Hilton Valentine

For me, Valentine is proof that one guitar part can outlive everything else. That rolling arpeggio on The Animals' House of the Rising Sun is among the most recognizable openings in rock, and he played it. I respect that he was a craftsman rather than a flashy guitar hero, the kind of player who served the song instead of his own ego. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction was earned, not gifted. His passing in 2021 closed a chapter on the British invasion's pioneers, but that riff keeps ringing. A real loss.

Name (English)

Hilton Valentine

Name (Japanese)

ヒルトン・ヴァレンタイン

Reading

ひるとん・ゔぁれんたいん

Born

May 21, 1943 – January 29, 2021

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Goat

Origin

North Shields, United Kingdom

Occupation

guitarist / musician

High school

John Spence Community High School

• Official sitehttps://www.hiltonvalentine.com
• Xhttps://x.com/HiltonValentine
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilton%20Valentine
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%92%E3%83%AB%E3%83%88%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%B4%E3%82%A1%E3%83%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2507186

Tags

• guitarist
• musician

Last updated

2026-06-21

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.