The group’s record label ABKCO Music announced Valentine’s death in a statement on Friday, saying his wife Germaine Valentine had learned of the guitarist’s death. The statement did not identify the cause of death.
Valentine started playing guitar as a teenager growing up in North Shields, Northumberland. After playing his skills to play with other groups, Valentine was recruited in 1963 to form The Animals with Eric Burdon, key player Alan Price, bassist Chas Chandler and drummer John Steel.
The orchestra’s fame reached new heights with the 1964 version of “The House of the Rising Sun”, a traditional folk ballad previously performed by folk singers such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
But Taking the Animals turned the song into a rock ‘n’ roll hit and began with Valentine’s iconic electric guitar riff. It was a success on both sides of the Atlantic, and topped the UK, US and Canada. Rolling Stone ranks it 123rd on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
In 1994, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, calling the animals ‘master interpreters of existing songs’, updating them with a tough working class and giving them new life. ‘
Valentine stayed at The Animals for four years and would later join several reunions. He released a solo album in 1969. He has played with a number of groups over the past few years, living in Connecticut.
“The opening opus of Rising Sun will never sound the same!” Burdon wrote on Instagram of Valentine’s death. “You not only played it, you lived it! Sad about the sudden news of Hilton’s passing. We had good times together, Geordie-young. From the North Shields to the whole world … Rock In Peace. “