Brad Delp Passes On

  • Brad Delp, the Lead Singer for Boston, Found Dead in His Home at Age 55
    03-09-2007 6:31 PM
    ATKINSON, N.H. (Associated Press) -- Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, was found dead Friday in his home in southern New Hampshire. He was 55. Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and that there was no indication of foul play.

    Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.

    The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.

    Delp sang vocals on Boston's 1976 hits "More than a Feeling" and "Longtime." He also sang on Boston's most recent album, "Corporate America," released in 2002.

    He joined the band in the early 1970s after meeting Tom Scholz, an MIT student interested in experimental methods of recording music, according to the group's official Web site. The band enjoyed its greatest success and influence during its first decade.

    The band's last appearance was in November 2006 at Boston's Symphony Hall.

    On Friday night, the Web site was taken down and replaced with the statement: "We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

    A call to the Swampscott, Mass., home of Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau was not immediately returned Friday night.
    ___
    On the Net:
    http://www.bandboston.com


    Chip

  • (...from http://www.boston.org)
    Brad Delp - June 12, 1951 to March 9, 2007
    Brad_Delp_More_Than_A_Feeling.jpg
    The nicest, kindest, most caring, down to earth rock star the world has ever known.
    May you rest in Peace


    What a truly amazing voice he had :singer: I was fortunate to see Brad with Boston in the mid-90's. He will be missed. Interestingly, I was just listening to the first RTZ album night before last. Looks like I'll be digging out more of his music to remember him this weekend :(

    Todd

  • I was just channel surfing and saw that. I'm completely and totally devastated. One of my favorite singers, it's been a treat to see him live in 87, 2003 and 2004. I always wanted to meet him because I hear he was so nice to his fans. I'm on my way out the door to watch some bands and I'm going to go drink my sorrows away.

    JH

  • How very sad. Never saw the band live sadly :rose:

    'You thought that you could take me for granted, but I couldn't take it no more. Better run if you see me coming ... '

  • SHOCKER!! I saw the band back in their heyday......I guess they're one of my 'guilty pleasures' (not too certain if it's cool to admit to liking the band.....) :confused:

  • Saw them, loved 'em and will miss Brad. Had been looking forward to their appearance at Rock-Fest in Wisconsin this Summer. Was contemplating the trip to see Boston and Purple...alas it shall not ever happen.
    Rest Well Mr. Delp.

    Frank:div27:
    "if only we'd turn around and notice the door to the cell is open"

  • Why wouldn't it be cool to like Boston? Their albums are smokin' platters of guitar/keyboard interplay, soaring vocals and great songwriting! :thumbup:

    Todd

    I don't know.....it seems people tend to put them down due to fact that songs like "More Than A Feeling" and "Don't Look Back" are played to death on 'Classic Rock' radio........

  • I remember reading an interview with Tom Scholz in which he recalled his first meeting with Brad Delp. From the first time he opened his mouth to sing, Scholz was floored! Here was a guy who could sing really high, harmonize with himself and make it seem so easy. And over thirty years later, that working relationship was still strong.

    I flash on ninth grade when I hear the first Boston album. If Tom Scholz and company had never done another record , that album would still be considered a masterpiece. Sure, every cat and his kitten copied the guitar tones..even Kurt Cobain copped the chord progression from "More Than A Feeling" for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". I can still put that CD on at home and enjoy it..."Smokin'" sounds Like Tom Scholz tipping his hat to Grand Funk Railroad's "Footstompin' Music" and I still think Van Halen's "So This Is Love" was a salute to "Smokin'"!

    It was easy to make fun of Boston and call them "corporate rock". Ask Steve Lukather about corporate rock and you realize what a bogus label that really is. All Tom Scholz wanted to do was show how much he loved the James Gang..really...and he couldn't have found a finer voice to share his vision with....

    Thanks for the ride Brad! :thumbup:

    Yours In The Funk
    Bill "Capt. Midnite" Redford

    :ghcp:

    http://www.facebook.com/bill.redford

    "Cause if you fake the FUNK..your nose got to grow!" Bootsy Collins

  • One of the few (real) singers
    whose voice you could instantly recognize
    when you heard it on the radio.

    And "Don't Look Back" is in the same category
    (lyric-wise) to "I don't want to live that way again."
    That's how I'll remember him.

    :rose: RIP :rose:

    axmuremoticon.gif

  • To me it's a real shame that doofuses like Jan Wenner at Rolling Stone and the Grammys look down on great acts like Boston Journey, etc... The band had power, soul, great songwriting and production and that's all that matters to me. Boston and VH should be getting inducted this week. The thought hit me today that Brad was only a few weeks older than Glenn and seven years younger than my uncle who was found in the same way a few months ago. Here today and gone tomorrow so fast really makes you take notice of the fragility of life.



    John

  • I was laughing with my gf that when I first joined a band they asked me to sing More Than a Feeling as a cover. Because I was so chuffed to be asked I tried to nail it. Unfortunately I failed miserably and learned a fine lesson that there is a reason these guys are successful. Brad had an incredible voice and totally suited to the type of music that the band were playing. A sad loss indeed.

  • "I closed my eyes and I slipped away..."

    "Boston" alone has sold over 17 Million copies.

    Brad Delp sang all lead and harmony vocals on the record :cool: and Tom Scholz added a note that "no vari-speed" was used on the voices - for the unbelievers!

    "More Than A Feeling" to many poeple may just be another AOR anthem - but listen closely to the amazing vocal lines, to the perfectly set arrangement and crystal clear production!

    It's very special, very special.
    Classic.
    Timeless.

    A sad loss to Rock World.


    MEDUSA

        

  • In this post somebody posted the details (non graphic, non disturbing)
    http://forums.melodicrock.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23656 on Sunday night. I half believed it then didn't believe it, it just seemed impossible. But with no autopsy planned, the post made more and more sense to me and I braced myself for what was coming next. The poster's ex wife and son live in the same town, where she is a bus driver. It's horrible.

    JH

  • I was lucky enough to see the band twice. Once in 1980 (?) and again in 1995 and both times they blew me away.
    I was truly saddened to hear of this loss, especially as I am currently mourning the loss of my mum. I know I didn't actually KNOW Brad, but I had been a fan of his for so many years, it's like losing a distant relative in some ways.
    My thoughts go out to his family, I truly can sympathise with them at this moment in time.

    XXX

  • ATKINSON, N.H. (Associated Press) -- Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston who killed himself last week, left behind a note in which he called himself "a lonely soul," according to police reports released Thursday.

    The note was paper-clipped to the neck of Delp's shirt when police found his body at his Atkinson home, on the bathroom floor, his head on a pillow. He had sealed himself inside with two charcoal grills; toxicology tests showed he had committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

    "Mr. Brad Delp. J'ai une ame solitaire. I am a lonely soul," the note read.

    Delp joined Boston in the mid-1970s and sang two of its biggest hits, "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time." He was cremated Wednesday, after a private funeral earlier in the week.

    His fiancee, Pamela Sullivan, called police March 9 after noticing a dryer vent tube connected to the exhaust pipe of Delp's car. In the garage, police found a note taped to the door leading into the house.

    "To whoever finds this I have hopefully committed suicide. Plan B was to asphyxiate myself in my car."

    In another note on a door at the top of the stairs, Delp cautioned that there was carbon monoxide inside.

    "I take complete and sole responsibility for my present situation. I have lost my desire to live," he wrote. The note also included instructions on how to contact his fiancee: "Unfortunately she is totally unaware of what I have done."

    Police later found four sealed letters in an office addressed to Sullivan, his children, their mother, Micki Delp, and another couple whose identity was not disclosed. Police Lt. William Baldwin said police gave the letters to family members without reading them.

    Sullivan told police that Delp "had been depressed for some time, feeling emotional (and) bad about himself," according to the reports.

    He had planned to marry Sullivan this summer during a break in a tour with Boston. A lifelong Beatles fan, Delp also played with the tribute band Beatle Juice.

    Chip

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