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Walter Becker of Steely Dan dies at 67
Walter Becker of Steely Dan performs onstage during day 1 of the 2015 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California.
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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella
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Walter Becker performs with Steely Dan at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on October 10, 2015.
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Santiago Felipe/Getty Images
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Guitarist Walter Becker of Steely Dan performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 6, 2007.
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Sean Gardner/Getty Images
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Donald Fagen's statement about his Steely Dan bandmate Walter Becker's death.
Walter Becker, guitarist and bassist for rock band Steely Dan, has passed away. He was 67. His passing was confirmed by a post on his personal website. No cause of death was announced.
His bandmate Donald Fagen issued a statement that read, in part:
"He was smart as a whip, an excellent guitarist and a great songwriter. He was cynical about human nature, including his own, and hysterically funny. Like a lot of kids from fractured families, he had the knack of creative mimicry, reading people’s hidden psychology and transforming what he saw into bubbly, incisive art... I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 10: Walter Becker performs of Steely Dan onstage at Beacon Theatre on October 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)
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After releasing their first album, "Can't Buy a Thrill," in 1972, they produced several hits during the '70s including "Reelin' in the Years," "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and "Aja."
The band split up 1981 after releasing seven albums then regrouped in 1993. They have spent the last two decades touring. Steely Dan performed at the 2015 Coachella music festival.
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The band won three Grammys, all for the 2000 album "Two Against Nature." In 2001, Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
NEW ORLEANS - MAY 6: Guitarist Walter Becker of Steely Dan performs at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival at the Fair Grounds Race Course May 6, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
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Becker also released two solo albums: 1994's "11 Tracks of Whack" and 2008's "Circus Money," his final album.
In July, Becker had to bow out of two shows, one in Los Angeles and one in New York due to an unspecified medical procedure.
Here is bandmate Donald Fagen's full statement:
Donald Fagen's statement about his Steely Dan bandmate Walter Becker's death.
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