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A Living Legend In Their Midst: None Of This Man’s Friends Or Family Know He Made The Highest Rated Tab For ‘Black Hole Sun’ On Ultimate-Guitar.com

They say that with true greatness comes humility in equal measure. If anyone embodies such modesty, it’s Ron Beagen, 46, of Keansburg, New Jersey, who single-handedly accomplished an absolutely amazing feat without any need for attention or praise: None of this man’s friends or family know he’s the mind behind the highest rated tab for “Black Hole Sun” on Ultimate-Guitar.com. 

Amazing. If only this man’s acquaintances knew one of Ultimate-Guitar.com’s most reliable contributors was living quietly in their midst!

Though he’s the brilliant mind who wrote out Ultimate-Guitar.com’s most popular tab for Soundgarden’s 1994 song “Black Hole Sun”, which is currently sitting at 4.5 stars, Ron Beagan has opted to keep this achievement to himself and instead live a quiet, humble life as if he were just any regular Joe, working as a medical billing clerk by day and crafting highly accurate guitar tabs for 90s rock songs by night. Yup, not a soul in Ron’s unassuming suburban existence—not his friends, coworkers, or even his own wife and kids—is even remotely aware that he single-handedly figured out the alternate tuning Soundgarden used for the song, making his tab is the only one that sounds right when you play it. Compared to the other tabs for “Black Hole Sun,” most of which are just guesswork chord progressions copy-and-pasted above the Chris Cornell’s lyrics, Ron’s tab spells out both rhythm and lead guitar parts down to the exact notes, slides, hammer-ons, and effects pedals used throughout the song, proving himself to be an absolute master of the craft.

What’s even more mind-blowing is that Ron just uploaded his work to Ultimate Guitar’s site for free. Over the years, thousands of amateur guitar players across the world have learned to play “Black Hole Sun” by using his tab and heeding his advice for using chorus and echo effects to match Kim Thayil’s specific guitar tone, and Ron hasn’t sought a single dime or any public credit in return. 

While creating the go-to Ultimate-Guitar.com tab for Soundgarden’s biggest hit would be the greatest feat of most people’s entire lifetimes, Ron treats playing guitar and writing tabs as a simple hobby he does whenever he has free time on weekends, instead of the divine calling it clearly is for him. Odds are, the reason Ron isn’t racing to tell everyone his life about this massive achievement is because if everyone knew he was behind the “Black Hole Sun” tab favorited by over 40k Ultimate Guitar users, they’d start treating him differently, and that fame would change his life for the worse. Nope, Ron’s perfectly satisfied just knowing he’s made an impact on fellow Soundgarden fans who want to learn how to play grunge classics themselves.

Wow. To think that this man’s own family is completely unaware they’re living under the same roof as a living legend…simply astonishing. 

Not since Jonas Salk opted to make the polio vaccine free for the public instead of patenting it has such a selfless, influential soul walked this earth. Hopefully Ron gets his due someday, because he’s certainly earned it. Rock on, Ron!