Rock guitar master Jeff Beck, who rose to fame with the 1960s supergroup the Yardbirds, died on Tuesday at 78.

A guitar virtuoso and innovator who was also one of the world's great rhythm and blues interpreters, Beck died "peacefully" after being stricken by illness.

"On behalf of his family, it is with deep and profound sadness that we share the news of Jeff Beck's passing. After suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, he peacefully passed away yesterday," a statement on the English-born musician's website said Wednesday.

"His family asks for privacy while they process this tremendous loss."

Beck's death quickly reverberated around the music world, with tributes pouring in from rock icons like Ozzy Osbourne, with whom Beck once collaborated, and Kiss lead singer Gene Simmons, who called Beck's passing "heartbreaking."

"No one played guitar like Jeff," Simmons posted on Twitter. "Please get ahold of the first two Jeff Beck Group albums and behold greatness. RIP."

Mick Jagger hailed Beck – an eight-time Grammy winner who was twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – as "one of the greatest guitar players in the world."

"He was quiet as moccasined feet, yet mercurial, innovative, impossible to categorize," wrote punk-poet laureate Patti Smith. "One of the masters of my generation."

"The six-stringed Warrior is no longer here for us to admire the spell he could weave around our mortal emotions. Jeff could channel music from the ethereal. His technique was unique. His imagination was apparently limitless. Jeff, I will miss you along with your millions of fans," Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who was also a Yardbirds bandmate and close friend of Beck, said via Instagram.

"What a terrible loss for his family, friends and his many fans. It was such an honor to have known Jeff and an incredible honor to have had him play on my most recent album," shared Ozzy Osbourne on Instagram.

"From The Yardbirds and The Jeff Beck Group on, he blazed a trail impossible to follow. Play on now and forever," Kiss guitarist and singer Paul Stanley said on Instagram.

"I am devastated to hear the news of the death of my friend and hero Jeff Beck, whose music has thrilled and inspired me and countless others for so many years," Pink Floyd guitarist and singer David Gilmour shared condolences on Twitter.

"Oh, My Heart...RIP, Jeff...I miss you already," Whitesnake singer David Coverdale also shared on Twitter.

"I met Jeff Beck when I was 17 and I was glad to know a guy like that, a guy who was able to show me how this guitar-playing thing should be approached and that’s still very much the case. Jeff was a wondrous soul and we already miss him terribly but take comfort in the fact that he’ll be with us forever. Hi Ho Silver Lining!" Billy F. Gibbons of ZZ Top said in a statement.

"A pioneer and one of the all-time greats," Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr said on Twitter.

"Truly one of the greats. The first time I saw him was in 1966 with the Yardbirds. Brilliant, unique guitarist," Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler shared via Twitter.

Portrait

Born Geoffrey Arnold Beck on June 24, 1944, in England, the self-taught artist began tinkering on a borrowed guitar and even tried building his own.

He's cited guitarists from Les Paul to Ravi Shankar to Django Reinhardt as influences and built a life off of experimenting with new sounds and fusions that pushed rock's boundaries.

Beck played in several groups while in art school in London and had already recorded pioneering rock sounds by the time the Yardbirds hired him in 1965.

He auditioned after the departure of one of the band's star guitarists, Eric Clapton, and helped propel the British Avant-Garde rock sound with multiple groundbreaking recordings, including the fuzz-filled guitar licks on "Heart Full of Soul."

By 1966, he was paired in the Yardbirds with fellow guitar wizard Jimmy Page, who found the British blues rock sensation Led Zeppelin. A year later Beck formed his own band – the Jeff Beck Group, which included Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass – and swiftly drew widespread praise.

Beck found solo success in 1975 with "Blow by Blow," a sleeper hit produced by George Martin of Beatles fame, who Beck later credited with saving his career.

By the 1980s he'd discontinued the regular use of a guitar pick, producing innovative sounds by plucking with his thumb.

"I don't care about the rules. In fact, if I don't break the rules at least 10 times in every song then I'm not doing my job properly," the Recording Academy quoted Beck as saying.

He found regular success collaborating with his peers and throughout the 1980s was a regular feature, performing on albums from the likes of Tina Turner, Roger Waters and Jon Bon Jovi, who hailed Beck as a "legend."

More recently he worked with actor Johnny Depp, who shortly after his controversial defamation suit teamed up with the rocker for an album primarily comprised of covers.

In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine placed the artist at No. 5 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.