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Died before he got old............
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/arti...d_singer_brad_delp_dies_at_55/?p1=MEWell_Pos1
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/arti...d_singer_brad_delp_dies_at_55/?p1=MEWell_Pos1
A family statement on behalf of Brad Delp was issued Saturday night by Peggy Rose, a family spokeswoman:
“On behalf of the Delp family and Brad’s fiancé, Pamela Sullivan, it is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of Bradley Delp, the legendary vocalist of the rock band ‘BOSTON.’ Brad was admired and loved by many, known as the ‘man with the golden voice’ and recognized throughout the music community as ‘the nicest man in rock and roll.’ Brad will be deeply missed by (all) of his family, friends, fans and the entire music community.”
Bradley passed away on Friday, March 9th, 2007 at his home in New Hampshire.
The family would like to publicly acknowledge all of those who have expressed their condolences and support during this difficult time.
“We ask that you please respect the privacy of Brad and his family during this time of grieving. The family will be conducting a private funeral service for Brad and a public memorial service will be announced at a later date,” stated Peggy Rose, Delp family spokesperson.
That's a great picture. You are very lucky to have seen them. It was one of my dreams to see/hear them. I have never had the chance to go. I was telling my wife and friends not too long ago that When they came 12hrs "driving distance" to me, i wouldn't care how much the tickets were i was going. Brad and Tom are one of the main reasons i started playing. I was really disturbed when i found out. I put on a greatest hits yesterday and played along with watery eyes... Call me a sissy i don't care... Damn, Damn, Damn i still can't beleive he died..GuitarsCanada said:Major bummer. Boston was/is my favorite band of all time. Seen them 6 times live. I will miss him for sure.
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The band Boston spoke to people's souls during the 1970s with smash hits like "More Than a Feeling" and "Peace of Mind." But two weeks after lead singer Brad Delp's suicide at his New Hampshire home, bad feelings abound.
Current members of the band, including the chief songwriter and founder, Tom Scholz, were not informed about or invited to Delp's funeral, which was attended by early band members who opposed Scholz in a 1980s legal battle.
Last week, Delp's ex-wife Micki was quoted on a radio station saying Delp was distressed about the conflicts in his professional life and became despondent after a longtime friend, Fran Cosmo, was cut from Boston's summer concert lineup. The story spread online, where fans trying to figure out the reason for Delp's suicide took up the cudgels.
Scholz, who called Delp his "closest friend and collaborator in music for over 35 years," said he was crushed by Delp's suicide and his exclusion from the funeral. Now he feels he is being unfairly blamed for Delp's death.
"It went from devastating on the initial phone call to an absolute nightmare," Scholz told The Associated Press on Friday in a tearful telephone interview, his first since Delp's death on March 9. (An interview conducted by e-mail was published earlier in Rolling Stone.)
"We had been told it would only be his immediate family (at the funeral), and of course it wasn't," he said.
A lawyer for Scholz sent a letter to Micki Delp on Friday demanding a retraction. She did not immediately respond Friday to an e-mail message from The Associated Press via the publicist who has handled statements for the family.
Boston has cancelled its summer engagements, and Scholz said he still hopes the rift can be mended and the band can be part of a public memorial service that Delp's children and fiancee, Pamela Sullivan, said last week was in the works.
Tensions between Scholz and some of the early band members date from the early 1980s, when CBS Inc. sued the band over delays in recording new albums. The company's Epic Records label recorded the band's first two releases: "Boston," in 1976, and "Don't Look Back," in 1978.
Scholz countersued for the rights to the band's name and music. Three members of the original band - Barry Goudreau, Sid Hashian and Fran Sheehan - testified for the record company, which lost. Goudreau is Micki Delp's brother-in-law, and she reportedly remains close to the ousted band members.
Delp, the only band member besides Scholz whose name was on the CBS recording contract, remained friends with everyone, touring and recording with Scholz and the others over the decades. He also started a Beatles tribute band, Beatle Juice.
Scholz wrote, engineered, and laid down nearly all the instrumental tracks on the first album, but he said Delp helped him refine the songs and brought his music to life.
After hearing that Beatlejuice planned to put on one last concert as a tribute to Brad, we decided we would really like to do something similar with BOSTON. After all, people around the world have listened to Brad singing these songs for thirty years.
We planned to let several well known singers that had a history with BOSTON cover Brad's lead vocal parts, and invite all our former bandmembers to sit in during the performance. The musicians and crew members of BOSTON feel like they are a part of a family, the loss affected us all, and we needed to get together again one more time. BOSTON concerts are what brought us together in the first place, so it seemed like the best thing to do for everyone.
Within a couple of weeks we had acquired a roster of great singers to fill in for Brad, and contacted many of our former band members, who were very excited about sitting in. Our guest vocalists were eager to sing the songs Brad made famous with BOSTON. All together we had about 20 performers who would be included in various parts of the concert. Since we had begun rehearsing for our spring shows early last winter, we were basically ready to play any time in April or June. We prepared a tentative set about two and a half hours long that included our most popular songs, with the extensive live arrangements we have presented in the past.
A note here about getting ready for a BOSTON concert: While we do our best to make BOSTON performances look effortless, in reality the parts are difficult to play and the intricate arrangements are a lot to remember. To be prepared for a typical concert requires both constant drilling so that the changes are automatic, and peak performance level to accomplish playing some of the instrumental passages. Once we have done this, improvisation on themes becomes possible, and concentration can be directed to emotion rather than simply recalling parts.
In my personal case this requires several months of preparation, followed by a time consuming ritual of daily rehearsal. Even during a tour, I practice 2 to 3 hrs a day.
Back to reality. Unfortunately, the local Live Nation promoter, who is the only game in town for putting on a major concert, was not able to give us a date for our BOSTON concert any earlier than late October. By that time the layers of rust would be very thick, and all those arrangement details long forgotten.
Rather than spending the time necessary to perform up to BOSTON standards six months from now, we've decided to let go of the idea and return to the studio where I had several projects already in the works. I'm also looking forward to possibly completing an engineering design I've neglected which could improve many people's lives.
Hopefully someday we will be able to resurrect the idea and put on a BOSTON reunion concert. Meanwhile we are planning to play a few songs along with several other bands at an Aug 19th tribute being put together by Brad's son and daughter. Although this won't be a BOSTON concert, we will play a few songs, as will Beatle Juice, Sammy Hagar, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Cheap Trick, Ernie and the Automatics, and Charlie Farren, according to the information we have.
A bit of other news: I've just finished remastering BOSTON'S Greatest Hits CD which now includes "I Had a Good Time." It sounds a lot better than the old 1997 version; we'll let you know when Sony plans to release it. I plan to start mixing live tracks for a BOSTON Live CD next.
Walk On and Don't Look Back,
Tom Scholz
I'm not sure I even follow it... So basically a bizarre love pentagon? between him, 2 sisters, his fiancée and a guy she was cheating on him with??Man, that's a whole buncha messed up.