Posted by Gary in Celebrity
The singer songwriter Gerry Rafferty has passed away after an long term illness aged 65.
Gerry Rafferty is most famous for his song “Baker Street” which was written in 1978 and still gets heavy airplay to this day.
Born near Glasgow in Scotland to an Irish father and a Scottish mother, his musical apprenticeship included a stint with the comedian Billy Connelly’s band of the time ‘the humblebums’.
Rafferty eventually went solo and made his first solo album ‘Can I have my money back?’. His solo album garnered interest from folk fans and he did some sessions at the BBC with John Peel establishing himself as a credible songwriter.
He then decided to rejoin an old school friend, Joe Egan, from the first band he was in, ‘The Mavericks’.
Together they formed ‘Steelers Wheel’ and made a debut album which included the now infamous tune, ‘Stuck in the middle with you’. I say infamous because it was included in the memorable scene from Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’.
Later he made more solo albums, ‘Baker street’ was included on the album ‘City to City’ which went on to sell 5 million copies making Rafferty a millionaire.
Rafferty was always a heavy drinker and it culminated in a 5 day binge at a London hotel. Staff there eventually sent him to hospital but a lifetime of drinking had obviously taken it’s toll.
Photo: Monosnaps
