Overview

• Sister-in-law Muriel Levy announced on Threads that Dreja died after years of health problems, without specifying a date or exact cause.
• Jimmy Page paid tribute on Instagram, noting Dreja’s passionate playing on rhythm guitar before moving to bass in the Yardbirds.
• A co-founder in 1963, Dreja helped shape the group’s sound, co-wrote songs, and was inducted with the band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
• He declined Page’s invitation to join the group that became Led Zeppelin to pursue photography, shooting the back cover of Led Zeppelin’s debut and portraits of figures like Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and Ike and Tina Turner.
• After strokes in 2012–2013 he retired from performing with the reformed Yardbirds, and his death leaves Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell‑Smith as the surviving original members.