Remembering Terry Reid: The Life and Legacy of a Rock Legend

Terry Reid’s life reads like the colorful tale of a boisterous yet tender hearted pirate who traveled the world singing fantastic tales while adventuring with famous vampires, champion sword wielders, and muses. Since he was 15 years old, stories have been written into the history books of music documenting adventures of the artist known as Superlungs, the opening act for the Rolling Stones, touring with them for two years during the “British Invasion.” Others (like the Washington Post), told the world about a collection of precious guitars that Reid was unable to get out of hock immediately followed by details of Reid working out a guitar part in Johnny Depp’s kitchen for a song to be recorded with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. His life was a journey of soaring triumphs and heartbreaking struggles. On August 4, 2025, the man who embodied music forged from stardust and sorrow left us to our own.

I first met Terry in 2014, rehearsing for a show at Schmidy’s Tavern, a small local venue in Palm Desert California. He was friendly, lighthearted and jovial, seemingly unaware of the scent of legend that surrounded him. He set the entire room at ease, as was his way. Superlungs breathed his expertise into all of us, bringing out the best we had to offer. Banter gently folded into his firsthand accounts with music legends, told quite matter-of-factly, always punctuated with a hearty laugh. All these years later, it still astonishes me how he always spoke of his iconic colleagues and experiences from the perspective of a humble admirer.

When Terry Reid sits down with a guitar, the weather changes. Rooms fall silent. During the rehearsal, hosted in the living room of bandmates, Larry, Cat, and Michael Pedersen, he cradled an acoustic guitar like it was his dearest friend. He was in love and he was all in, and the simplest of chord changes reflected the depth of it. Every run through each song was delivered tirelessly, without restraint. From the soul melting depth of sound that came from the man and his acoustic guitar in the most casual of settings, it was clear; Terry Reid had likely never phoned in a rehearsal much less a performance for a paying audience, and he never would.

A key chapter of Terry’s legacy, which he felt was often misrepresented, was his involvement with Led Zeppelin. Terry did, as many know, introduce Jimmy Page to Robert Plant and John Bonham, but he never felt as though he “turned them down” as the story often goes.

“Yeah, they (journalists) always get on with it,” Terry told me. “I hate to keep saying it. I think they (Led Zeppelin) even get tired of hearing it. It really could have gone either way – they could’ve said, ‘Why’d you introduce me to these two blokes!’ But it didn’t go that way; it worked.”

“It could just as easily have been Steve Marriott (Small Faces, Humble Pie) or Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith),” Terry added. “Jimmy (Page) was asking everyone. You don’t put all your eggs in one basket when you’re putting a band together.”

“I was going on tour with the Rolling Stones,” he explained. “I told Jimmy, ‘Call Keith (Richards) and YOU tell him I’m not going on tour.’ Jimmy said, ‘Oh no! I’m not doing that!’ And, well, I wasn’t going to make that call. Fuck no!” He chuckled, recounting the imagined conversation with Richards.

Terry never had a formal contract with the Stones, but they paid him handsomely, taking care of all the expenses, “the cars, planes, everything,” he said, all based on a handshake and a phone call.

Terry would likely have appreciated the kind words Robert Plant shared in tribute to him:

“Terry Reid’s enthusiasm and encouragement were incredible back then … still teenagers we crashed each other’s gigs and crucified Season of the Witch time and time again… So much fun. So on it. He was all of everything… such charisma. His voice, his range… his songs capturing that carefree era… Superlungs indeed. He catapulted me into an intense new world he chose to decline… I listen now to his album The River and shed a tear for my brother in arms.”

In 2016, Terry received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the CV Weekly Music Awards in Palm Springs, California. Unable to attend due to touring, he filmed his acceptance speech ahead of time. I had the honor of interviewing him for the occasion. Watching the raw sincerity in his eyes as he spoke, I realized how much Terry had lived and how much he appreciated the people who had shaped his career.

When asked how he felt about receiving the honor, it was the first time I witnessed him struggle to find words.

“Lifetime Achievement Award… that puts a smile on my face,” he said awkwardly. “I was writing a song with some friends of mine, and I came up with a line… ‘After all the rows I’ve hoed in the chaos of my life” … I don’t know… that seems to work,” he chuckled.

He quickly deferred to the people he had to thank for his career.

Terry’s gratitude for the people who had shaped him was evident. “Ahmet Ertegun… he was the president of Atlantic Records, and the likes of him you’ll never see again. Then there’s people like Al Schmitt, who’s tremendous. You learn a lot from people like that,” he said.

“And of course, Graham Nash,” he continued. “He’s been with me more than anyone else. There’s a lot of people you thank when you’ve been in this game as long as I have… Keith Richards, who’s always a laugh… every time I see him, he gives me hope. He’s such a cracker.”

Terry went on to emotionally talk about his wife, Annette, who had been by his side through it all: “There’s another thing too. Like I said…you know… when you find somebody that believes in you and sticks with you… you know, my wife… I don’t know how she’s put up with me this long anyway, but I must admit, she’s a blessing. I’d have never get through all this…I mean, these times in my life, when you get a bit lost… You get lost in it or without it. But since I’ve been with her, I’ll tell you…it gives me something to live for.”

When I asked what he considered his greatest achievement, Terry’s answer was simple: “Staying in the game.” He had made a career of resilience. “If you stay in the game and you’ve got a sense of humor, you not only laugh at all the terrible things that happen, you can remember them.”

Terry and Band at Pappy and Harriet’s, Pioneertown, CA

When asked for advice to aspiring musicians, he said,

“A. It’s not what it seems. B. Stick to your guns, right? If you feel that you’ve got, humbly I say, some sort of generation in you that can write songs and create things, stick with it. Because I’ll tell you, there’ll be hundreds of people telling you you’re doing the wrong thing. But if you find somebody that really does believe in what you do, stick to your guns and do it, because then you’ll be different than anybody else… It’s easy to say, but you craft your own craft, the way you do it yourself, and you take your own influences. Don’t just listen to everything that’s around, because you’ll just be flavor of the month, and that’s a bit how long it will last these days. So good luck to you if you do – you have my blessing, I tell you. And God bless you, really.”

Terry’s voice was more than just an instrument; it was an extension of his very soul. Johnny Depp captured this sentiment perfectly: “Terry Reid is the kind of artist whose songs can set your soul on fire. His voice—gravelly and pure—captured something so raw, so real, it felt like an extension of his very being.”