Dan Auerbach pens tribute to Dr. John: “We lost one of the greatest musicians who ever lived”

Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesDan Auerbach has shared a tribute to late, influential New Orleans musician Dr. John, who died Thursday at age 77.

In the piece, written for Rolling Stone, the Black Keys frontman describes what it was like to work with John on his 2012 album Locked Down, which Auerbach produced.

“We had a Farfisa organ, which he hadn’t played in a long time, and he sat down with it,” Auerbach recalls. “All of a sudden, it sounded like something that was alive. I don’t know how to describe it. He was making it talk and breathe. It was bizarre. He was the first person I’d ever seen do that.”

Locked Down, which was John’s penultimate release, would go on to win the Best Blues Album Grammy in 2013.

“For him to get that recognition and get to run that victory lap, words can’t express how awesome that was,” Auerbach writes.

“We lost one of the greatest musicians who ever lived and also one of the greatest reflections of this country, musically, in one man,” Auerbach adds.

“He was a human melting pot, a human embodiment of what makes American music great. He grew up with different races and experiences, and it made him the most incredible mutt ever. We lost something that will never be duplicated.”

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