My Take
Paul Kossoff is one of those guitarists who makes you stop whatever you're doing the moment he starts playing. His tone on "All Right Now" alone could earn him a spot in any hall of fame — that raw, pleading sustain he coaxed out of a Les Paul was unlike anything else happening in early '70s rock. What gets me is how much feeling he packed into so few notes; there was no showing off, no shredding, just pure emotion bleeding through the strings. Free were massively underrated as a band, and Kossoff was the beating heart of their sound. The tragedy of losing him at 25 to heart failure — ravaged by years of drug dependency — still stings, because you can hear on every record that there was so much more left to say. Rolling Stone put him at number 51 on their greatest guitarists list, which honestly feels low. A quiet giant.
Overview
Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free. In 2010, he was ranked number 51 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Paul Kossoff
- Name (Japanese)
- ポール・コゾフ
- Reading
- ぽーる・こぞふ
- Born
- September 14, 1950 – March 19, 1976
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Tiger
- Origin
- Hampstead, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- guitarist / musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.