{"id":13106,"date":"2025-11-27T23:32:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=13106"},"modified":"2025-11-27T23:33:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:33:47","slug":"with-heavy-hearts-we-announce-the-heartbreaking-news-we-will-not-be-seeing-this-handsome-music-legend-any-more%f0%9f%92%94-check-the-comments-for-the-full-story%f0%9f%91%87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xstorynews.com\/?p=13106","title":{"rendered":"With heavy hearts, we announce the heartbreaking news. We will not be seeing this handsome music legend any more\ud83d\udc94 Check the comments for the full story\ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

All these musicians we grew up with \u2014 the ones who started out in garages, basements, and living rooms before rising to international fame \u2014 became the soundtrack to our lives. They set the bar for every band that followed, inspiring countless young musicians to pick up a guitar and dream.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And every time one of them leaves us, it feels like a small piece of our own story is gone too.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, that loss is deeply felt: Chris Dreja, the founding guitarist of The Yardbirds and the only member to play on every one of the band\u2019s releases, has passed away at 79.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Years of health problems<\/h2>\n

Chris Dreja, rhythm guitarist turned bassist for the legendary Yardbirds \u2014 and later an acclaimed rock photographer \u2014 has passed away at 79. His death was confirmed by his sister-in-law, Muriel Levy, and former bandmate Jimmy Page.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Page paid tribute on Instagram, writing: \u201cI heard today of the passing of musician Chris Dreja, who passionately played with the iconic Yardbirds, on rhythm guitar and then the bass. I hadn\u2019t seen him in a while, and I wish I had. RIP Chris. Here\u2019s Glimpses by The Yardbirds featuring Chris Dreja on bass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levy also shared on Threads that Dreja had battled \u201cyears of health problems,\u201d and praised his wife, Kate, for caring for him throughout his illness.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Chris Dreja of The Yardbirds posed backstage at Holterhallen in Holte near Copenhagen in Denmark on 15th April 1967. (Photo by Jorgen Angel\/Redferns)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though the Yardbirds never reached the commercial heights of some of their peers, their influence on rock is immeasurable.<\/p>\n

They not only delivered hits like \u201cFor Your Love,\u201d \u201cHeart Full of Soul,\u201d \u201cEvil Hearted You\u201d and \u201cShapes of Things\u201d \u2014 they also launched the careers of three of rock\u2019s most iconic guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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Born Christopher Walenty Dreja in 1945, Dreja co-founded the band in 1963.<\/p>\n

The Yardbirds started out as a raw, blues-driven band with those famous \u201crave-up\u201d jam sessions that just tore the roof off. But they didn\u2019t stop there. They stretched into pop, dabbled in psychedelia, and kicked off the kind of heavy, guitar-driven sound that would shape early hard rock.<\/p>\n

Dreja once reflected that the band felt like a close-knit family, with no real pressures hanging over them. They were all young, he said, and given the freedom to do something incredibly unique.<\/p>\n

\u201dWhen we were recording, we were a very democratic outfit. If anyone came up with an idea, we would take it. We were very eclectic. The Yardbirds were a pop band, a slightly heavy metal band, a blues band, with also a bit of punk thrown in. There were lots of things going on,\u201d Dreja\u00a0once<\/a>\u00a0explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Looking back, it\u2019s clear they weren\u2019t just playing songs \u2014 they were rewriting what rock could be. Many music historians say their fingerprints are all over the sounds that came later, from punk\u2019s raw edge to prog\u2019s complexity to the birth of heavy metal. They were truly ahead of their time, setting the stage for generations that followed.<\/p>\n

Originally on rhythm guitar, the English musician moved to bass when Jimmy Page joined in 1966. When Page later formed Led Zeppelin, Dreja declined an invitation to join, choosing instead to pursue photography \u2014 a passion that led him to shoot the back cover photo of Led Zeppelin\u2019s debut album.<\/p>\n

\u201dI was pretty whacked out, along with the other original Yardbirds, when we were demising in \u201968. Jimmy was still pretty fresh, but for us it had become a nightmare. I was quite happy to be moving into my twin passions of photography and design, and not having to rely on a lot of quite crazy people in music,\u201d Dreja\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0in 2008.<\/p>\n

Dreja was inducted into the\u00a0Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\u00a0in 1992.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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