OMEN
05-09-2006, 08:53 PM
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,1658,5150295,00.jpg
Sydney - One of Australia's most respected singers and songwriters, Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens, has died at home in his sleep aged 48, reports said on Monday.
McLennan died on Saturday after complaining of feeling ill at his Brisbane home, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Go-Betweens' manager Bernard Galbally described McLennan's death as "totally unexpected".
"We're all quite devastated by the news," he said.
The Go-Betweens were formed by McLennan and fellow singer-songwriter Robert Forster at university in Queensland in 1977.
Although never a major chart success, the indie band was respected at home and abroad, influencing two generations of Australian, British and US artists such as REM's Michael Stipe, fellow Australian Nick Cave and Franz Ferdinand.
"The Go-Betweens recorded a series of exceptional albums that achieved widespread critical acclaim and were fundamental in bringing Australian music to a global audience," Bernard MacMahon of the band's Lo-Max Records company said.
McLennan was an "unparalleled lyricist and a prolific and meticulous composer," MacMahon said.
"His singular contribution to music and his commitment to his craft simply cannot be understated."
The Go-Betweens broke up in 1989, with Bachelor Kisses and Through the Streets of Your Town their best known songs.
The band's reformation in 2000 was "greeted with adulation by a new generation of musicians like Belle and Sebastian for whom their songs had been an inspirational teenage soundtrack," MacMahon said.
News24
Sydney - One of Australia's most respected singers and songwriters, Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens, has died at home in his sleep aged 48, reports said on Monday.
McLennan died on Saturday after complaining of feeling ill at his Brisbane home, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Go-Betweens' manager Bernard Galbally described McLennan's death as "totally unexpected".
"We're all quite devastated by the news," he said.
The Go-Betweens were formed by McLennan and fellow singer-songwriter Robert Forster at university in Queensland in 1977.
Although never a major chart success, the indie band was respected at home and abroad, influencing two generations of Australian, British and US artists such as REM's Michael Stipe, fellow Australian Nick Cave and Franz Ferdinand.
"The Go-Betweens recorded a series of exceptional albums that achieved widespread critical acclaim and were fundamental in bringing Australian music to a global audience," Bernard MacMahon of the band's Lo-Max Records company said.
McLennan was an "unparalleled lyricist and a prolific and meticulous composer," MacMahon said.
"His singular contribution to music and his commitment to his craft simply cannot be understated."
The Go-Betweens broke up in 1989, with Bachelor Kisses and Through the Streets of Your Town their best known songs.
The band's reformation in 2000 was "greeted with adulation by a new generation of musicians like Belle and Sebastian for whom their songs had been an inspirational teenage soundtrack," MacMahon said.
News24