His company, Marshall Amplification, founded in 1962, has created equipment that is used by some of the biggest names in rock music, producing amplifiers with an iconic status.

In his day job as electrical engineer he built a portable amplification system so his light, crooning vocals could be heard over his drums.

[9] "I was making 10 shillings (£0.50) a night and because it was wartime, we didn't have any petrol for cars, so I would ride my bicycle with a trailer behind it to carry my drum kit and the PA cabinets which I had made!

In the 1950s, Marshall became part of the English music scene and started teaching other drummers, including Mitch Mitchell (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), Micky Waller (Little Richard) and Mick Underwood (The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore).

"[10] From 1960, Marshall owned a moderately successful music store in Hanwell, West London, selling drums and then branching out into guitars.

[2][5][12][14] The "Marshall stack", a wall of black, vinyl-clad cabinets, one atop the other, was seen as the physical embodiment of rock's power, majesty and excess.

Jim Marshall donated millions of pounds to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, London, where he was treated for tuberculosis as a child.

Not only did he create the loudest, most effective, brilliant-sounding rock 'n' roll amplifier ever designed, but he was a caring, hardworking family man who remained true to his integrity to the very end.

[16][23] Marshall has been cited, along with Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover, as one of the four forefathers of rock music equipment.