On March 21st, 1991, Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson’s disease.

The guitars, bass guitars, and amplifiers he designed from the 1940s on are still relevant: the Fender Telecaster (1950) was the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar; the Fender Stratocaster (1954) is among the world’s most iconic electric guitars; the Fender Precision Bass (1951) set the standard for electric bass guitars, and the Fender Bassman amplifier, popular enough in its own right, became the basis for later amplifiers (notably by Marshall and Mesa Boogie) that dominated rock and roll music.

In January 1965, he sold Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to CBS and later founded two other musical instrument companies, Music Man and G&L Musical Instruments.