Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York on August 13, 2009. In case you don’t know who he was, he “was a musician and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar, which ‘made the sound of rock and roll possible.’ He is credited with inventing or discovering many recording innovations including overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing effects, and multitrack recording.” (Biographical data from Wikipedia)

For better or worse, this was the guy who made modern music possible.