The Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood and Aerosmith‘s Joe Perry are set to join the collection of performers at the upcoming Jeff Beck tribute concerts on May 22 and 23 at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
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The tribute shows will feature guest performers, including former Jeff Beck Group singer Rod Stewart, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, and Beck’s recent collaborator and friend Johnny Depp, along with Gary Clark Jr., Derek Trucks, Imelda May, John McLaughlin, Joss Stone, Doyle Bramhall, and Robert Randolph. Members of Beck’s backing band, including Anika Nilles, Rhonda Smith, and Robert Stevenson, will also make an appearance.
Beck, who died suddenly on January 10 at age 78, will be honored by the all-star event, curated by Eric Clapton, who was replaced by Beck in the Yardbirds in 1965. Years later, the two musicians went on tour together.
“I found out later from Pattie, his wife, that there definitely was [rivalry],” Beck revealed of Clapton in 2018. “Especially with the Stevie Wonder stuff. He was not too amused about me doing something successful with Stevie. I think that maybe got under his skin a bit.”
Following Beck’s death, Clapton paid tribute to the guitarist by posting a photo of him playing with the caption “Always and ever.” Beck’s funeral service was held on February 3 and included a eulogy from Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page.
Wood, who was also a former member of the Jeff Beck Group with Stewart in the late ’60s for the albums Truth (1968) and Beck-Ola (1969), last played with Beck in 2018 on Mad Lad, a live Chuck Berry tribute album. “He came down with Johnny Depp, Imelda May was singing,” remembered Wood. “We played some bluesy jam. Onstage, he liked to take the foreground. He liked to be heard. I’m really gonna miss him.”
On Instagram, Perry shared his own remembrance of Beck, following his death. “Jeff Beck was the Salvador Dali of guitar,” wrote Perry. “To see him play was to hear the ultimate [six] string alchemist create magic in a world of its own. With his passing, the world is a poorer place.”
The two upcoming London shows are sold out, and proceeds from each will be donated to Folly Wildlife Rescue in Kent, U.K., in support of Beck’s dedication to environmental causes.
Photo: Gary Miller/Getty Images
