[ad_1]
Boomtown Rats guitarist Garry Roberts has died aged 72.
The Irish rock group announced the tragic news in a statement which described Roberts as ‘the guy who summed up the sense of who The Rats are’.
Roberts was a founding member of the band, which formed in Dublin in 1975 – fronted by lead singer Bob Geldof.
‘It is with a very heavy heart that the members of Boomtown Rats announce the death this morning of Garry Roberts,’ the group said in a statement, describing him as an ‘old friend and great guitarist’.
‘The remaining members of the band, Pete, Bob and Simon, Darren and Al extend their deepest sympathy to his family and friends.’
Roberts was a founding member of the band, which formed in Dublin in 1975 fronted by lead singer Bob Geldof
The Irish rock group announced the tragic news in a statement which described Roberts as ‘the guy who summed up the sense of who The Rats are’. Pictured: Bob Geldof (L) and Garry Roberts of the Boomtown Rats perform on stage in Vienna in 2016
Roberts was one of the group’s founding members and is said to have been instrumental in them settling on Boomtown Rats as a name
The group have all known one another since they were children, and said they’re feeling ‘strangely adrift without him tonight’.
Roberts is considered ‘the’ founding member of Boomtown Rats – even within the group itself – after a particularly inspired performance ‘on a clear spring evening in 1975, in a pub in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin’.
In the tribute, the surviving members of the group said they were ‘largely by that sound of his – a storm of massive considered noise that punched out from his overtaxed amplifiers and which animated not just the rest of the group but audiences he played to around the world.
‘For fans he was The Legend – and he was. For us he was Gazzer, the guy who summed up the sense of who The Rats are.
‘Safe travels Gaz. Thanks for everything mate.’
Roberts is also said to have been instrumental in them settling on Boomtown Rats as a name
Roberts is considered ‘the’ founding member of Boomtown Rats – even within the group itself – after a particularly inspired performance ‘on a clear spring evening in 1975, in a pub in Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin’
The group have all known one another since they were children, and said they’re feeling ‘strangely adrift without him tonight’
The statement was signed by members of the band, including Geldof, bassist Pete Briquette and drummer Simon Crowe.
Roberts is also said to have been instrumental in them settling on Boomtown Rats as a name.
He reportedly threatened to quit unless they changed their name from The Nightlife Thugs.
Their new name was chosen by Geldof after he read the phrase in US protest singer Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory.
After the group disbanded in 1986, Roberts went on to work as a sound engineer on tours across the UK and US.
He reportedly threatened to quit unless they changed their name from The Nightlife Thugs. Their new name was chosen by Geldof after he read the phrase in US protest singer Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, Bound for Glory
He avoided playing guitar in public for a decade before pairing up with Simon Crowe for four years.
Roberts tried his hand at a new career entirely and worked successfully as an independent financial advisor for 15 years before becoming a central heating engineer.
In 2013, four of the Boomtown Rats – Geldof, Roberts, Briquette and Crowe – came back together and announced a tour of the UK and Ireland.
Geldof said: ‘Playing again with the Rats and doing those great songs again will be exciting afresh. We were an amazing band and I just feel it’s the right time to re-Rat, to go back to Boomtown for a visit.’
The group released new music in April 2017 and again in March 2020.
This is a developing story. More to come.
In the tribute, the surviving members of the group said they were ‘largely by that sound of his – a storm of massive considered noise that punched out from his overtaxed amplifiers and which animated not just the rest of the group but audiences he played to around the world’
The Irish rock group announced the tragic news in a statement which described Roberts as ‘the guy who summed up the sense of who The Rats are’
[ad_2]
Source link
