Chris Bailey, the lead singer of legendary Australian band The Saints, has died.
The band announced his death on Facebook on Monday.
“It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you of the death of Chris Bailey, singer-songwriter for The Saints, on April 9, 2022,” the statement read.
“Chris lived a life of poetry and music and got stranded on a Saturday night.”
Born in Nanyuki, Kenya in 1957 to Irish parents, Bailey lived in Belfast for the first seven years of his life before his family emigrated to Australia.
They lived in Inala in Brisbane and he met bandmates Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay at Corinda State High School. They originally called their band Kid Galahad and the Eternals and changed the name to The Saints in 1974.
On Monday, Kuepper, who left the band in 1978 after musical disagreements with Bailey, expressed his sadness at Bailey’s death, saying the couple had “an extremely strong artistic partnership” and that he “couldn’t have asked for a better singer.”
very sad to confirm the news of the death of Chris Bailey over the weekend. Chris and I met when we were about 14 years old while in detention at Oxley High School and became close friends that later grew into what I believe to be an extremely strong artistic partnership, 1/2 pic.twitter.com/hQVKKHYgzT
— Ed Kuepper (@EdKuepper) April 10, 2022
The group had their first hit with (I’m) Stranded in 1976 and released their first LP of the same name in 1977. They released 13 more records.
Bailey was the only member to be with the band for the entire run.
The Saints were at the core of the Australian punk scene in the 1970s and (I’m) Stranded is considered one of the most influential punk songs of all time. In a promotional video for the UK re-release of the single, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence credited the Brisbane band with creating the sound that led to the Sex Pistols’ rapid rise to fame.
Bailey was remembered Monday as a “co-creator of punk music.”
Just three days ago, Chris’ former bandmate Ed Kuepper posted this new HQ video of The Saints’ Paddington Town Hall show in April 1977. Yes, punk rock in 1977. But by then they had been playing for four years. You invented it yourself. https://t.co/uES0mbU7gN
— Russell Brown (@public address) April 10, 2022
Very sad news today that The Saints’ Chris Bailey has passed away!
A seminal Australian band who were one of the originators of the sound we know as punk rock! Very influential and respected, but missed the recognition because he is unfortunately less pressworthy
He last toured the UK in 2015 pic.twitter.com/Qgvw6Tp7nc
— FUTURAMA FESTIVAL (@futuramafest) April 10, 2022
There’s more to come