June 28, 2002 — John Entwistle, the quiet, efficient bass player who co-founded the legendary rock group, the Who, was found dead of an apparent heart attack yesterday (Thurs, 6/27) in his Las Vegas hotel room. He was 57.

Entwistle was on medication for a heart condition, according to band member Steve Luongo.

The Who was to play at the Hard Rock Hotel-Casino on Friday, the first date of a three-month U.S. tour. That show and another scheduled for July 1 in Los Angeles were canceled. The rest of the tour is yet undecided.

During his career with the Who, John also released nine solo albums (the details of which follow). He was also an artist and was in Las Vegas to open a show at Grammy's Art of Music Gallery at the Aladdin Hotel-Casino. His work included cartoon-type portraits of himself and his fellow band members.

The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

What other musicians had to say about John:
"As a musician, he did for the bass guitar what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar," said Luongo, 49, who played drums in the John Entwistle Band for the last 15 years. John was among the first in rock to experiment with the six- and eight-string bass and he also played horns.

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, called Entwistle "one of the great, great rock 'n' roll bassists of all time. A real genius."

And Sammy Hagar said, "He just was the most humble rock star I have ever met, besides having the best hands of any bass player in the history of rock and roll."

John was simply a musician's musician; steady, reliable, and ever the professional. He had been married two times and had a son, Christopher, from his first marriage.

A Brief Timeline of John Entwistle's prolific life, including his career with the Who (from the Who's official website):

Born John Alec Entwistle on October 9, 1944, to Herbert & Maud "Queenie" Entwistle in Chiswick, England. Herbert Entwistle played trumpet. Queenie Entwistle played piano. The Entwistle's marriage failed shortly after John' s birth. Entwistle spent most of his childhood living with his grandparents.

At Middlesex School, Entwistle played a tenor horn purchased by the school. After school, Entwistle played in trad bands. Entwistle picked trad jazz so he could play the trumpet (based on his father's knowledge of the instrument). Trad jazz is where Entwistle met Pete Townshend. Entwistle and Townshend kicked around in a few bands together. Entwistle eventually went to a better band.

At around 14, Entwistle became a fan of Duane Eddy and John wanted to play loud like Eddy. Entwistle stated, "I just wanted to be louder. I really get irritated when people could turn up their guitar amps and play louder than me. So I decided that I was going to play guitar."

Entwistle preferred the sound of the bass, but his family couldn't afford to purchase a bass guitar. So, Entwistle obtained a piece of mahogany that was in the shape of the popular bass of 1960, a Fender Precision body. Entwistle had the bass fretted like a Hofner bass.

Entwistle completed the bass on grandmother's best dining room table that permanently damaged the surface of the table. Entwistle then moved to a Fenton-Weill bass made by Entwistle and Fenton factory hands.

Entwistle then became a member of Roger Daltrey's band called the Detours. In fact, it was Entwistle who recommended Pete Townshend to Daltrey to join the band on rhythm guitar. In 1961, Entwistle graduated from Acton Grammar. Entwistle's family could not afford to pay for John's education. Sometime in 1962-1963, Entwistle found work with Inland Revenue Service, England's IRS.

Entwistle would sleep in the tax office after long nights of playing in the Detours. Entwistle became a filing clerk in the tax office because John was hoarse from spending the night singing "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There."

At this time, the members of the Detours were Townshend on rhythm guitar, Entwistle on bass, Daltrey on lead guitar, Doug Sandom on drums, and Colin Dawson on lead vocal.

As one of the Detours, Doug Sandom said of Entwistle, "John didn't like to upset anybody. He was the boy who was quiet."

Pete Townshend recalled that Entwistle was the first musician to play through Marshall amplifiers. "[O]nce John had a Marshall he was so loud, I had to get one," said Townshend.

In February of 1964, the Detours decided to change their name to the Who because Entwistle saw an Irish band on television called the Detours.

In April 1964, drummer Doug Sandom left the band. Keith Moon became the Who 's drummer. Moon's addition changed Entwistle's role. Townshend remarked, "What's interesting in our group is that the roles are reversed. John's the lead guitar, and although I'm not the bass player, he produces a hell of a lot of lead work."

The Who were developing a powerful stage presence. Entwistle, though, just stood there as a straight quiet bass player. As Townshend stated, "John doesn't demand attention. For years, nobody even noticed John was there."

On the early Who stage presence, Entwistle stated, "The thing was at the back of our minds, we trained ourselves to think everyone else was below us. I never would have been able to walk on stage if I didn't think I was the best bass player in England."

In 1964, the Who began a Tuesday residency at the Marquee Club with the poster of Townshend in full arm swing declaring "Maximum R & B." Entwistle was using Marshall amplifiers in a stack.

The Who signed a record deal which forced them to write their own material. In January 1965, Townshend composed "I Can't Explain." The next single was "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere."

In December 1965, the Who released the My Generation album. The revolutionary title track featured an Entwistle bass solo using a Danelectro bass, which strings break easily. Replacement strings required the purchase of a new bass guitar. Entwistle bought three basses in order to finish the song. Entwistle co-wrote "The Ox" (Entwistle's nickname within the Who), a Mod instrumental take-off on surf's "Wipe Out."

Winter 1966, the Who released the album A Quick One (Happy Jack in the U.S.) with two Entwistle songs with John singing "Whiskey Man" and the perennial concert favorite, "Boris The Spider." Entwistle's compositions established his dark sense of humor. "Whiskey Man" is an Entwistle song that features a prominent horn, a grumbling bass and John's vocals. "Boris The Spider" was written after a drinking session with the Rolling Stones' bassist, Bill Wyman. Entwistle sings about a spider, "black and hairy, very small," that crawls up a wall only to be smashed in the final verse. On the title track, Entwistle sung the part of Ivor the Engine Driver.

Summer 1967, the Who played the Monterey Pop Festival.

Winter 1967, the Who released the album The Who Sell Out a tribute to pirate radio and its ad jingles. Sell Out had two Entwistle songs with John singing "Medac" and "Silas Stingy." Entwistle also co-wrote with Keith Moon the advertising jingles. Entwistle stated, "Me and Keith thought them up in the pub next door." In England, the Who release the single "I Can See For Miles" with the B-side of Entwistle's "Someone's Coming."

1968 was a year of inactivity for the Who. There were rumors that that Entwistle and Moon were going to form a band with Jimmy Page called Led Zeppelin. However, the Who stayed together releasing the single "Call Me Lightning" with the B-side of Entwistle's "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," a homage to Moon's personality splits.

May 1969, The Who released the double album and rock opera Tommy about a deaf, dumb and blind messiah. John sang "Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About." Both songs were about Tommy 's relations molesting the poor boy. Entwistle's other contributions to Tommy were his beautiful French horn, his strong backing vocals and stabilizing bass runs especially on "Overture," "Amazing Journey," "Smash The Mirror," and "Tommy Can You Hear Me." The rock musical was a huge hit on London's West End. It starred a young Elton John as well as Roger Daltrey and Entwistle playing himself. The album was also turned into a film starring Ann-Margret in 1975 and later into a Broadway show.

August 1969, the Who played Woodstock. They opened with Entwistle's "Heaven and Hell."

February 1970, The Who played at Leeds University for a live album. Live at Leeds is considered rock & roll at its finest by many, particularly "Shakin' All Over."

Spring 1971, Entwistle released his first solo album, Smash Your Head Against The Wall.

Summer 1971, the Who released the album Who's Next with one Entwistle song with John singing "My Wife" about marital discord.

Fall 1971, the Who released the single "Let's See Action" with the B-side of Entwistle's "When I was a Boy."

In 1972, Entwistle released his second solo album, Whistle Rhymes.

Summer 1973, Entwistle released his third solo album, Rigor Mortis Sets In. In Fall 1973, The Who released the double album Quadrophenia composed by Townshend in its entirety. Quadrophenia is about the four-faceted Jimmy, a Mod from 1964-1965, who climbs on the Rock to examine his life. Each member of the Who has a theme. Entwistle's theme was "a romantic, is it me for a moment," about the quiet, reflective, and laconic aspect of Jimmy's personality. Townshend on Entwistle's contribution to Quadrophenia, "On other albums, he worked off his frustrations by writing a couple of songs. On [Quadrophenia], he's done a fantastic piece of arranging work, sitting in the studio writing out and then dubbing on 50 horn parts." December 1973 during the Who's tour of Quadrophenia, the Who smashed a suite at a Montreal hotel. The Who were arrested. Entwistle wrote a song based on the events called "Cell Number 7" appearing on his future solo album, Mad Dog.

In 1974, the Who played New York's Madison Square Garden.

In 1975, Entwistle released his fourth solo album, Mad Dog. Entwistle formed a band named after his nickname, the Ox, and embarked on his first solo tour of America.

Fall 1975, the Who released The Who By Numbers with one Entwistle song with John singing "Success Story," that has a furious bass opening. Entwistle drew the cover for the album.

Summer 1978, the Who released the album Who Are You with three Entwistle songs and John singing "905" and "Trick of the Light." "Had Enough" and "905" were part of an Entwistle science fiction rock opera. "Trick of the Light" featured Entwistle thundering on a nine string bass opening the song singing about an evening with a lady of the night.

September 8, 1978, Keith Moon, Who drummer, died in his sleep.

In 1979, Entwistle completed the musical soundtracks for the feature films, Quadrophenia and The Kids Are Alright, the Who's bio-pic. The Who went out on tour and, unfortunately, a concert in Cincinnati resulted in 11 deaths due to a pre-show stampede for festival seating.

In 1981, the Who released the album Face Dances with two Entwistle songs and John singing "You" and "The Quiet One." Entwistle released his fifth solo album, Too Late the Hero.

In 1982, the Who released the album It's Hard with three Entwistle songs and John singing "One At a Time" and "Dangerous."

In 1994, Entwistle appeared at Carnegie Hall for Roger Daltrey's 50th Birthday as part of the "Daltrey Sings Townshend" shows.

In 1995, Entwistle toured America and Japan with the Ringo Starr All-Star Band which gave John "the dubious pleasure of knowing that he has performed 'A Yellow Submarine' more times than Paul McCartney."

In 1996, Entwistle formed a band called the John Entwistle Band that went out on a "Left for Dead" tour. Entwistle and the Who revived Quadrophenia as a theater piece for 1996-1997 tours.

In 1997 during the Quadrophenia tour, Entwistle sold his art, including the cover of The Who By Numbers and cartoons of rock stars such as Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones.

In 1998, the John Entwistle Band toured America and was planning to release a live CD of the tour.