Walter Carl Becker, born February 20 1950 in New York, was an American guitarist and songwriter best known as the co‑founder of the jazz‑rock band Steely Dan. After early musical training on saxophone and guitar, he met Donald Fagen at Bard College; the duo formed Steely Dan in 1971, releasing the debut single "Reelin' In The Years" and the album Can't Buy a Thrill in 1972. Steely Dan’s breakthrough came with Aja (1977), which peaked at Number 1 on the Billboard 200, followed by Gaucho (1980). Following the group’s 1981 split, Walter Walter Carl Becker produced for artists such as China Crisis and Rickie Lee Jones, and released solo albums 11 Tracks of Whack (1994) and Circus Money (2008). The band reunited in 1993, issuing Two Against Nature (2000) that won four Grammy Awards, and continued touring until 2016. Walter Walter Carl Becker died of esophageal cancer on September 3 2017 in Manhattan.
