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Les Paul, the eclectic hit-maker of the 1950s and inventor of various recording techniques as well as a namesake guitar, died of complications from pneumonia today in the New York City suburb of White Plains. He was 94. Born Lester William Polfus in 1915 in Wisconsin, Paul's music career took off in 1930s, despite a prediction from his childhood music teacher that he would "never learn music," according to the New York Times. He played guitar in the bands of famous stars such as Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby, and eventually became a star himself. "Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it," said Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement. "His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll." Paul -- a virtuoso player -- and his wife Mary Ford created a string of hits in the 1950s that included "How High the Moon," "Bye Bye Blues," "The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise," and "Vaya Con Dios." Ford, whose real name was Iris Colleen Summers, sang the songs to his guitar accompaniment, and their recordings were some of the first to make use of overdubbing. Paul, who chose Ford's stage name because he wanted something short like his own, is known as the father of multi-track recording and delay effects. They divorced in 1964, and she died 13 years later of complications from diabetes at age 53. In the early 1940s, Paul, due to his dissatisfaction with the guitars on the market, created a crude mockup of a guitar he nicknamed "the log," which was a piece of lumber furnished with a bridge, guitar neck and pickup. It was a clumsy-looking rig, but allowed him to sustain his notes without strumming. About a decade later, Gibson Guitar Corporation designed a guitar modeled on Paul's creation, and he agreed to never again be seen playing anything other than a Gibson guitar.