He lived to the ripe old age of 90. Many great musicians passed through his band, The Bluesbreakers - a list that includes but is not limited to Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, Mick Taylor of the Rolling Stones, and Mick Fleetwood and John McVie of Fleetwood Mac.
In the bluegrass world, we've seen numerous comparable brilliant musicians who had a revolving door of talent and talent development. It started with Monroe, continued with Jimmy Martin. The trend continues; today, Greg Cahill and Sammy Shelor are bandleaders who find and develop hot young talent, nurture them for a few years, and they go on to bigger - if not necessarily greater - things.
Mayall stayed true to his roots in blues, but never stopped making great music while developing even greater talent. Godspeed, Mr. Mayall.
