The band’s record label, ABKCO Music, announced Valentine’s death in a statement on Friday, saying it learned of the guitarist’s death from his wife, Germaine Valentine. The statement did not identify the cause of death.
Valentine started playing guitar when he was a teenager, growing up in North Shields, Northumberland, the record company said. After honing his skills by playing with other groups, Valentine was recruited in 1963 to form The Animals, along with Eric Burdon, lead musician Alan Price, bassist Chas Chandler and drummer John Steel.
The band’s fame reached new heights with its 1964 version of “The House of the Rising Sun”, a traditional folk ballad that had already been played by folk singers like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.
But the Animals take turned the song into a rock ‘n’ roll hit, opening with Valentine’s iconic guitar riff. It was a success on both sides of the Atlantic, leading the charts in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Rolling Stone ranked it 123rd on its list of the 500 best songs of all time.
In 1994, the band was introduced to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which called Animals “master interpreters of existing songs, updating them with working-class toughness and giving them new life”.
Valentine stayed with The Animals for four years and later joined several meetings. He released a solo album in 1969. He has played with several groups in recent years, during which time he lived in Connecticut.
“Rising Sun’s opening piece will never sound the same!” Burdon wrote on Instagram about Valentine’s death. “You didn’t just play, you lived! Heartbroken by the sudden news of Hilton’s death. We had a great time together, Geordie, boy. From the Northern Shields all over the world … Rock In Peace.”