Lester “Rusty” Paul, the eldest son of guitar genius Les Paul and his wife Virginia Webb, died on Thursday from complications of diabetes. He was 74.
Rusty grew up around music and famous musicians and eventually became a sound engineer. While he never achieved the recording success of his father, Rusty did take up the guitar and played in venues around the country with his Rusty Brown Band. He played frequently at New York’s Iridium where the senior Paul played on Monday nights for decades.
Most importantly, Rusty worked throughout his life with his father and was a major contributor to keeping the Paul legacy alive after his death in 2009 at the age of 94. At the time of his death, he was working on a tribute tour for his dad.
Rusty also worked extensively with video and, as far back as the 90’s, there are stories that he was taping his father’s Iridium, then known as Fat Tuesday’s, shows though no release was ever made.
Rusty is survived by his former wife, Glori, his three children and seven grandchildren.
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