To call Les Paul just a guitar player is limited. He was a wizard, an inventor, a harmonica-blowing, jazz-shredding, tape-splicing musical genius from Waukesha, Wisconsin. He didn’t just make music — he made how music is made. So today, on what would’ve been his birthday, we’re cranking up the amps, slapping on some reverb, and celebrating the man who electrified music, quite literally. Here are 50 facts that’ll make you love Les Paul even more.
- Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in Waukesha, Wisconsin, in 1915.
- His first stage names were Red Hot Red and Rhubarb Red.
- He taught himself harmonica at 8, guitar at 9, and built his first electric guitar with parts from a phonograph.
- He once wired a phonograph needle to his guitar and plugged it into a radio speaker — and rock and roll was never the same.
- Before the Log, he built a guitar using a 2-foot piece of train rail.
- Les Paul dropped out of high school to join a radio band.
- His mother’s relatives made Stutz cars and Blatz beer — now that’s a combo.
- Les Paul invented the harmonica holder that Bob Dylan and Neil Young would later make famous.
- He recorded under two names at once: Rhubarb Red by day, Les Paul by night.
- Django Reinhardt was his idol, and they eventually became close friends.
- Les Paul paid part of Django’s funeral expenses when he died.
- He gifted Django’s widow a guitar — and she gave him one of Django’s prized Selmers in return.
- He was electrocuted while jamming in his basement in 1941 and nearly died.
- During WWII, he performed with Nat King Cole and the Andrews Sisters.
- Bing Crosby once told him, “Build your own studio.” So he did — in his garage.
- Les Paul invented multitrack recording so he could be a one-man band.
- His version of “Lover” featured 8 guitar parts, all played by him.
- His song “How High the Moon” was a #1 hit in 1951 — and a multitrack marvel.
- In 1948, he nearly lost his right arm in a car crash. He had it set permanently to hold a guitar.
- He was married to Mary Ford, and together they sold millions of records.
- Mary Ford harmonized with herself using Les’s overdubbing magic.
- Together, they recorded 16 Top 10 hits between 1950 and 1954.
- Les Paul once said, “Mary made me sound like a genius.”
- He hosted a radio show and TV show from his home studio in the ’50s.
- The “Les Paulverizer” — his fictional gadget — explained how he could sound like a dozen guitars at once.
- Then he actually built a real one.
- Gibson originally turned down Les’s solid-body guitar idea in 1941.
- They changed their mind in 1952 — and the Gibson Les Paul was born.
- The Les Paul guitar has become one of the most iconic instruments in music history.
- He didn’t just play guitar — he reshaped how it sounded, how it was recorded, and how it was played.
- Les Paul was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
- He’s also in the National Inventors Hall of Fame — the only musician to hold both honors.
- He kept tinkering all his life — creating flangers, phase shifters, and tape delay effects.
- His home studio was affectionately nicknamed “The Monster” for all its gear.
- He collaborated with Chet Atkins, another guitar legend, on two albums.
- Steve Miller of the Steve Miller Band? That’s his godson — and Les taught him to play.
- He played weekly shows at New York’s Iridium Jazz Club until he was 94 years old.
- He won two Grammys at age 90 for Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played.
- He didn’t read music — he just played from the heart.
- Slash, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page all say they owe their sound to Les Paul.
- He helped make the eight-track tape a thing — yes, really.
- In 2009, Google honored him with a playable homepage guitar for his 96th birthday.
- Over 40 million songs were recorded on that doodle in two days.
- Les loved to joke and improvise — Mary Ford often couldn’t keep a straight face during recordings.
- He inspired the invention of the headless guitar decades before it became cool.
- He could shred jazz, country, and blues like it was nothing.
- His guitar solos were so fast they sometimes had to be slowed down for transcription.
- His final resting place is in his hometown of Waukesha, Wisconsin.
- In Times Square, Les Paul’s 100th birthday was celebrated with a massive concert.
- His motto? “If you’re not hearing what you like, go out and invent it.”
Les Paul dreamed about the future, and plugged it in, turned it up, and let it rip. Whether you’ve ever played a Les Paul guitar, listened to a record, or messed with a loop pedal, you owe something to this trailblazing, humble, harmonica-toting genius. He didn’t change music. He built the machine music changes with.
Happy birthday, Les. The world still echoes with your sound.