Chris Bailey, Australian rock legend and the Saints frontman, dies aged 65
One of Australia's most influential rock bands, the Saints rose to prominence on the back of the punk-rock energy of 1976 hit (I'm Stranded)
Chris Bailey, the co-founder and frontman of Australian rock stalwarts the Saints, has died, aged 65. His death was announced by his bandmates on social media.
Former guitarist and co-founder Ed Kuepper was among the first to pay tribute to a friend he first met as a teenager in detention, forming Kid Galahad and the Eternals with Bailey and Ivor Hay in 1973, before changing the band’s name to the Saints the following year.
“Chris and I met when we were about 14 during detention at Oxley High School and became close friends which later developed into what I always thought was an extremely strong artistic partnership,” wrote Kuepper.
“I couldn’t have hoped for a better singer. My deepest condolences to his wife Elisabet, his sisters Margaret, Carol and Maureen and the rest of his family and loved ones.”
Kuepper’s and Bailey’s meeting was a foreshadowing of things to come. Based out of Brisbane, Queensland, the Saints debuted a rebellious punk-rock sound on 1976’s (I’m) Stranded, with the title track animated by an intensity and melodic sensibility that saw the band compared to the Ramones.
As Jimmy Barnes noted in his tribute to Bailey, the Saints “were punks before punk”, the release of (I’m) Stranded beating albums from UK stalwarts the Damned and Sex Pistols to the punch.
But punk was not the whole story. They had the requisite energy and tempo but there was a poetry to Bailey’s songwriting that broadened the Saints’ horizons, attracting fans from all corners of rock’s sphere.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
very sad to confirm the news about Chris Bailey dying on the weekend. Chris and I met when we were about 14 during detention at Oxley High School and became close friends which later developed into what I always thought was an extremely strong artistic partnership, 1/2 pic.twitter.com/hQVKKHYgzTApril 10, 2022
Bruce Springsteen would cover Just Like Fire Would on his 2014 album High Hopes. Their services to Australian music were rewarded with their 2001 induction to the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame.
Bailey was born in Kenya, growing up in Belfast before moving to Brisbane, aged seven. With the Saints, he started out as a vocalist before pulling double shifts on the electric guitar and latterly the bass, recording 13 albums.
He released seven solo albums, the most recent of which arrived with 2005’s Bone Box, an acoustic reworking of Saints and solo material recorded with the General Dog, a backing band featuring Saints drummer Pete Wilkinson.
One of the greatest songwriters this country produced has passed away. His band The Saints were punks before punk. He was a master of words and helped tell our story. RIP Chris Bailey pic.twitter.com/jTSdiyKBLyApril 11, 2022
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**
Join now for unlimited access
US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year
UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year
Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to publications including Guitar World, MusicRadar and Total Guitar. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
“I went to this very posh house in Regent’s Park in London, knocked on the door and this 16-year-old American kid held it up. I said, ‘It’s a red guitar – I’ll have it!’” How Phil Manzanera got his trademark Roxy Music Gibson Firebird
“Zoom discontinued that pedal because nobody bought it – but bass players are always coming up to me wanting to know how I got those sounds”: Remembering jazz great Victor Bailey, who used an unsung multi-FX pedal for his cover of Prince’s biggest hit