Jumat, 08 Juni 2012

Bob Welch found dead: Former Fleetwood Mac member shot himself in chest

Bob Welch found dead: Former Fleetwood Mac member shot himself in chest

  • Singer and guitarist, who founded Paris after leaving Fleetwood Mac, was 66
  • Found dead at Nashville home by wife on Thursday afternoon
  • Police say Welch left a suicide note
  • Fleetwood Mac frontwoman Stevie Nicks says death 'has hit her hard'

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 16:21 EST, 7 June 2012 | UPDATED: 02:06 EST, 8 June 2012

Former Fleetwood Mac band member Bob Welch has been found dead after apparently committing suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 66.

Police say Welch was found dead by his wife after shooting himself in the chest at their Nashville home at around 12.15pm local time today.

The Californian musician had had health issues recently, according to police spokesman Don Aaron, who confirmed that Welch left a suicide note.

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Suicide: Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch was found dead today after shooting himself in the chest

Suicide: Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch was found dead today after shooting himself in the chest

The spokesman would not elaborate on specific details regarding Welch's health - but added that there was no evidence of foul play.

Welch, who also had a solo career, was a guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974 and worked on albums such as Future Games and Bare Trees.

Ailing: Welch, pictured here in a 1995 BBC documentary, had apparently suffered health problems of late

Ailing: Welch, pictured here in a 1995 documentary, had apparently suffered from health problems of late

He formed the British rock group Paris in 1976, and had hits including Sentimental Lady in 1977 and Ebony Eyes in 1978.

Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham did backing vocals on Sentimental Lady.

Fleetwood Mac's career took off in the mid-1970s after Welch left the band.

Dreams was a Number 1 hit in 1977, and Don't Stop hit the top of the charts the same year.

It later became the anthem for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. Hold Me was a hit in 1982 and Little Lies in 1987.

Welch, a native of Los Angeles, scored his biggest hit with Sentimental Lady, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard chart.

His other singles included Precious Love in 1979 and Hot Love, Cold World in 1978.

Welch fell out with his former band mates after suing the group in 1994 for unpaid royalties, which led to his exclusion from the group's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1998.   

'It basically comes down to the fact that they don't like me anymore,' he told The Plain Dealer of Cleveland at the time.

'I guess they can do what they want. I could understand it if I had been a sideman for a year. But I was an integral part of that band... I put more of myself into that band than anything else I've ever done.'

Devastated: Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks today told The Associated Press that Welch's death hit her hard

Devastated: Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks today told The Associated Press that Welch's death hit her hard

Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks today told The Associated Press that Welch's death hit her hard.

'The death of Bob Welch is devastating... I had many great times with him after Lindsey and I joined Fleetwood Mac. He was an amazing guitar player - he was funny, sweet - and he was smart. I am so very sorry for his family and for the family of Fleetwood Mac - so, so sad.'

As a songwriter, Welch had his songs recorded by Kenny Rogers, Sammy Hagar, the Pointer Sisters and others.

In 1999 he released a CD, Bob Welch Looks at Bop, a salute to bebop music in the 1940s.

Heyday: Welch, centre, was in the band between 1971 and 1974, and was a guitarist and vocalist. Pictured here in 1973 with, from left Bob Weston, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood

Heyday: Welch, centre, was in the band between 1971 and 1974, and was a guitarist and vocalist. Pictured here in 1973 with (from left) Bob Weston, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood

In an interview with The Tennessean in 2003, Welch said he never dreamed he'd be remembered for much.

'I just wanted to play guitar in a good band,' he said. 'I wanted to make the music I love. I wanted to travel the world and have adventures.'

Welch also said 'music is disposable now. It doesn't have the emotional impact anymore. That's sad.'

He had lived in Nashville since the 1990s.

Welch is the second member of Fleetwood Mac to die this year. In January, another former guitarist for the band, Bob Weston, died in London from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, at age 64.       

Former bandmates: Fleetwood Mac circa 1972/1973, Welch is seen in the middle

Former bandmates: Fleetwood Mac circa 1972/1973, Welch is seen in the middle

Watch Bob Welch perform with Fleetwood Mac in 1973

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RIP

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SORRY!

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Sorry to here Bob Welch has gone he was in the band from late 1971 to 1974, sorry to say for me fleetwood mac will allways be the band formed by pete green and mick fleetwood in 1967 with john mcvie and jeremy spencer and latter danny kiwan. pete green really was fleetwood mac a great blues gaitar player making them one of most successful bands of british blues. After pete left they became a pop band and Bob did a great job in that type band. So R.I.P Bob.

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In the stillness of remembering of what we had......and what we lost......rip x

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I grieve for FM and commend Ms. Stephanie Nicks for releasing a kind statement, and I send hearfelt condolences out to her and all his love ones an former bandmates...

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The 1995 documentary is "Rock Family Trees: The Fleetwood Mac Story". I have it in audio form on my iPod and play it a lot when I'm driving. Out of all of them Bob Welch's rebellious attitude really stood out for me. Very sad that so many of the contributors to that programme have died before their time; Peter Bardens, John Peel (narrator), Bob Brunning, Bob Weston and now Bob Welch. RIP all of you.

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He went his own way. RIP Bob.

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I will never understand people who completely disregard everything Fleetwood Mac did after the Peter Green era as tosh because it isn't. Fleetwood Mac evolved, they moved on, tried new things musically. Between 1967 and 1987 they created one of the finest catalogues of music there has ever been. Each lineup was talented and distinctive in their own way and that's what makes their back catalogue such a joy to listen to. Mick Fleetwood certainly wouldn't have let just anyone into the band because it's his life and soul. I think some people resent the Buckingham Nicks lineup because they were so big and sold such a huge amount of records that I guess in a way they have become the faces of Fleetwood Mac purely because that lineup has lasted the longest out of any of them. Despite their music evolving, I've always felt that the band kept the early blues mentality and did nothing but respect it. Lindsey Buckingham is one of the best guitarists and producers the band has ever had. Period.

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Thank you for sharing your talent and giving pleasure to many. RIP

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RIP Bob Welch. Thanks for Hypnotized - still one of my favourite songs of all times

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