Tony Thorpe, guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for the English glam-rock band the Rubettes, has died at the age of 80. His death was announced in a statement on his official Facebook page.
The statement remembered Thorpe as a father to Clay, a husband to Shirle, a friend to many and a mentor to countless musicians. It noted that despite his declining health in recent months, his fierce intellect and sharp sense of humour never faltered, leaving an unfillable hole in the lives of all who knew him or his music.
Formed in 1973, the Rubettes broke through with Sugar Baby Love, which topped the UK singles chart for four weeks in 1974. Thorpe joined the lineup in 1974 as lead guitarist and songwriter, singing lead on Baby I Know before exiting in 1979. He also worked with artists including Cilla Black and Tommy Steele and taught music at Blackburn College.
Rubettes frontman Alan Williams paid tribute on the band's Facebook page, writing that Thorpe was mercifully now at peace and that his brilliance with the axe and the pen remains with us, never forgotten.
