One of the most important guitarists of the punk generation, Paul Fox was a founder member of the Ruts, a band that enjoyed several hits in 1979-80 and was regarded as one of the most significant bands of punk's second wave.

The Ruts's music was a strongly original blend of punk, funk and dub meshed into a seamless whole by powerful, anthemic songs sung by Malcolm Owen. Fox's guitar style was highly inventive, mixing fast riffing with football-terrace chants and the space of dub to create a sound that was both exciting and innovative. The Ruts were second only to the Clash in embracing dub and reggae influences and in taking a clear anti-racist political stance at the forefront of Rock Against Racism.

Born in Bermondsey, South London, Fox was the son of publican parents. He moved to Hayes, Middlesex, and became a professional musician while living in a hippy commune in Anglesey in the early 1970s with Malcolm Owen. The pair formed a progressive rock band, Aslan, playing gigs around North Wales.

In 1976 he met up again with Owen in London, who had cut off his long hair and was raving about the punk scene. Intrigued, Fox took up the challenge and formed a punk band with Owen and Dave Ruffy, who was initially the bass player before switching to drums and bringing in his friend John “Segs” Jennings on bass.

Their debut single, In a Rut, released by local reggae band Misty on their People Unite label, was picked up by the DJ John Peel and sold 20,000 copies. After several weeks on the Rock Against Racism circuit the band was signed by Virgin and hit the Top Ten with Babylon's Burning, a classic that captured the simmering discontent on the streets. They followed this with other minor hits: Staring at the Rude Boys, Something That I Said and West One (Shine on Me). Owen died of a heroin overdose soon after the release of their debut album, The Crack, which became one of the staples of the genre.

Owen's stage persona had been decribed by one music critic as “moronic”, but it was arguably his overblown charisma and politics that lifted Fox's powerful chord progressions from the pub-rock mainstream. The band was held in high esteem by their touring partners the Damned, who took the remaining Ruts on the road once again after Owen's death — but it was not the same, for the band or the fans.

Nevertheless, the band, now known as Ruts DC, cut two more albums with Fox on vocals. Fox then joined a West London band called Dirty Strangers. There were other, smaller bands: Choir Militia, Screaming Lobsters and the Fluffy Kittens, before Fox faded from the scene. A couple of years ago he was persuaded to go back on the road by the Bad Manners frontman Buster Bloodvessel, who got Fox to play his old Ruts songs as Foxy's Ruts.

Lung cancer was diagnosed last March. Fox determined to return to the stage for one last gig with the reformed Ruts, fronted this time by American punk icon Henry Rollins. The sell-out gig at the London Powerhouse has been described by many who saw it as one of the greatest punk rock shows of all time. Frail but brilliant, Fox received a long ovation from an emotional crowd.

Paul Fox, guitarist, was born on April 11, 1951. He died on October 21, 2007, aged 56