After a brief period of activity in New York City, the two moved to Los Angeles in 1971 and formed the nucleus of Steely Dan, which enjoyed a critically and commercially successful ten-year career.

Following the group's dissolution, Becker moved to Hawaii and reduced his musical activity, working primarily as a record producer.

Becker was made to believe by his father and grandmother that his mother was deceased, but at some point between his childhood and late adolescence, he discovered that she was living, and he maintained a rocky relationship with her from then on.

[6] After starting out on saxophone, he switched to guitar and received instruction in blues technique from neighbor Randy California, who later formed the band Spirit.

[7] Donald Fagen overheard Becker playing guitar at a campus coffee shop, the Red Balloon, when they were both students at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.

"[11] Becker left the school in 1969 before completing his degree and moved with Fagen to Brooklyn, where the two began to build a career as a songwriting duo.

[14][15] In 1971, Becker and Fagen moved to Los Angeles and were hired by Gary Katz as staff songwriters at ABC Records, later forming Steely Dan with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder, and vocalist David Palmer.

After the duo returned to New York in 1978, Becker's girlfriend Karen Roberta Stanley, who was an employee of ABC Dunhill Records and personal manager for the band, died of a drug overdose in his apartment on January 30, 1980, resulting in a wrongful death lawsuit against him.

Becker ceased using drugs,[21][22][23] stopped smoking and drinking,[24] and became an "avocado rancher and self-styled critic of the contemporary scene.

[26] Becker produced Rickie Lee Jones's album Flying Cowboys (certified gold by the RIAA in 1997[27]) and played bass on the title track.

In 2001 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received honorary doctorates from the Berklee College of Music, which they accepted in person.

[7] Becker was a collector of musical equipment, accumulating hundreds of guitars and amplifiers, as well as numerous other instruments, pedals, pre-wired pedalboards, "speakers, recording gear, and ephemera.

"[54] Julian Lennon,[55] Steve Lukather,[56] John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats[57] and other musicians made public statements mourning Becker's death.

Rickie Lee Jones, whose album Flying Cowboys was produced by Becker, recalled her long friendship with him in an editorial she wrote for Rolling Stone.

[58] At a public ceremony on 28 October 2018, 72nd Drive at 112th Street, Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, was co-named Walter Becker Way.