R.I.P. Hilton Valentine, original guitarist for The Animals
Photo: Chris Walter/WireImage (Getty Images)
Hilton Valentine has died. As the original guitarist for pioneering British rock band The Animals, Valentine contributed some of the most potent riffs in the early history of British invasion rock—most notably on the band’s breakout hit “The House Of The Rising Sun,” which opens with Valentine’s soaringly evil guitar intro. Valentine—who, with the rest of his original bandmates, was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 1994—occasionally reunited with them across his long career, and also played for several years with the group sometimes referred to as Animals II. Per