R.I.P.: Don Wilson, Last Surviving Original Member of The Ventures

Don Wilson, co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the influential instrumental group The Ventures, has died at 88, his son Tim Wilson confirmed to KING 5.

Wilson passed peacefully in Tacoma with his family by his side around 5 a.m. Saturday, Tim Wilson said. He died at the age of 88 of natural causes.

Known as "the band that launched a thousand bands," The Ventures formed in Tacoma in 1958. The band recorded 37 albums between 1960 and 1972, including the theme to Hawaii Five-O. They were also known for Walk, Don't Run, which one writer dubbed a "surf rock standard." 

With over 100 million records sold.

Wilson was the sole constant member of the Ventures throughout. He continued to record with the group and also produced a documentary film along with his family, "The Ventures: Stars on Guitars." 

“Our dad was an amazing rhythm guitar player who touched people all over the world with his band, The Ventures,” said Tim Wilson. “He will have his place in history forever and was much loved and appreciated. He will be missed.”

Wilson formed The Ventures in 1968 alongside bassist Bog Bogle, when the pair were both employed as construction workers in Seattle. Two years later, their cover of Johnny Smith’s ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ reached Number Two on the Billboard Hot 100. The band went on to sell over 100million records and inspired the likes of The Beatles, Beach Boys and KISS, with Gene Simmons reportedly an early member of their fan club.

The Ventures are credited with helping to popularize the electric guitar in the USA and across the world, and are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.

The band were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008. “‘Walk, Don’t Run’ started a whole new movement in rock and roll,” John Fogerty said at the ceremony. “The sound of it became ‘surf music’ and the audacity of it empowered guitarists everywhere.”

Bogle died in 2009 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 75 but Wilson was an active member of the Ventures until he retired in 2015. However, he continued to record with the current line-up of the group and produced the 2020 documentary The Ventures: Stars On Guitars with his family.