Boston Lead singer found dead at 55

[Herzig]

RIP Brad Delp

http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/40689307

[patteeu]

I just heard on the radio that someone (his family?) is now saying he committed suicide.

[Redrum_69]

Boston was a one hit wonder group with Amanda...after that they were nobody

[Chief Henry]

God, I loved BOSTON... This stinks. I wish like hell I woul dhave go to the iowa state fair to see them.
DAM DAM DAM

[BagoobaChief]

Originally Posted by Redrum_69

Boston was a one hit wonder group with Amanda...after that they were nobody

Just listen to Kansas-ELO-Boston all sounded the same to me when I was growing up. Hate to see somebody die and all, but the music industry will survive.

[crazycoffey]

He died from not enough Pot smoking, damn it will it ever be legalized.......





Actually, I liked Boston, sorry to hear about this [/end sincerity]

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Redrum_69

Boston was a one hit wonder group with Amanda...after that they were nobody

This amended post is almost as reeruned as it was when you referenced songs from another band in your lame attempt at tasteless humor.

[StcChief]

Redrum is jealous his Mom didn't look like Amanda.

[KC Dan]

Here is the suicide death story report. "Carry me away for the last time"... A damn shame.
Family: Delp's Death Was Suicide
Mar 14, 3:32 PM EST
The Associated Press
CONCORD, N.H. -- The family of Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, said his death was a suicide.


"He was a man who gave all he had to give to everyone around him, whether family, friends, fans or strangers," the family said in a statement relayed by police Wednesday. "He gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired. We take comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace." Delp, 55, died Friday at his Atkinson home. Fiancee Pamela Sullivan found him.

Toxicology tests by the state medical examiner's office showed that Delp committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, said Lt. William Baldwin. Delp also left two notes taped to a door and letters to his family and Sullivan. Baldwin said police do not know the contents of the letters. The family's statement said Sullivan, Delp's children and their mother, Delp's ex-wife Micki Delp, were grateful for the sympathy they had received.

Brad Delp joined Boston in the mid-1970s and sang two of its biggest hits, "More than a Feeling" and "Long Time." Delp had planned to marry Sullivan this summer during a break in a tour with Boston. A lifelong Beatles fan, Delp also played with a tribute band, Beatle Juice.

Beatle Juice performed a benefit last year to help build a new public library in Atkinson, a small town of about 6,000 residents on the Massachusetts border.

The family said last week it planned a private funeral followed by a public memorial to be scheduled later.

[KC Dan]

Here is a letter Tom wrote to a Rolling Stone reporter after receiving questions from the reporter. Very enlightening and interesting to note that they had new music they were going to unveil this summer. Taken from their website: http://www.bandboston.com/

Rolling Stone writer Andy Greene has asked me for some recollections about my experiences with Brad. An edited version of the reply I sent him appeared on rollingstone.com with questions inserted in the text. Here is the complete unedited note I sent to Andy:

Andy,

Thanks you for allowing me to answer your questions by e-mail. I haven't been in the mood to talk to talk to people much for the last few days as you might imagine, but I appreciate you turning to me for this. Brad and I were friends and collaborators for 35 years. Both of us being vegetarians, non-drug users and more interested in music than money, put us in a very small minority in the music business; our bond ran much deeper than just BOSTON music.

In answer to your questions:

I met Brad, soft spoken and unassuming, when he auditioned in a recording studio outside of Boston one night to sing several songs I had written. Back then in the early seventies recording a song demo meant coming up with a significant amount of money, several weeks of my day job savings, to buy a few hours of 8 track time.

Having endured countless sessions with other singers, most with undeserved egos, I had only the faintest glimmer of hope that he might be good enough to squeak by as a suitable vocalist.

He didn't warm up; he just listened to the prerecorded instrument track once. Then he started to sing. I don't know if it took two seconds or three, but before he finished singing the first line I knew that some guardian angel had just delivered to me one of the best vocalists ever to step up to a microphone! Then he kept going and I realized he wasn't just one of the best, he was amazing! High notes I hadn't heard before followed by harmonies, and overdubbed exact duplicate layered tracks, all with ease, all with emotion, and yet all technically precise.

Before we left that night he had rewritten the lyrics and the melody, sung all the vocal parts, and with the magic of his voice turned my stark guitar riff into a song! From that moment on I only hoped I could write and record music worthy of his attention and interpretation.

There were soulful notes that pulled you into the song, stratospheric screams and angelic high notes, and after hitting these record breaking notes he'd go back and sing a harmony part above it! He didn't rehearse any of these parts, he could jump back and forth between harmony parts, double tracking parts, and then go back and do it again exactly the same with one tiny change, adjusting all the other singing parts to fit with bionic accuracy.

You'd think anyone with this super human talent would be an insufferable egomaniac. But Brad was just the opposite, and amazingly he remained honestly humble in spite of the incredible star pressure that followed BOSTON's success.

Brad and I banged our heads against the wall trying to get a break with record companies for five years. During that time he and I did a lot of basement recording; we received absolutely zero recognition locally and complete rejection submitting our demos to national record labels. I think this experience put our future success in perspective as we both realized that after so many years of insult, we were just very lucky to be able to record and play music above ground! Unlike many other individuals eventually involved with BOSTON, Brad's down to earth personality never wavered; it was his natural demeanor.

When someone asked me what Brad was like, the first words that always came to mind were "nice guy." Oddly, his incredible performing abilities seem barely worth mentioning compared to his attributes as a human being. He was soft spoken yet very quick and funny. Although I rarely remember seeing him in the throws of a good belly laugh, he could keep the people around him in stitches effortlessly, and did so on a daily basis. When he wasn't making someone laugh, or giving his time to a fan, he was a tireless worker, both in the studio and on stage.

He and I had a very strong personal connection because of our moral beliefs, yet we were drastically different kinds of people. While I am rebellious and easily provoked to an unyielding defense, Brad was passive and studiously non confrontational.

Somehow over the years I think we both grew not only to accept this in each other, but to respect it; I think this is part of the reason we were able to work together for so much of our lives. In an odd parallel we were also opposites in the studio. Once Brad would laid down a vocal track he became instantly committed to it and would dig in if challenged, whereas I would want to change everything and never be sure. We were usually at odds on how vocal arrangements should go also, which in early years caused heated debates. Later we both developed such respect for each other's abilities that the collaboration, so important to the eventual outcome of BOSTON's music, became much easier. It was largely my music, but it was Brad who brought it to life, and this struggle we both had to endure was part of what made it so many people's favorite.

I last saw Brad at rehearsal last month where we prepared several old and new songs for our upcoming summer shows. These are my fondest memories, playing music with my friend and the greatest singer in rock and roll.

Andy, Brad and I have been used and abused throughout our adult life by the music business, it continues even in his death. Please do the right thing with this. Sorry I wrote you a tome.

Tom Scholz

[CHIEF4EVER]

What a damn shame. He had one of the most unique voices ever in Rock and Roll. RIP.

I listened to Boston in my youth (also Kansas, ELO, Molly Hatchet, Skynard, etc..) and always liked their unique style.

[Halfcan]

Wow why would he do it. Boston rocks and Brad was definately under rated. I saw Boston live and his voice was just amazing-it was like he was personally singing to each fan- he really cared that much.

This is a huge loss!

[ZepSinger]

Originally Posted by Redrum_69

Boston was a one hit wonder group with Amanda...after that they were nobody

That's like saying McCartney's best material was with Wings.

Z

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by KC Dan

BUMMER! I was looking forward to their upcoming tour. I have seen them 6 times and enjoyed the show each time. I was also listening to Boston while flying home this weekend. Here is the announcement from their website:

As you all know by now, BOSTON'S lead singer, Brad Delp, was found dead in his home on Friday, March 9th 2007. Plans for live BOSTON performances this summer have, of course, been cancelled.

My heart goes out to his wonderful fiance Pamela, his two children and other family members, his close friends and band mates, and to the millions of people whose lives were made a little brighter by the sound of his voice. He will be dearly missed.

Tom Scholz


Damn, I still remember jamming to Boston while driving on my first license in So. Cal. Litsening to their music has always been one of my fondest memories while growing up. RIP - Brad!

Last time Dan was in town, I made him pick the music for the road trip to Arrowhead...he chose Boston.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by ZepSinger

That's like saying McCartney's best material was with Wings.

Z

IMO, it was.