Anthony ‘Top’ Topham, founding guitarist of The Yardbirds, died Monday at the age of 75 after fighting dementia, just weeks after fellow bandmate Jeff Beck. He passed away “peacefully” and surrounded by family, a representative for the musician said. Topham helped form the British blues band in May 1963 when he was just 15, although he left by that October and was replaced by Eric Clapton, who was later replaced by Beck. He went on to become a session musician, performing with artists such as Christine McVie. He later popped up for a performance with the band in 2005, before returning full-time from 2013 to 2015. He also worked as an interior designer and muralist in his later years. Beck, who was never in the band at the same time as Topham, died earlier this month at the age of 78 after contracting bacterial meningitis.
