Bernie Marsden, the acclaimed rock and blues guitarist best known as a founding member of Whitesnake, has died. A note on his official website reads, “On behalf of his family, it is with deep sadness we announce the death of Bernie Marsden. Bernie died peacefully on Thursday evening with his wife, Fran, and daughters, Charlotte and Olivia, by his side. Bernie never lost his passion for music, writing and recording new songs until the end.” No cause of death was provided. He was 72.

Marsden was born in Buckingham, UK in 1951. In 1972, after a few years playing with various local Buckingham bands, he got his first professional music gig with a brief stint as a guitarist for the London hard rock band UFO. He spent most of the ’70s playing in bands like Wild Turkey, Cozy Powell’s Hammer, Babe Ruth, and the Deep Purple offshoot Paice Ashton Lord. When the latter band folded in 1978, Marsden and another guitarist named Micky Moody teamed with Deep Purple singer David Coverdale to form Whitesnake.

In Whitesnake, Marsden helped to define the glammy arena rock style that would come to be known as hair metal. He was a key songwriter for the group, contributing to tracks including “Fool For Your Loving” and the American #1 hit “Here I Go Again.” Whitesnake first released “Here I Go Again” in 1982; by the time it became a chart-topping hit upon its re-release in 1987, Marsden was no longer in the band. Coverdale fired him and the rest of his bandmates in 1982 because, in Marsden’s words, “David decided he would be king of Whitesnake.”

After Whitesnake, Marsden played in a number of groups including Bernie Marsden’s SOS, Alaska, MGM, and the Moody Marsden Band in addition to a robust solo career. Aside from Whitesnake, he is famous for his collection of expensive guitars, including his own sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul, nicknamed “The Beast.” The guitar was briefly on sale this year for $1.3 million but ultimately was not sold.

Coverdale shared a memorial to Marsden on Twitter today, including multiple photo montages and this message: “I’ve just woken up to the awful news that my old friend and former Snake Bernie Marsden has passed. My sincere thoughts and prayers to his beloved family, friends and fans. A genuinely funny, gifted man, whom I was honored to know and share a stage with.”

https://twitter.com/davidcoverdale/status/1695075637227376926

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