Robert Moog was a physisist and electrical engineer who gave us the Moog Synthesizer, an instrument that became ubiquitous among the edgy and experimental musicians of the 60s and 70s:

At the height of his synthesizer’s popularity, when progressive rock bands like Yes, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer built their sounds around the assertive, bouncy, exotically wheezy and occasionally explosive timbres of Moog’s instruments, his name (which rhymes with vogue) became so closely associated with electronic sound that it was often used generically, and incorrectly, to describe synthesizers of all kinds.

Robert Moog died today at 71 in his home in North Carolina, succumbing to an inoperable brain tumor that was first diagnosed in April.

From moogmusic.com:

Where would R&B, rap and hip-hop be if groups like Parliament and Funkadelic hadn’t used Moog keyboards? Where would rock and roll be if groups from Yes to the Beatles hadn’t used Moog keyboards? Would jazz music have branched off into fusion without Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea using Moog keyboards? And would classical music have enjoyed such resurgence without Wendy Carlos and her modular Moog synthesizer? The questions are hypothetical, of course, because synthesizers have infiltrated every style of music, and so many companies have tried to recreate that analog sound. But above all the copycats and spin-offs, it always comes back to one name: Moog.

There were other synthesizers on the market, but Moog’s was smaller and lighter, allowing them to be transported and used on stage. As Dean’s World says:

Perhaps only Les Paul was a more seminal influence on modern popular music.

Few have both changed the world and brought joy to millions billions of people. Rest in peace, Robert Moog.