Joey Molland, a guitarist with 1970s Welsh pop-rock band Badfinger, dies
at 77
[March 05, 2025]
EDINA, Minn. (AP) — Joey Molland, a guitarist with the Welsh pop-rock
band Badfinger that was known for such 1970s hits as “No Matter What”
and “Day After Day,” has died at age 77.
Molland was the last to join and had been the last survivor from the
most famous lineup of the group, which recorded for the Beatles ’ Apple
label. His death was confirmed Tuesday by Sam Sheffield-West, the
funeral director at Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels in Edina,
Minnesota. Molland had lived in the state for decades. Additional
details about his death weren't immediately available.
Badfinger was a quartet that also included singer-guitarist Pete Ham,
bassist Tom Evans and drummer Tom Gibbins. They were among the first
acts signed to Apple after the Beatles launched it in 1968 and would
remain closely associated with the Beatles — not always to Badfinger's
liking — throughout their brief years of success. Molland even grew up
near Liverpool's Penny Lane, immortalized in the Beatles song of the
same name.
Badfinger's breakout hit, “Come and Get It,” was written and produced by
Paul McCartney, and another top 10 single, “Day After Day,” was produced
by George Harrison and featured Harrison's slide guitar. “No Matter
What” was produced by Apple official/Beatles assistant Mal Evans, and
another Badfinger song, “Without You,” became a hit for Beatles friend
Harry Nilsson. Molland and his bandmates would also appear at Harrison's
1971 benefit concert for Bangladesh and provide backing on two Beatles
member's solo albums: Harrison's “All Things Must Pass” and John
Lennon's “Imagine.”
[to top of second column]
|
Ex-Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland strums a 1967 Epiphone Casino,
while talking about the early years in Badfinger in his Shorewood,
Minn. home, Monday, Sept. 10, 2001. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt, File)
 Critics could not stop likening
Badfinger's catchy melodies, layered harmonies and tight
arrangements to their benefactors: “It’s as if John, Paul, George,
and Ringo had been reincarnated as Joey, Pete, Tom, and Mike of
Badfinger," Rolling Stone wrote of them in 1970. Even the band's
name originated from the Beatles. Badfinger had called itself the
Ivies in the years preceding their joining Apple, but, at the
suggestion of Apple official/Beatles assistant Neil Aspinall, agreed
to change it to Badfinger. (The working title of the Beatles' “With
a Little Help from My Friends” was “Bad Finger Boogie”).
Their time on top ended after 1972. Amid cutbacks at Apple and
allegations of financial mismanagement, Badfinger left for Warner
Bros., faded commercially and sustained a tragic loss when Ham took
his life in 1975. After initially breaking up, the remaining members
periodically reunited but never approached their early success.
Evans took his own life in 1983 and Gibbins died of a brain aneurysm
in 2005.
Molland remained active well after Badfinger's prime, touring until
his health began to fail last year and releasing such solo albums as
“This Way Up” “After the Pearl” and “Be True To Yourself.”
“I was raised to go to work — to get up in the morning and go to
work,” he told The Associated Press in 2001.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
