Members of Ten Years After 'stunned and saddened' by Alvin Lee's death

Members of Ten Years After said in a statement posted Wednesday by bassist Leo Lyons on his Facebook page they are “stunned and saddened” by the loss of guitarist and bandmate Alvin Lee. Lee's death at 68 after complications from surgery was announced on Wednesday by his family.

Ric Lee, who is not related to Alvin Lee, said, “We are all stunned. All of us. I don't think its even sunk in yet as to the reality of his passing. We are all thinking of his family and friends today, and offer our own condolences.”

“I heard only a few hours ago about Alvin's passing and it came as a complete shock to me.I still haven't taken it in,” said bassist Leo Lyons. “I feel very sad. He was the closest thing I had to a brother. We had our differences, but we shared so many great experiences together that nothing can take away. I will miss him very much. He was an inspiration for a generation of guitar players. Keep on rockin', Alvin!”

The statement said funeral arrangements have not yet been made public. The band said they expressed their heartfelt condolences to Lee's family and friends. In the statement, they said Alvin Lee was a guitar virtuoso whose abilities made Ten Years After one of the most respected and loved guitar-based blues bands of the late 1960s-'70s.

In an interview years after playing Woodstock, Lee told writer Gary James he didn't think playing at the festival, where the band's performance of "I'm Going Home" made them famous, wasn't that big a deal.

"It was a good festival. It was a big deal personally. I enjoyed it. It was a spectacular event. The main thing to me that made it different was flying in by helicopter. I had a safety harness on and was hanging out over a half million people. Not the kind of thing you forget easily."

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