Guitarist George Tickner has died at the aged of 76. He was a founding member of Journey and played on the band's 1975 self-titled debut album before Neal Schon took on sole guitar duties. He also had writing credits on their second and third albums.
Before forming the band as a rhythm guitarist, Tickner was a member San Francisco outfit Frumious Bandersnatch where he met bassist Ross Valory, who would co-found the band with Tickner before serving two long tenures with Journey.
Tickner left Journey after the recording of their debut album to attend Standford Medical School but would go on to open The Hive recording studio with Valory and joined with the bassist and drummer Stevie Roseman in VTR with various Journey alumni guesting on their 2005 album, Cinema.
Schon paid tribute to his former bandmate on Twitter, writing "RIP George you now fly with the angels" and later posted a video of him playing blues on a Strat with the message "Prayers for George".
Some late nite Strat blues. Prayers for George 🙏🏽✝️🙏🏽 @NealSchonMusic @JourneyOfficial pic.twitter.com/USp0W5hEmPJuly 6, 2023
