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Steely Dan’s Walter Becker set for hometown Queens Honor

On October 28th, Steely Dan’s late-co-founder Walter Becker, who died of cancer last September, will have a corner named after him in his native Queens. The corner of 112th Street and 72nd Drive in the Forest Hills section of the borough where he grew up will be co-named “Walter Becker Way.”

BrooklynVegan.com reported: “The unveiling ceremony will feature special guests, remembrances from Becker’s friends and colleagues, as well as very special giveaways.” Walter Becker’s widow,Delia, said in a statement: “Walter’s fans have decades of experience holding ‘Danfests’ throughout the country and they always find innovative and eclectic ways of celebrating. It will undoubtedly be a fun and free gathering to honor and commemorate Walter as only they can!”

Shortly before his death, Walter Becker told Pulse that he and Donald Fagen made the executive decision to use only studio players on their last few albums and that it made a world of difference in the sound of their work: “Y’know, we had decided maybe an album before The Royal Scam, we had decided to change the format by which we were recording to a completely open format where it would be whatever musicians we wanted to use — which I think was very productive and beneficial for us and just sort of satisfying to play with all of these great players that we admired at the time.”

Steely Dan was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.

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