Guitarist and singer Bob Welch, whose work in the early 1970s for Fleetwood Mac set the stage for the band's multi-platinum success later in the decade, died on Thursday at his home in Nashville. He was 66.
According to a spokesman for the Nashville Police Department, Welch was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. The spokesman said Welch's wife, Wendy, told police he had been suffering from health issues.
Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971 as a 24-year-old living in Paris, just as the group was making the transition away from being a British blues rock band and into the 1970s commercial powerhouse that it became.
As a singer and guitarist for the group, Welch was lesser known than the pair who replaced him — lead vocalist Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. His work on early albums such as "Future Games," "Bare Trees" and "Heroes Are Hard to Find" with band mates who included Mick Fleetwood and John and Christie McVie set the tone for what was to come.
Welch left the band in 1974, and it was his departure that set the stage for Fleetwood Mac's hit-making line-up when Nicks and Buckingham were hired to take on his two duties. That would become the group's most successful lineup, releasing the 1975 album "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumors," the band's acclaimed 1977 hit album.
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Bob Welch dies at 66; Fleetwood Mac guitarist and singer - latimes.com
A shame.
According to a spokesman for the Nashville Police Department, Welch was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. The spokesman said Welch's wife, Wendy, told police he had been suffering from health issues.
Welch joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971 as a 24-year-old living in Paris, just as the group was making the transition away from being a British blues rock band and into the 1970s commercial powerhouse that it became.
As a singer and guitarist for the group, Welch was lesser known than the pair who replaced him — lead vocalist Stevie Nicks and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. His work on early albums such as "Future Games," "Bare Trees" and "Heroes Are Hard to Find" with band mates who included Mick Fleetwood and John and Christie McVie set the tone for what was to come.
Welch left the band in 1974, and it was his departure that set the stage for Fleetwood Mac's hit-making line-up when Nicks and Buckingham were hired to take on his two duties. That would become the group's most successful lineup, releasing the 1975 album "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumors," the band's acclaimed 1977 hit album.
more
Bob Welch dies at 66; Fleetwood Mac guitarist and singer - latimes.com
A shame.
