Died On This Date (December 3, 2014) Ian McLagan / Legendary Rock Keyboardist
themusicsover Ian McLagan
May 12, 1945 – December 3, 2014
Ian McLagan was a much respected and highly influential English keyboard player who is perhaps best remembered for his years in the Small Faces/Faces, and for his collaborations with the Rolling Stones. He also recorded several albums with his own band throughout the years. Launching his career during the early ’60s, McLagan’s first band of note was Boz People, playing alongside Boz Burrell of future King Crimson and Bad Company fame. In 1965, McLagan was invited to join the Small Faces which morphed into the Faces when Rod Stewart joined the group in 1969. Each version of the group had numerous hits during their runs while influencing a generation of musicians along the way. When the Faces broke up in 1975, McLagan continued on primarily as a session player and touring keyboardist for the Rolling Stones – a position he would hold for decades. He also recorded with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. He also released nearly a dozen albums with his own band over the course of his career, the most recent being 2014’s United States, for Yep Roc Records. Ian McLagan ultimately passed away on December 3, 2014, and according to an official statement by Yep Roc, he died “surrounded by family and friends in his adopted hometown of Austin, TX, due to complications from a stroke suffered the previous day. He was 69 years old. His manager Ken Kushnick says, ‘He was a beloved friend to so many people and a true rock n roll spirit. His persona and gift of song impacted the music across oceans and generations.’ Ian’s bandmate in Small Faces and Faces, Kenney Jones said, ‘I am completely devastated by this shocking news and I know this goes for Ronnie [Wood] and Rod [Stewart] also.'”
What You Should Own
In 1968, Paul Kossoff with Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke formed the band Free. By 1970, Free were touring the world on the success of their third album and its hit “It’s Alright Now.” Just two years after forming, the band called it quits. While Rodgers and Kirke went on to greater fame with Bad Company, Kossoff kicked around releasing solo albums and doing session work. Kossoff never quite got over the break up of Free which likely contributed to his addiction to drugs. Kossoff died on a flight from New York to Los Angeles at just 25 years of age. The cause was ruled drug related heart problems.
Bud Prager was a longtime artist manager who, with his ESP Management, steered the careers of the likes of Megadeth, Foreigner, Bad Company and Damn Yankees. Prager passed away after a long struggle with cancer.
Boz Burrell is best remembered as a singer for King Crimson during the early ’70s and as the bassist for Bad Company from 1973 until 1999 (on and off). But before all that, Burrell was pegged to replace the Who’s Roger Daltrey when the other band members decided to fire him in the mid ’60s. That never came to be, and Burrell went on to record several singles on his own. Boz Burrell suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 60.
