Once in a while you come across someone who is genuinely inspirational. That special individual who carries a heavy burden as if it were weightless. Jason Becker is such a person.

For those of you who have never heard of him, Becker was, at one time, a phenomenal guitar player. As a teenager he played with Marty Friedman in the duo Cacophony. When he was 20 years old, he was chosen to replace Steve Vai in David Lee Roth’s band. An album followed, a tour planned. Jason Becker was on his way to becoming a legendary shredder.

Then one day Becker developed a strange limp that wouldn’t go away. Eventually he was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to paralysis and is considered fatal. Doctors told Becker he only had 3-5 years to live. Within a short period of time he couldn’t even hold a guitar much less play with the virtuosity he’d once shown. That was 23 years ago. But his story doesn’t end there. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

Today, although Becker cannot walk or talk, and breathes on a ventilator, music still lives on inside of him. He is living proof that creativity can transcend even the most debilitating physical limitations. Remarkably, Becker communicates using a spelling system that his father invented based on eye movements. A detailed description of how he communicates is here. He actually writes songs using the eye movement system by conveying the melodies in his mind to his caregivers who then transcribe them to musical notes. One song written using this method is called “Electric Prayer for Peace”:

Becker has also had an incredible spiritual journey which he describes on his web site. Here is an excerpt, detailing an experience he had when gravely ill in the hospital:

I felt I was being cradled by something familiar. In one silly vibration – such power, love, infinite wisdom, everything to be known and felt if only I could comprehend one tiny piece of its all-encompassing perfection. During these most blissful moments of my life, something in my heart said, “Lord, I am not ready to go”. Instantly I felt life coming back to my body. My eyes were uncontrollably lifted to gaze in my forehead. Without a body, clearer than “life”, I went through a door with an eye on it. I believe God was showing me “heaven”. It was my idea of a perfect place. Whatever I thought was effortlessly manifest. In my mind I created a guitar and hands to play it. From my mind effortlessly flowed the most beautiful music I have ever heard. Before I even thought of the next perfect phrase it would flow into the ears. I think God was showing me the human potential. We work so hard but if we surrender to God there is no limit to our capabilities.

This spring a film documentary about Becker premiered. Called Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet, it has won several awards. The movie promo describes Becker’s tale as “a story of dreams, love, and the strength of the human spirit.”

In his Memoirs, Tennessee Williams wrote of his ailing sister, “After all, high station in life is earned by the gallantry with which appalling experiences are survived with grace.” Jason Becker is the ultimate embodiment of such grace.

Mary McDonough

2 Comments »

1. 

   I strongly encourage all musicians alike to take a deep listen into Jason’s music. It can allow you to free your mind into what is truely possible musically.

   Comment by Josh Parr — June 13, 2012 @ 3:08 pm

2. 

   Mary, thank you for recommending this documentary. I did not know about Jason Becker’s story. I read through his website and was interested in the spiritual journey he recounts there, including an association with some influential Hindu mentors. His story is an important reminder for someone like me, trained in Christian theology, that the spiritual paths in musical life are richly varied and always specific to biographical and cultural context. To do theological work on popular music from a multireligious/interreligious and multisecular/intersecular perspective – that to me is one of the key intellectual challenges I face in studying theology and popular music.

   Comment by Tommy Beaudoin — June 27, 2012 @ 8:09 pm

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