Image credit: Ross HalfinPete Townshend accepted the Les Paul Award -- recognizing individuals who've had an impact on the world of audio production and technology -- at the 28th annual Technical Excellence & Creativity (TEC) Awards in Anaheim, California, on Friday night. 

The Who legend saluted the award's namesake in accepting the honor. According to NME, he remarked, "When I was 17 or 18, I got a couple of tape machines at home, and in the tradition of the great, great, great Les Paul and a couple of other people who did the same thing, I took these machines into my home and took these machines into my home to write music. From that moment on, I waited and waited and waited, and every idea that I ever had, or every hope that I ever had for a device that would do something that I wanted to do, you fabulous people made it for me."

Previous recipients of the award include Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio