Legendary guitarist and music innovator Les Paul died today at the age of 94 from complications of pneumonia.

The jazz-influenced guitarist got to play with many notable acts, including Frank Sinatra, the Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby. He would tour often with his Les Paul Trio, and eventually had syndicated radio and television programs. Paul also scored a number of hit records throughout the ’50s put out with his wife at the time, Mary Ford. He was so committed to his music that after breaking his arm in a bad car accident in 1948, he had the doctors set the arm in a position that allowed  him to play guitar.

Les Paul was also a technological innovator. He is credited with the development of multitrack recording, laying tracks down one by one on acetate disks and, later, magnetic tape. He worked with Ampex to develop a commercial multitrack recorder, and by the early ’60s the technique had become a regular part of popular recordings.

But Les Paul is probably most widely known for his namesake guitar, the Gibson Les Paul. In the early ’40s, Les Paul helped change music forever when he developed his first solid-body electric guitar. Nicknamed “The Log” (its body was a piece of 4″ x 4″ lumber, with pieces of an Epiphone hollow-body attached to the sides for aesthetics), it overcame limitations of other early electric guitars. After fellow pioneer Leo Fender brought his own electric guitar to market in 1950, guitar maker Gibson worked with Les Paul to sell the signature guitar that would be his namesake. Along with (or in lieu of) the Fender Stratocaster, the Gibson Les Paul is often considered the classic electric guitar.

Les Paul continued to innovate and play late into his life, winning two Grammys at the age of 90 and until recently playing weekly shows at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York.