Les Paul in His Own Words: Hear His Last Rolling Stone Interview

Nine months ago I sat down with Les Paul backstage in his dressing room at the Iridium nightclub for a story about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's tribute concert recently held in his honor. As we shared a bag of popcorn, Paul told me about creating the solid-body electric guitar and what drove him to keep performing a weekly show well into his 90s. "I think it's therapy," Paul said. "I think that it's the love of the instrument and the fact that rather than to grow old watching TV, or just layin' around the house trying to get from the bedroom to the bathroom, that it's better to be amongst your friends, make new friends, and to play with a younger generation of people."

Also see our Les Paul obituary, and a look back at his remarkable life in photos.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

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