Blues and country slide guitar ace Kelly Joe Phelps dies at 62

Kelly Joe Phelps
(Image credit: Tabatha Fireman/Redferns)

Kelly Joe Phelps, a musician praised for his slide guitar playing, has died at the age of 62, it has been confirmed.

Steve Dawson, Phelps' friend, producer and fellow musician announced the news on the late guitarist's Facebook page on Thursday (June 2), at the request of Phelps' family.

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Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.