R.I.P. - Joey Molland (†77, Badfinger-Gitarrist), 2. März 2025

Joseph Charles "Joey" Molland (June 21, 1947 in Liverpool, England; March 1, 2025 was a British rock musician, best known as the singer and guitarist of Badfinger.

At the age of five or six, Molland began working out and playing chords on the piano. When he first heard Elvis Presley's version of the rock 'n' roll classic "Blue Suede Shoes" at the age of eleven, he picked up his brother's guitar and began to play the piece.

As a teenager, he played in his first band, called The Assassins. After a few months, the band split up, and The Profiles followed. During this time, he met Pete Wiggins, through whom he eventually performed live for the first time in a Liverpool pub. With The Profiles, he played primarily Chuck Berry songs for about seven months, earning a living that way.

After that band also split up, he joined The Masterminds, who recorded a Bob Dylan song with Andrew Loog Oldham in 1965. After the Masterminds came The Merseybeats, The Fruit Eating Bears, The Cryings Shames, and Gary Walker & the Rain, until in 1968 he finally met The Iveys, who had just signed to Apple Records. After their name was changed to Badfinger and Ron Griffiths left, Molland joined the band in 1969. He first appeared on the 1970 album No Dice.

In November 1974, he left Badfinger and formed the supergroup Natural Gas with Mark Clarke, former bassist of Colosseum and Uriah Heep, drummer Jerry Shirley, who had formerly played with Humble Pie, and Peter Wood, former keyboardist of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. The band released only one album, Natural Gas, produced by Felix Pappalardi, in 1976, although there were two further lineup changes.

In 1979, Molland and Tom Evans returned as Badfinger, releasing the albums Airwaves (1979) and Say No More (1981). In 1983, Molland's first solo album, After the Pearl, was released. After that, Molland remained silent for a long time until he returned with the album Pilgrim in 1992. In 1999, the album Battle was released, featuring various demos from 1972 to 1999, and in 2001, another solo album by Molland, This Way Up, was released. In 2013, Return to Memphis, recorded at Royal Recording Studios, was released. Be True To Yourself was released in 2020.

The Party's Over

Here Comes Heartache

 

Rest In Peace Joey Molland