Paul Westerberg
Branded a punk band when they emerged from Minneapolis in the early 80s—much to their objections—the Replacements and their brand of boozy eloquence and raw musical power has become a blueprint for American rock ’n’ roll bands ever since. Cited as an influence by bands as diverse as Green Day and the Black Crowes, the Replacements drew equally from classic rock, bubblegum, blues, and punk. At the heart of the band’s careening genre-hopping was Paul Westerberg, the band’s tough and troubled frontman and songwriter. Westerberg could howl as loud as Black Flag, but it was clear from the band’s third album that his soul had been touched early on by the Stones and Jackson Browne. Westerberg used Juniors from the band’s day one—at 21, he is pictured on the back of the debut Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash with a ’61 SG Junior. Cranking his Junior through a 100-watt stack, Westerberg used it to roar out his frustrations, and at times to cover the stark emotion and sensitivity of his lyrics. By the time he reached a solo career, in the early 90s, the Juniors were still there, still cranked and rocking, but now also turned down to sweetly accompany the acoustic guitar and piano that now formed the bedrock of many of his songs.