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R.I.P. Bob Welch, Formerly of Fleetwood Mac
June 7, 2012
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch was found dead in his home in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday, a police spokesperson confirms to ABC News Radio. He was 66.
A police spokesperson told ABC News Radio that Welch was discovered dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The spokesperson further added that Welch had recently been dealing with health issues. A suicide note was left at the scene.
Welch played with Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974, before Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham joined the group and they became worldwide superstars. He had been brought in to replace departing guitarists Jeremy Spencer, who left to join a cult, and Peter Green, who had drug and mental health problems.
Their first album with Welch was 1971's Future Games; Welch wrote the title track. The other albums he appears on include Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery to Me and Heroes are Hard to Find. He resigned in 1974; Buckingham and Nicks replaced him.
Welch went on to have a solo career in the late '70s, scoring hits with "Sentimental Lady" and "Ebony Eyes." He also formed another, short-lived group called Paris.
Oddly, Welch was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac when the band received that honor in 1998. He said in 2003 that he felt that legal issues, plus the fact that he was estranged from Mick Fleetwood at the time, led to the snub.
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[Edited 6/7/12 14:51pm] | |
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From an era of the band many know nothing about... "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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"Sentimental Lady" was the most popular song from him I believe.
R.I.P. | |
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This is one of his best solo hits. Rest peacefully, Bob. | |
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With Stevie Nicks on "Ebony Eyes" in 1981.
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Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture! REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince "I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben |
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Always loved this.... R.I.P
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I have his French Kiss CD which contains that song. | |
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Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood Remember Guitarist Bob Welch June 8, 2012 Photo: Getty Images
Former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch was found dead of an apparent suicide at his home in Nashville yesterday. According to reports, his wife found the 66-year-old's body, along with a suicide note, around noon, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Welch had recently been battling health issues.
In the hours following his death, former bandmates Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood both fondly remembered the guitarist, who sang and played in Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974, what he called, in an interview, "the bridge era," when the band's style was evolving from blues rock to its more "commercial" sound.
"I'm so very sorry for his family and for the family of Fleetwood Mac," Nicks wrote in an official statement. "He was an amazing guitar player — he was funny, sweet — and he was smart."
He was a very, very profoundly intelligent human being and always in good humor, which is why this is so unbelievably shocking," Fleetwood told Reuters.
"He was a huge part of our history which sometimes gets forgotten ... mostly his legacy would be his songwriting abilities that he brought to Fleetwood Mac, which will survive all of us. If you look into our musical history, you'll see a huge period that was completely ensconced in Bob's work." Fleetwood also noted that the guitarist's apparent suicide was "incredibly out of character."
When Welch was excluded from the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1998, he told the Cleveland Plain Dealer (via the L.A. Times) that although Fleetwood had previously credited him with "saving Fleetwood Mac," the band wanted "to write me out of the history of the group."
Following his auspicious hiring in 1971, when a friend of the band recommended the then-Paris resident and they tapped him without playing with him or hearing his music, Welch appeared on early albums like Future Games, Bare Trees, and Heroes Are Hard to Find.
After leaving the band, he pursued a successful solo career, snagging a Top 20 hit with the song "Ebony Eyes" in 1977, the same year that Fleetwood Mac released their seminal Rumors album.
Welch is the second former Fleetwood Mac guitarist to die this year; the band's other Bob, Bob Weston, died in January at 64 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
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Promo clip for ''Ebony Eyes'' from the French Kiss. | |
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RIP Bob mailto:www.iDon'tThinkSo.com.Uranus | |
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rest in peace.
“Transracial is a term that has long since been defined as the adoption of a child that is of a different race than the adoptive parents,” : https://thinkprogress.org...fb6e18544a | |
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Annoying that the time that Bob was with FM is always overlooked. He wrote some great tracks for the band.
RIP fella. | |
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Mick Fleetwood is offering remorse over Welch's death, but why didn't he, as the group's leader, voice outrage over Welch's exclusion from Fleetwood Mac's Rock Hall induction? Shame on you, Mick. | |
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you are right about that...including me!
Weird how many phases this band has had. And their early lead members have had some very difficult times. My Legacy
http://prince.org/msg/8/192731 | |
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