Gerry McGee - The Ventures - 1937 to 2019

Gerry McGee

Gerry McGee, the former lead guitarist of the instrumental rock band The Ventures, died after collapsing on stage in Japan on October 8th.  He passed away on October 12th, in Japan at the age of 81.

At the time McGee was on tour and apparently suffered a heart attack on stage. After being hospitalized he went into a coma, and passed away four days later.

It had been two years since McGee had played in Japan with The Ventures. His participation in that tour was cut short due to his health issues.

The Ventures with
Gerry McGee

Gerry joined The Ventures back in 1968, stepping in as lead guitarist after founding member Nokie Edwards left the group.

During McGee's tenure with the band, he recorded three of their biggest hits in Japan, including “Ame No Midosuji”, “Kyoto No Koi” and “Kyoto Bojo.”  The Ventures have a huge following in Japan.


Gerry McGee toured with The Ventures for three years. sometimes playing guitar, and sometimes playing bass. He rejoined the band in the 1984 until he was forced to step away two years ago due to health issues.

Dennis McGee

McGee's father was the famed Cajun fiddle player Dennis McGee.

Gerry McGee at a
Kris Kristoferson Show

McGee recorded with a long list of artists that included Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Kris Kristoferson, Delaney and Bonnie, Ricky Nelson, and The Monkees.

Gerry McGee

A friend commented, “There is no way you could have grown up in America, no way, and listened to rock n’ roll, and not heard Gerry play.”

Gerry McGee in a film

Gerry was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with The Ventures in 2008. McGee took up acting and appeared in the TV drama “L.A. Law, the mini-series, “North and South” and films, “Heaven’s Gate”, "Convoy", and “A Star is Born”. He also played a banker in the film, “Dirty Rice”.

Walk, Don't Run - Gerry McGee
on Bass Guitar

The Ventures got their start in 1958, and really hit the scene in 1960 with their version of the Johnny Smith song, ‘Walk, Don’t Run’. An updated version was recorded a few years later and called, “Walk, Don’t Run ‘64”.

During that era, virtually every garage band guitar player learned to play guitar by listening to this song.

Gerry McGee

The Ventures went on to record many other hit songs, and release many, many albums. They played the theme song for the TV series, “Hawaii 5-0”.

Gerry In His Last Tour - 2019

Gerry McGee was one of the guitar greats of our time, and he was very respected among his peers. He will be missed.

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