Chris Bailey, founder and longtime bandleader of the pioneering Australian punk and rock act The Saints, has died at the age of 65, as Billboard reported on Monday (April 11).
Bailey’s family and friends revealed his death to listeners in a statement on Sunday (April 10) via The Saints’ official Facebook page.
“It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022,” they said.
“Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night,” they added. The Saints’ 1976 debut single was the influential early punk side “(I’m) Stranded.”
Chris Bailey (second from left) and the rock band The Saints pose for a portrait circa 1977.
The Saints, first known as Kid Galahad and the Eternals, were formed by Bailey, guitarist Ed Keupper and drummer Ivor Hay in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1973. Over the years, the band experienced numerous lineup changes, and Bailey was its only constant member throughout. The Saints released 15 studio albums during their time together, beginning with 1977’s (I’m) Stranded and culminating with 2012’s King of the Sun.
But while The Saints’ initial sound was informed by punk and sat alongside ’70s peers such as Ramones and Sex Pistols, Bailey never seemed totally comfortable with the label. By the ’80s, he began integrating post-punk, college rock, blues and pop-punk into the group’s songs.
In a 2007 interview, Bailey told Billboard, “It’s not so much that we were at the vanguard so much as we were on the periphery [of punk]. I don’t think any of us were that enamored with the punk tag. However, I can accept that ‘punk rock’ has come to mean something over the years.”
The musician also released solo albums in the ’80s and ’90s. Last year, an original 7″ copy “(I’m) Stranded” was added to the collection of the John Oxley Library at the State Library of Queensland.
See the Facebook post below. Under that, hear “(I’m) Stranded” and see some vintage footage of The Saints.
The Saints, “(I’m) Stranded”
The Saints, 1976 Interview + “(I’m) Stranded” Live Performance
Rockers We’ve Lost in 2022
Rock + Metal Musicians Who Died in 2022
Rockers We Lost in 2021
R.I.P. to the rockers who died in 2021.
