Howlin’ Wolf guitarist Hubert Sumlin has died aged 80 (VIDEO)

Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Hubert Sumlin, ranked 43rd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, has died aged 80.

Sumlin died Sunday of heart failure at a hospital in Wayne, New Jersey, according to reports. 

Just before he died he asked for his guitar, NJ.com reported.

Sumlin , The Daily Telegraph wrote in an obituary, "was one of the most influential and admired blues guitarists of the past 50 years; idolized by Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and many more."

He was best known for playing rhythm and then lead guitar behind Howlin' Wolf, with whom he played until his death in 1976.

The New York Daily News wrote that:

Their personal relationship had its own ferocity, Sumlin later said, but it also had an artistic connection that produced some of the most powerful and enduring Chicago blues of the 1950s and 1960s.

Sumlin played the stinging, precise guitar on Wolf classics like "Spoonful," "Smokestack Lightning," "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man" and "I Asked for Water [She Gave Me Gasoline]."

According to the Daily News, Sumlin's performances alongside Wolf "shaped the electric blues and therefore rock 'n' roll in 1950s Chicago."

The Vancouver Sun quoted veteran Chicago blues saxophonist Eddie Shaw, who played alongside Sumlin in Wolf’s band for 13 years, as saying: "He was different — he produced a different sound that other guys couldn’t get."

Chicago blues guitarist Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater, reportedly said: "He’s the one that shaped that Howlin’ Wolf sound. On tunes like ‘Shake for Me’ and ‘Smokestack Lightning’ — that was the Howlin’ Wolf sound, and Hubert’s guitar made it."

Born at Greenville, Mississippi (the heart of the Mississippi Delta blues country), on November 16 1931, Sumlin was brought up in Hughes, Arkansas and reportedly began playing the guitar when he was six.