The Damned’s legendary guitarist Brian James has died at the age of 70. A cause of death has not been confirmed at this time.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter, and true gentleman, Brian James,” a statement via his Facebook account announced on Thursday, March 6.
The statement disclosed that he “passed peacefully” with wife Minna, son Charlie and daughter-in-law Alicia at his side on Thursday.
“Incessantly creative and a musical tour de force, over a career which spanned more than six decades … Brian worked with a plethora of punk and rock ’n’ roll’s finest, from Iggy Pop to Wayne Kramer, Stewart Copeland to Cheetah Chrome,” the statement read.
A spokesperson for James’ record label East Action told Sky News on Friday, March 7: “I can confirm that Brian passed away peacefully yesterday with his family present.”
James was a founding member and principal songwriter for pioneering British punk group The Damned, whose 1976 single “New Rose” broke ground for the burgeoning U.K. scene. The Damned had its greatest success in 1986 when its cover of Paul Ryan‘s song “Eloise” hit No. 3 on the British singles chart.
The Damned, along with the Sex Pistols and The Clash, were among the first wave of British bands to make punk a commercially viable music genre in the late 1970s. James played with the group for their first two studio albums before quitting in 1977 following the release of Music for Pleasure.
James later played in Iggy Pop’s touring band and teamed up with Dead Boys vocalist Stiv Bators, Sham 69 bassist Dave Tregunna and ex-Barracudas drummer Nick Turner to form the supergroup The Lords of the New Church for three studio albums in the 1980s as well as reunion record Hang On in 2003. Throughout his 51-year-career, James also worked with Tanz Der Youth, the Dripping Lips and the Racketeers.
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He reunited with the 1970s lineup of The Damned in 2022 for several concerts. The Damned’s bassist, and later guitarist, Captain Sensible paid tribute to James’ life and legacy via a statement posted on his Instagram account.
“The riffmeister, Brian has gone — that final act that happens to us all, for most is a sad and miserable affair but while it’s truly awful our mate has been taken I prefer to celebrate the life.. and WHAT A LIFE Brian James had,” he wrote.
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The musician continued: “Looking back I have to say what an absolute gent Brian was.. despite having to occasionally endure some pretty appalling behaviour by yours truly he never once lost it with me — and whenever we met over the following decades we would have a drink and a bloody good laugh.”
“Did I mention Brian liked a drink? Blimey, the bloke even moved to France’s Bordeaux region to be closer to the wine he so loved,” Captain Sensible joked. “When BJ, Rat, DV and myself got back together for the Damned originals shows it was magical in all sorts of ways.. that we were chums again of course but also the way we managed to recreate our ’76 garage punk sound right from the first chord in rehearsals. We were all up for doing it again too … but that’ll never happen now, sadly.”
Captain Sensible added that the current incarnation of The Damned — featuring guitarist Sensible, vocalist David Vanian, keyboardist Monty Oxymoron, bassist Paul Gray and drummer Rat Scabies — were dedicating Friday’s performance at Cine Joia in São Paulo, Brazil to James because “without [him] The Damned would never ever have happened.”
