Even today, there is no way to cure or prevent the onset of the disease. Why did Jason Becker stop performing live?ĪLS is a disease that atrophies muscles and causes debility and degeneration in the entire body.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t join Roth on tour because of his fast-declining health. It was an act of sheer determination and gear modified in any way possible – like lighter string gauge and modified bridges. He powered through his declining health and weakening hands to finish the Roth album. The doctors told him he would be lucky to live past five years, most of which would be riddled with incapacity and pain.Īs is the case with stalwarts through history, Becker wasn’t going to let death or disease beat him down. However, it was also a dark time on a personal front as he started feeling a limp in his left foot and was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) that same year. This was the zenith of his career as he went on to win Guitar Magazines prestigious Best New Guitarist Award. We die thinking we’ve never lived.” Jason Becker He was famous for precision, technique, blitzkrieg speed, and a freakishly inconceivable “pinky stretch” in one the few videos that prove he was the G.O.A.T. Vai dropped out and went on to join Whitesnake that year.īecker’s playing was venerated even among the elite guitarists and producers of that era. In fact, Becker replaced Steve Vai, who was slated to record for the album. High on the success of Cacophony, he began working with David Lee Roth and produced Bob Rock to record the guitar parts for A Little Ain’t Enough – Roth’s third studio album.įor those of you who are unaware, David Lee Roth played for Van Halen and he was the biggest name in rock music in the 80s and 90s. In 1990, Jason Becker was a 20 year old guitar prodigy raring to take the world by storm. Marty, as we all know, went on to join Megadeth, one of the “big four” acts of American thrash metal.
They released two albums: Speed Metal Symphony (’87) and Go Off! (’88) – before they disbanded in 1989 to pursue solo careers. The two guitar virtuosos hit it off and formed Cacophony – a genre-defining act of the “shred era” of highly technical metal music. In 1986, he met Marty Friedman (Megadeth) through Mike Varney, the founder of Shrapnel Records. He grew up listening to Dylan, Andres Segovia, Eric Clapton, and Robbie Robertson. His father and uncle were musicians and art was an important part of his childhood. Jason Becker – A spirit that cannot be silencedīecker picked up the guitar at the age of five and it was only a matter of months before everyone around him knew he has prodigious talent. If you’ve witnessed the ups and downs of the Gleason journey, either as a sports fan or through the movie, you might find another tale of valor in a never-to-be-forgotten musician’s battle with ALS – Jason Becker.
The Gleason documentary/movie walks you through a five-year slice of the life of Steve Gleason, the NFL player diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease). In 2011, Gleason was at the peak of his NFL career, which screeched to a halt when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Gleason’s rise to fame as a defensive back for the New Orleans Saints was evanescent – a fleeting moment of bliss before an unending struggle with enervation and disintegration. You can soak in the electric vibe of that moment in this video clip. A moment that culminated in a statue of him being founded outside the stadium that you can see today. This is the day when Gleason’s punt changed the course of the game when the emotions were high and the cameras were rolling. This was Steve Gleason’s historic moment – scratch that – this was a historical moment for NFL and New Orleans. Monday Night Football had ceremoniously hosted the “welcome home” game in the newly rebuilt stadium for this displaced team (and state). This electric half-time concert marked the repatriation of the New Orleans Saints who had been on the road for an entire season after Hurricane Katrina had ravaged the state. A thousand maudlin but hopeful N’Orleanians were chanting in tandem at the Superdome. Bono, Billy Joe Armstrong, and the Edge were singing The Saints are Coming with Green Day playing in the background. What happens when a gifted guitarist’s promising career is brought to its knees by an incurable degenerative disease? Does he succumb to his vegetative fate of confinement to a wheelchair? Or does he go on to write music that becomes a beacon of hope for a new generation?