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Groton police
said Geils, whose full name was John Warren Geils Jr., appeared
to have died of natural causes. After a "well-being check" at
the musician's house at around 4 p.m. EDT, Geils was discovered
unresponsive and was declared dead at the scene, police said in
a statement.
The J. Geils Band was launched as a blues trio in Worcester,
Massachusetts, in the 1960s. It soon switched its focus to
electric guitars and bass as it became a staple of the Boston
music scene through the 1970s with Geils as its lead guitarist
and Peter Wolf on vocals, the group said on its Facebook page.
Its biggest commercial successes were the hard rock 'n' roll
anthems that came with the release of "Freeze Frame," the band's
12th album, in 1981.
The album, which followed the comical hit "Love Stinks," also
included the title track and "Centerfold," which was No. 1 for
six weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 list, the group said.
The band's success was relatively shortlived. After Wolf left
the group in 1983, the remaining members produced another album,
"You're Gettin' Even While I'm Gettin' Old," and one single,
"Concealed Weapons," before breaking up in 1985.
The band had several reunion tours since then. Geils finally
quit the band in 2012 and later sued his bandmates, claiming
they were conspiring to tour without him and unlawfully using
the band's trademarked name, according to Rolling Stone
magazine.
Geils remained active outside his namesake band. He released two
albums in the mid-1990s with his band Bluestime, Rolling Stone
said. He returned to his jazz roots during the 2000s with three
solo records, it said.
Geils was born in New York on Feb. 20, 1946, and grew up in the
New Jersey suburbs.
(Reporting by Peter Szekely; Editing by Sandra Maler and Paul
Tait)
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