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Dave Greenfield, keyboard player for UK punk group The Stranglers, has died of complications caused by the coronavirus. He was 71. Greenfield tested positive for COVID-19 on April 26 and was subsequently admitted to a hospital for heart issues, but perished due to the virus a week later. “On the evening of Sunday May 3rd …
Dave Greenfield, keyboard player for UK punk group The Stranglers, has died of complications caused by the coronavirus. He was 71.
Greenfield tested positive for COVID-19 on April 26 and was subsequently admitted to a hospital for heart issues, but perished due to the virus a week later.
“On the evening of Sunday May 3rd my great friend and longstanding colleague of 45 years, the musical genius that was Dave Greenfield, passed away as one of the victims of the Great Pandemic of 2020. All of us in the worldwide Stranglers’ family grieve and send our sincerest condolences to [his wife] Pam,” Stranglers bass player Jean-Jacques “JJ” Burnel wrote of Greenfield in a Facebook tribute.
The Stranglers remain best known for their hit “Golden Brown,” which reached number two on the UK singles chart in 1982. Greenfield joined the group in late 1975 and was a member for the next 45 years. The coronavirus pandemic this year forced the rockers to postpone a farewell tour they had planned for the summer, reports the BBC.
“We are all in shock. Dave was a kind, generous soul who had time for anyone and everyone and it has been my privilege to have known him as both a close friend, his tech and manager for over 40 years. Our thoughts are with his wife, Pam, at this sad time,” said Sil Willcox, The Stranglers’ manager, according to The Guardian.
Baz Warne, a more recent member of The Stranglers, recalls Greenfield as an irreplaceable bandmate whose death leaves a hole in his heart and the world. “We stood together on the same side of the stage for 20 years, laughed, joked and shared our lives in the way that only band mates can. I’ll miss him forever,” Warne said, adding his thoughts are with Greenfield’s wife and “the millions of fans who worshipped at his altar, he’ll never be equalled.”
In an interview with Greenfield posted on the band’s website, the late keyboardist reflected on enjoying the constant movement of the band’s primary years in the spotlight. “We seemed to be very busy then, always doing something,” he said of the late ’70s and most of the ’80s. “It became part of life. I definitely enjoyed most of it though.”
