Long John Baldry, the British blues legend who helped launch the careers of Rod Stewart and the Rolling Stones, has died at the age of 64. Baldry was admitted to a Vancouver hospital with respiratory problems in April and died of a chest infection Thursday.
"The music world has lost an absolute legend," said close friend Anya Wilson, a Toronto music publicist who worked with Baldry in the 1970s. "They've lost one of the first and most powerful white blues singers ? an innovator, an entrepreneur of new music and one of the most wonderful people you could hope to meet."
Baldry, nicknamed
Long John because of his 6-foot-7 height, was born in East Maddon, England, but became a Canadian citizen in 1981.
Credited as one of the main forces in British blues, rock and pop music in the 1960s, he first hit the top of the U.K. singles charts in 1967 with "Let The Heartaches Begin."
Although Baldry was perhaps best known for nurturing the nascent talent of a host of musicians who are now worldwide superstars. His early 1960s stage act featured the likes of Stewart, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Jimmy Paige and Ginger Baker.
Thanks for info to SFGate.com.
