or valued his greatness, I most certainly did. We had a deep understanding and mutual respect for one another.

He was a gentle, self-deprecating fellow who was full of the British quirky wit. My first encounter with him was on my first Elektric Band tour. I was new (1986). Allan Holdsworth Trio was opening for us every night of the tour. So I had to go on after his genius guitar playing every night. It was an incredible trial by fire for me. I was a huge fan even back then and was in awe of him really. Alan was so funny and me, being Australian, we had an instant rapport, the ice was quickly broken and it led to decades of paths crossing.
None was more special than the “Truth In Shredding” album. The title was named by Mark Varney, the label owner, who was a huge fan of both Allan and myself. His dream was to put us together on an album. We both hated the title…shredding indeed! Anyway, the album deal stipulated that Alan and I must play a solo of at least 3 minutes in length on every track. I had to time the solo chord sequences and count choruses to add up to over 3 minutes…anyway, it was a great experience working with him and mixing and watching his process. He was the most meticulous person with tone. He had no problem tweaking for hours on a solo tone. A true perfectionist and master of audio as well as the guitar and music.
I remember being inches away from his hands on the guitar and thinking to myself, what on Earth are you playing? I couldn’t even understand it even from that kind of proximity. It was as if an alien had landed from another planet. He would often say the same thing about me and every time he did I would throw it right back at him. This would pretty much be our banter and how we greeted each other every time we saw each other. A back-and-forth of praise. “Allan you’re a genius!
He’d say: “No you!
Me: “No, no…YOU!
Alan “No YOU”…etcetera, and then laughter and hugs.

He could play through ANY chords, even 10 chords a bar like a hot knife through butter.
All those genius chords, chord-melody, heads to his compositions were truly like modern Classical music and then he would proceed to solo over them in a truly other-wordly way. His linear playing was as spectacular as his chords. No one plays like him, many have tried imitating him, but no one really came close. He was way ahead. Way ahead. Still is. Maybe in 50 years from now, when the world catches up, people will appreciate him more. I hope so. He was sadly under-compensated throughout his time on this planet.

Sadly, like many under-appreciated geniuses in this world, he died penniless. It hurts my heart to know this. So sad that the world couldn’t support such a great artist while he was alive! There is a crowd -funding link below to support the family for the memorial services.
Please give generously, I will be.

Allan, you will be missed. NAMM 2017 was the last time I gave you a BIG hug and told you how great you are. Sadly I won’t have more opportunities to do that.
Your legacy will live on through your music and the influence you have had on the music community. My deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.
Rest in peace my brother in arms.  

- Frank Gambale

[FGJ]

On April 16, 2017 at 2:24 PM, ARM OF HAMER said:

                                            

 

I don't know if he's a big guy with big hands or what, because that guitar seems a bit tiny compared to him. In any case, he was truly an impressive player. I only bought one of his albums decades ago, which, at the time was way ahead of my ability to really appreciate it.

[veatch]

Huge hands. The first time I saw him, I understood why I had such a hard time with some of those fancy chords he plays. 

[jwhitcomb3]

Sad to see another pioneer go. I was never able to connect with his music, but I appreciated his skill and fearless innovation.