Pete Ham
April 27, 1947 – April 23, 1975
Member of the 27 Club
Pete Ham was the singer and by some accounts, primary songwriter for the British rock band, Badfinger who were signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records in 1968. As a songwriter, Ham is perhaps best know for “Without You,” a song he co-wrote with Tom Evans and which was once called “the killer song of all time” by Paul McCartney. It went on to be a #1 hit for Harry Nilsson, a #3 hit for Mariah Carey, and go to #28 for Clay Aiken. The song was recorded more than 180 times through history. Badfinger had six albums and no fewer than four hit singles, but by the early ’70s the band were caught up in a legal nightmare with their former management that left the members broke. It all became too much for Pete Ham who hanged himself in his garage on April 23, 1975 at the age of 27. In his heart breaking suicide note, he mentioned the love of his girlfriend and included the post script, “Stan Polley is a soulless bastard.” Stan Polley was Badfinger’s manager who was accused by many of his clients of corruption. He would later plead nolo contendere to unrelated embezzlement and money laundering charges.
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