Chris Dreja [pr: DRAY-ha], co-founder and rhythm guitarist and bassist in the Yardbirds, has died at age 79, just a few weeks shy of his 80th birthday on November 11th.
His sister-in-law, Muriel Levy, made the announcement, saying he had health problems for many years, having suffered a series of strokes in 2012 and '13, which forced him to retire from the band.
After the Yardbirds first broke up in 1968, their guitarist Jimmy Page asked Dreja to play bass in what became Led Zeppelin, but he declined in order to pursue a photography career. He photographed Led Zeppelin for the back cover of their debut album.
In 1983, Dreja joined original Yardbirds Paul Samwell-Smith and Jim McCarty in Box of Frogs.
He was among the Yardbirds inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
Dreja is the third member of the original Yardbirds to die following singer Keith Relf in 1976 and guitarist Anthony "Top" Topham in 2023. Jeff Beck, who joined in 1965, also died in 2023. This leaves Jim McCarty, Paul Samwell-Smith and Eric Clapton as the only three members left from the original line-up.
He leaves behind his wife Kate and daughter Jackie.