RIP Brad Delp...

[Chasbo]

goodbye Brad, I will mis you dude.

chuck

[StukaJU87]

Brads voice and Toms guitar tone were Boston...

RIP...

Sucks, one of the best rock singers ever.

His voice was so incredible.

I agree with all here. Their first record is something I can listen to over and over and not get sick of it. R.I.P., Brad.

[OnlineStageGear]

Wwow, that sux. I saw them in 87 in Houston. Great show. R.I.P.

[Chasbo]

Jesus this really freaking sucks. I just finished listening to their first 2 albums and I am so sad to know he will never sing again. The guitar harmonies and organ with Brad's voice were so cool when I first heard them thatthey made me really turn on to guitar driven rock. Fuck.

chuck

[Newc]

RIP

Definitely one of the best singers ever. THE Voice of Radio-friendly Rock And Roll.

He could hit the high notes without sounding like a woman, a Choir-guy, or an Opera singer - that's a rare thing if you really study singers and their styles.

[rjohnstone]

First Album I ever purchased was Boston.
Between his voice an Tom's guitar, it was just flat out awesome.

I was so hoping they would have done one more album or at least a tour.
I missed them the last time they were here.

RIP

[Cleveland Metal]

That sucks. Not really a fan, didn't really kick my ass in the day really, but I always dug the sound they had. Lotsa respect for Scholtz for being quite the p[ioneer of sorts.

Enjoyed a few of their tunes for sure and always thought they were at least pleasant to listen to. Good singer really.

[TommyD]

RIP Brad Delp...

> I actually shed a few tears over this tonight. I've dug them since More Than A Feeling was a hit single,their music has become a part of me like few others. He has to be one of the purest rock vocalists ever.

I can't tell you how long it's been since the death of a famous musician affected me personally,other than maybe the day Randy died. I was listening to WMMS in Cleveland when they made the announcement,and used to have a cassette recording of it. Tommy D.

[Endrik]

Man that sucks, he had awsome pipes, RIP

[~K~]

Brad Delp, 55, lead singer for bestselling '70s band Boston

By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | March 10, 2007

Brad Delp, whose soaring tenor on songs such as "More Than Feeling" gave voice to the best-selling rock band Boston, died yesterday at the age of 55.

Mr. Delp was found alone yesterday afternoon in his southern New Hampshire home, the Associated Press reported. While police characterized his death as untimely, they reported no indication of foul play. The death remained under investigation by Atkinson, N.H. , police and the New Hampshire medical examiner's office, with a report scheduled to be released on Monday.

A Danvers native, Mr. Delp helped form Boston with guitarist and studio mastermind Tom Scholz, drummer Sib Hashian, guitarist Barry Goudreau, and bassist Fran Sheehan in the early 1970s.

The group's self-titled 1976 debut album was one of the fastest selling in rock history. Songs such as "More Than A Feeling," "Foreplay/Long Time," and "Rock and Roll Band" helped the album sell over 17 million copies and is a staple of classic rock radio to this day.

While Scholz was the musical wizard, Mr. Delp's voice lifted above the trademark layered guitars, seemingly reaching into the stratosphere pictured on the band's space-age album covers.

Boston's debut has since appeared on countless "best of" lists and was recently voted one of the top 50 essential albums for rock fans as part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200. The band took two years for the followup, "Don't Look Back." But Scholz, a notorious perfectionist, was unhappy with the results, and it took eight more years for the release of Boston's next album, "Third Stage."

By then only Scholz and Mr. Delp remained from the original lineup. Still, both albums went to Number One. During its heyday, Boston's following in New England was huge. In 1987, soon after the release of "Third Stage," the band played an unprecedented nine nights at the Worcester Centrum.

"It took us a long time to get here -- and we're going to stick around a while!" the curly-haired Mr. Delp shouted from the stage at one point. "This is the best audience around," he added. "It's good to be home."

Boston kept a low profile after that, and Mr. Delp spent time in a band called RTZ, which released albums in 1991 and 1999. He rejoined Boston in time for the tour in support of the band's 1994 release "Walk On."

Steve Simon, who was in charge of the band's business and legal affairs from 1983 to 2003, last night remembered Mr. Delp as the "go-to guy," making himself available for everything from autographs to interviews to charity appearances.

He recalled a two-night charity event the band did in the mid-1990s at the House of Blues in Cambridge , when Mr. Delp lost his voice.

"He could have stayed away, pouted, not shown up, but he was there," said Simon. "He croaked out a couple of words with a smile. In all ways someone could nonverbally communicate with the audience, he did."

In recent years, Mr. Delp found new fans while fronting Beatlejuice, his popular Beatles cover band, which was scheduled to play Johnny D's in Somerville this weekend.
"We're really kind of walking around in a daze," the club's booking agent, Dana Westover, said last night.

Beatlejuice had been performing at Johnny D's since 1996. Each of its more than 50 appearances were sold out, Westover said.

Though some fans were initially drawn by Mr. Delp's Boston fame, they came back for the group's ebullient performances, in which he always dedicated "All You Need Is Love" to the lovers in the audience.

"Not only was the band really sharp, but Brad had this uncanny way of becoming John Lennon, and Paul McCartney and Harrison too," said Westover, who called Mr. Delp "a dear friend" to the club. He planned to have a tribute to him at the venue last night.

"I think everyone who hears this news today, the first thing they think is, 'Oh my God, he was such a nice guy.' " Westover said. He was "one of the most congenial guys I ever met."
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry agreed in a statement last night. "The few times I did meet him, he was very down-to-earth and seemed like a great guy, without any of the ego baggage," Perry said. "He had one incredible, amazing set of pipes. He is going to be sorely missed in this city and the music-loving world."

Mr. Delp had recently proposed to his longtime girlfriend. The two reportedly planned to wed during days off from Boston's scheduled summer tour.

Last night, the band's home page was set to a black screen with these simple words: "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

[Boxcar Willie 84]

This is terrible news, a coworker called me and told me about this last night as i was out of town playing a show...Ive been wanting to start a Boston cover band over the past few months, maybe the world needs that now more than ever! RIP Brad!

[Shawn Lutz]

RIP Brad - The first two Boston albums were kick ass...I always loved Brads voice and imho a perfect voice for that vein of music. I was into them in jr high before I even seriously picked up guitar. I still love those first two records today. I remember picking up more than a feeling on acoustic guitar before I got an electric.

[dd3keegs]

That Sucks....The only chance I got to see him see was back in 1985 with Sammy Hagar at the Orpheum in Boston. They did Zeppelin's "Rock N Roll". It was the best part of the night. Man I used to live in the next town over from Atkinson. I wonder if the Remaining members will do anything Musically together now?

[Mike]

This is crazy.

RIP Brad

[~K~]

My wife and I got to see several of the 9 shows in the Centrum that they mention. All those shows were recorded and I'm surpised those recordings never saw the light of day.

I got to meet Gary Pihl a few yrs afterward and he was using those tapes as a backing video track for a tascam seminar.

Brad was an original for sure and had the reputation up here of just being an all around nice guy. When he wasn't working with Boston he was doing his Beatles coverband locally ...

Last year on the extreme reunion 1/2 of the original band came out and did Rock and Roll band with Extreme ... He will be missed for sure.. I'm happy I got to see him perform one last time.. The Boston album was the 2nd rock album I ever bought after Kiss destroyer .. ..