Chris Bailey, lead singer of Australian punk band The Saints, has died at age 65.
The tragic news was announced in a statement on the band’s social media account on Monday morning.
‘It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th, 2022,’ it read.
Loss: Chris Bailey, the lead singer of Australian punk band The Saints, has died at the age of 65
‘Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night.’
Bailey’s cause of death is currently unknown.
The musician co-founded the legendary pink band The Saints in Brisbane in 1973, alongside bandmates Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay, who met in high school together.
The band paved the way for Australia’s punk rock music scene, and were the first group outside of the US to release a punk record with debut album (I’m) Stranded in 1977.
Band: Bailed (second left) co-founded the legendary pink band The Saints in Brisbane in 1973, alongside bandmates Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay, who met in high school together
‘Rock music in the seventies was changed by three bands – the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and The Saints,’ Bob Geldolf, Boomtown Rats frontman and Live Aid founder, previously said.
The Saints’ guitarist Ed Kuepper told The Sydney Morning Herald last May that, ‘We never called ourselves a punk band… because it didn’t exist as a thing when we were starting.
‘The funny thing was, once punk exploded in the UK it was on all the front pages and suddenly it became controversial but we were running free and easy, doing what we wanted. It was a world of absolute innocence and naivety, too.’
Life: Bailey was born in Kenya in 1957 to Irish parents, before his family emigrated to Australia while he was seven years old. They then lived in the suburb of Inala in Brisbane, Queensland
Bailey was born in Kenya in 1957 to Irish parents, before his family emigrated to Australia while he was seven years old.
They then lived in the suburb of Inala in Brisbane, Queensland.
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) also confirmed the tragic news on with their own statement.
‘Sad news that Chris Bailey, frontman of seminal Brisbane band The Saints, has passed away… Our thoughts are with Chris’ family, friends, and fans,’ it read.
The Saints were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.
Popular: Their last record, King Of The Sun, was written in Sydney and was a concept album based on a journey home after a hundred-year war. The album was met with positive reviews at the time, with Beat Magazine noting: ‘It’s Bailey in his finest whimsical folk-blues guise’
The band released 14 studio albums – the most recent of which was released in 2012 – while Bailey also released seven solo albums.
The Saints’ last record, King Of The Sun, was written in Sydney and was a concept album based on a journey home after a hundred-year war.
The album was met with positive reviews at the time, with Beat Magazine noting: ‘It’s Bailey in his finest whimsical folk-blues guise.’
Tributes have poured in online in honour of the late musician, with Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan writing: ‘Rest In Peace Chris Bailey. 21 years is a long, long time-to be in this prison when there ain’t no crime. Saints forever!’
‘RIP Chris Bailey. One of our greatest. Had the pleasure of staying at his amazing, rambling home at Queen St, Woollahra. He was incredibly generous, wickedly funny and just what a rock star should be. Legend,’ actor Rhys Muldoon said.
Lindsay McDougall, guitarist in Australian punk band Frenzal Rhomb, branded Bailey a ‘legend’ and ‘a co-creator of punk music.’
Popular: The band released 14 studio albums – the most recent of which was released in 2012 – while Bailey also released seven solo albums
