(Read more Musicians who died in 2025)
Joey Molland, the singer, guitarist and sole surviving member of 1970s hitmakers Badfinger – has died at the age of 77. Molland’s social media manager posted: “It is with profound sadness to inform his fans here and around the world, that Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night at 11:39 pm CST, after a 3+ months long battle with multiple health issues.” Molland was said to be surrounded by [his girlfriend] Mary, his two sons, and other family members.
No cause of death was provided but a January GoFundMe post from girlfriend Mary revealed that, after feeling “vaguely ill” through the fall after wrapping up his last tour, he had been in the ICU and had “acquired a very bad bacterial infection due to his diabetes. The infection caused septicemia and traveled through his body, causing harm in multiple critical organs and bones. His recovery has been slow and arduous, including several surgeries and procedures.”
Though a Liverpudlian by birth, Molland had lived in the west Minneapolis suburbs for over four decades- "I love it here. It’s a great place, great musicians, great clubs,” he told a local TV station five years ago and so we saw him semi-regularly while there.
Molland was born in Liverpool on June 21,1947 and was first inspired to pick up the guitar from hearing the likes of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly. His recording career began at age 20, when he joined the band Gary Walker and The Rain and then the rising Welsh band The Iveys in 1969.
It was Paul McCartney who would re-christen the band as Badfinger and they were signed to The Beatles’ label, Apple Records and had big Beatles-esque hits with “Come and Get It”, “No Matter What” “Baby Blue” and “Day After Day.”
Though The Beatles would soon disband, Molland would continue recording on the label, making appearances on two George Harrison albums, All Things Must Pass and The Concert for Bangladesh, and John Lennon's album, Imagine in 1971.
Molland left Badfinger in late 1974 due to being disgruntled with management, going on to form a group called Natural Gas in 1975 with Jerry Shirley (formerly of Humble Pie) and the group toured with Peter Frampton around his “Comes Alive” era.
By 1979, Molland was back under the Badfinger name, alongside former bandmate Tom Evans continuing to record solo as well as eventually under Joey Molland’s Badfinger, the result of some inter-band legal squabbles over ownership of the name.
In 2019, he embarked on an all-star band tour in celebration of the Beatles' 1968 self-titled double album, joined by Todd Rundgren, Jason Scheff, Micky Dolenz and Christopher Cross, under the banner "It Was Fifty Years Ago Today – A Tribute to the Beatles' White Album" and Molland’s last solo album, was 2020’s “Be True to Yourself.”
John C ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ X / twitter.com |
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