Garry Roberts, founding guitarist of The Boomtown Rats, dies aged 72

Garry Roberts
(Image credit: Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns via Getty Images)

Garry Roberts, founding guitarist of Irish rock outfit The Boomtown Rats, has died aged 72. No cause of death has been announced as of yet.

The band’s remaining members – Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe, Darren Beale and Alan Dunne – confirm Roberts’ passing in a statement.

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Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.