The British guitarist Michael Chapman has died at the age of 80. In a post to Instagram announcing the news, no cause of death was given, but it was stated that Chapman died at home.
“Please raise a glass or two to a gentleman, a musician, a husband, a force of nature, a legend and the most fully qualified survivor,” his family wrote.
Yo La Tengo, BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Marc Riley, guitarists Chris Forsyth and Ryley Walker and broadcaster Danny Baker were among those to pay tribute to Chapman, who moved between folk, roots music, acoustic and noise, and instrumental and sung, throughout his venerable career.
Paradise of Bachelors, which released Chapman’s two final studio albums, called him “a hero and friend to so many, including us, moving with unmatched grace, vigour and gruff humour within and beyond his songs and those he inspired from others.”
Chapman was born in Hunslet, Leeds, on 24 October 1941. He studied and later taught photography and life drawing, all the while playing jazz and skiffle, citing Lonnie Donegan, Django Reinhardt and Big Bill Broonzy as influences.
It led to a falling out with his parents, who wanted him to work in the same steelyard as his father. “But playing the guitar paid for my education,” he told Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore in 2009.