Iconic guitarist and founding member of British post-punk outfit Gang Of Four, Andy Gill, has passed away over the weekend at the age of 64. A representative for the band said that Gill died at a London hospital following a short respiratory illness.
Gill’s current Gang Of Four bandmates, Thomas McNeice, John Sterry and Tobias Humble announced the sad news on Saturday (Feb 1st) via Twitter, saying:
“This is so hard for us to write, but our great friend and Supreme Leader has died today. Andy’s final tour in November was the only way he was ever really going to bow out; with a Stratocaster around his neck, screaming with feedback and deafening the front row.”
“Andy, often cited as one of the world’s greatest guitarists, left his mark on his own music, as founding member of Gang of Four,” a rep for the band added. “In pioneering the band’s sparse, jagged sound and looping feedback, Andy also inspired and informed generations of musicians. A ground-breaking composer and a brilliantly innovative producer, he worked with artists including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Stranglers, the Futureheads, Michael Hutchence, Bono, Therapy and the Young Knives.”
Gang Of Four formed in the wake of the late Seventies punk explosion; fusing punk, funk and reggae with politically driven ideologies, all punctuated by Gill’s cutting jagged riffs and incomparable guitar playing. The band’s 1978 debut LP Entertainment! Is considered to be among the greatest albums of all time.
Gang Of Four | “At Home He's A Tourist”
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist, Flea penned a heartfelt tribute to the influential guitarist – who also produced the band’s 1984 self-titled debut album – speaking about the effect that Entertainment! had on him as a young musician, saying: “Andy Gill, one of my favorite guitar players of all time has left us. Go listen to the Gang of Four album Entertainment! right now. Turn that shit up loud and rock the fuck out. Dance. Think.”
“Thats a record that changed my life forever, and was massively influential on my development as a musician, and showed me what a rock band could be. There is nothing else like it. It cut a fucking hole right the thick LA smog that I wanted to jump through.”
Flea continued: “I am shocked. Andy was one of my heroes, a man who inspired the shit out of Hillel [Slovak], Anthony [Kiedis] and I as youngsters; I was thrilled beyond belief when he agreed to produce our first album. May his beautiful soul be in bliss with the divine, I love you Andy.”
Musicians and fans alike have been sharing their memories and thoughts on the iconic musician and influential career. Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello has remembered Gill as one of his ‘principle influences’ on guitar, saying:
“His jagged plague disco raptor attack industrial funk deconstructed guitar anti-hero sonics and fierce poetic radical intellect were formative for me. So glad I got to see him and revel in his incendiary art and wry wit several times over the past year. He was really, really fucking great.”
Gang Of Four's unique merger of punk-funk fusion and razor-sharp political wit made them one of the most ground-breaking and influential bands to rise out of the British punk scene of the late '70s; as much for the groove they brought to the pogo pit, as for their intricate interrogations of modern life that managed to inject a healthy dose of philosophy into the wild, unfiltered and cathartic energy of punk.
A statement from the band reads: “One of the best to ever do it, his influence on guitar music and the creative process was inspiring for us, as well as everyone who worked alongside him and listened to his music. And his albums and production work speak for themselves. Go give ’em a spin for him…”
Celebrate the massively inspirational and transformative legacy of Andy Gill with Gang Of Four on Spotify:
Listen to Gang Of Four on Apple Music:
