Founding Journey Guitarist George Tickner — Who Left Band to Become a Doctor — Dead at 76

Bandmember Neal Schon posted on social media: "George…thank you for the music"

George Tickner, rhythm guitarist and co-founder of rock band Journey, is dead at 76, his former bandmate announced Wednesday.

Guitarist and vocalist Neal Schon shared the news in a Facebook post alongside photos of Tickner, writing, “Journey Junkies, I have some very sad news. George Tickner, Journey’s original rhythm guitarist and songwriting contributor on their first three albums, has passed away. He was 76 years old. Godspeed, George…thank you for the music. We will be paying tribute to you on this page indefinitely.”

“Our condolences to his family and friends, and to all past and present band members,” he continued. “So heartbreaking. So heartbreaking. I think we need to do a group hug, JJ’s! 😭🙏😢🎸💔🎶🕊️”

Schon added that “‘Of a Lifetime’ is still one of my favorite songs ever.”

“Rest peacefully, Dr. George Tickner,” Schon wrote. “you will be missed immensely! 😢Thank you for your incomparable contributions to Journey's early years. The reason he left Journey was to attend Stanford University on full scholarship, earning his PhD. Fly free above the stars, Sir.”

Concluding the post with a reference to Journey band manager Herbie Herbert, Schon said, “Herbie's waiting to greet you.”

A cause of death was not shared.

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Tickner, born in Syracuse, New York on Sept. 8, 1946, began his music career with Frumious Bandersnatch — a band that gained popularity in the San Francisco Bay area — playing at a festival called The Fantastic Flight of The Mystic Balloon in Lafayette on July 22, 1967, according to SK POP.

In 1973, Tickner and Valory teamed up with Santana alumni Gregg Rolie, bassist Ross Valory and drummer Prairie Prince — along with Schon — to form Journey.

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On New Year’s Eve, they played their first public show to a crowd of 10,000 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, Variety reported.

The progressive rock band would later evolve into one of the most successful pop-rock acts of the '80s.

Tickner contributed as a cowriter and musician to the band’s self-titled debut album in 1975 — which charted at No. 138 — as well as their second and third albums, Look Into the Future and Next, with 25 gold and platinum albums, a 15-time platinum RIAA Diamond Certified greatest hits compilation and classic hits like “Don’t Stop Believin'" and “Any Way You Want It” in its path, per Variety.

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Tickner left the band in 1977 to pursue a career in medicine — earning a Ph.D. at Stanford Medical School — and built a recording studio called the Hive with Valory, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.

"He came up with chordings I have never heard," Rolie said in Journey's Time3 box set's liner notes, according to Music Times. "He had these massive hands, and he would de-tune his strings and come up with these voicings that nobody else could."

In 2005, Tickner reunited with Journey for their induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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