It’s a grim day for the music industry, as it lost one of its talented gems. Andy Rourke bassist of The Smith passed away on 19 May 2023. The news was broken out on social media by Any Rourke’s former bandmate, Johnny Marr. He said that the death was the result of a lengthy illness.
Andy Rourke was a founding bass player with The Smiths, the iconic 80s indie band whose reputation kept skyrocketing with each performance. Rourke performed on all four of the British band’s studio albums including ‘The Smiths’, ‘Meat is Murder’, ‘The Queen is Dead‘ and ‘Strangeways, Here We Come‘. Shortly after the last classic, the band split over the issue of royalties.
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How Did Andy Rourke Die?
On 19 May Johnny Marr released the saddening news of the English bassist Andy Rourke’s death at the age of 59. Marr wrote on social media, “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer. Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. We request privacy at this sad time.”
Immediately after The Smiths split up, Rourke joined the so-called supergroup Freebass with his fellow Mancunian bass players Mani from the Stone Roses and Peter Hook from New Order. Throughout his flaming musical career, he also worked with Pretenders, Killing Joke, Joyce, Sinead O’Connor, and former Oasis guitarist Bonehead on Moondog One.
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Music Industry Remembers Andy Rourke
The death of renowned bassist Andy Rourke is a loss to the music industry. Many artists paid tribute to Andy Rourke through their social media. Tim Burgess, a fellow musician shared saying, “Such sad sad news about Andy Rourke – He was an inspirational musician with a style that made so many of us pick up a bass guitar; and the driving force for Manchester Versus Cancer. Our thoughts are with everyone who knew him”.
Billy Bragg, English singer-songwriter said, “Very sorry to hear that Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has passed away. I have great memories of him playing with Johnny Marr and myself on the Red Wedge tour. He was a lovely guy and an amazing bass player. My condolences to his family and friends”“
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