Michael Tullberg/Getty ImagesOriginal Sweet bassist/singer Steve Priest died Thursday morning at the age of 72.
Priest’s passing was announced by the U.K. glam-rock group’s founding lead guitarist and backing singer Andy Scott via a message on his Facebook page.
“Then there was one!” Scott writes. “I am in pieces right now. Steve Priest has passed away. His wife Maureen and I have kept in contact and though his health was failing I never envisaged this moment. Never. My thoughts are with his family x.”
Andy adds, “He was the best bass player I ever played with. The noise we made as a band was so powerful. From that moment in the summer of 1970 when set off on our Musical Odyssey the world opened up and the rollercoaster ride started!…Rest in Peace brother. All my love.”
Priest was a member of Sweet from its 1968 inception until 1981. He contributed the recognizable high-pitched harmonies that complimented late singer Brian Connolly‘s lead vocals. During the 1970s, Sweet scored four top-10 hits in the U.S. — “Little Willy,” “Ballroom Blitz,” “Fox on the Run” and “Love Is Like Oxygen.”
Steve co-write many tunes with his band mates including the 1975 hits “Fox on the Run” and “Action,” the latter of which peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
While Scott put together his own version of Sweet in 1985 that also featured the band’s original drummer, Mick Tucker, and was based in the U.K., Priest — who moved to the U.S. during the 1980s — launched a stateside-based version of the group in 2008.
Connolly and Tucker died in 1997 and 2002, respectively.
By Matt Friedlander
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