UK NEWS
BAKER STREET SINGER RAFFERTY DIES AT 63
Gerry Rafferty has died at 63
Wednesday January 5,2011
By Brian Swanson
SCOTTISH singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, who rose to fame in the Seventies with smash hits including Baker Street and Stuck in the Middle With You, has died at his home in Bournemouth of complications from liver failure. He was 63.
Baker Street appeared on his solo album City to City in 1978 and hit No3 on the British charts and No2 in the US.
Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital six weeks ago to receive treatment for liver failure. He died at home yesterday with daughter Martha at his bedside.
It's understood the musician's funeral will be held in his home town of Paisley.
Rafferty and his band Stealers Wheel had a huge hit in 1972 with Stuck in the Middle With You. The song was discovered by a new generation of fans in 1992 when film director Quentin Tarantino used it on the soundtrack to his cult movie Reservoir Dogs.
Early in his career Rafferty also worked with Billy Connolly, 68, in folk band The Humblebums, and as a producer he had a hand in The Proclaimers' hit Letter From America.
He battled alcohol problems but continued to make albums, including the 2009 release Life Goes On. Rafferty's peak came when City to City beat Saturday Night Fever to the top of the US charts in July 1978. It sold five and a half million copies across the world.
He was reported to make about £80,000 a year on royalties from Baker Street.
In February 2009, solicitors for the former busker released a statement which said he was "extremely well" and composing new songs at his home in Italy.
It came after reports friends had not heard from him since he "disappeared" six months before while being treated in London for liver failure.
Rafferty was admitted to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital six weeks ago to receive treatment for liver failure. He died at home yesterday with daughter Martha at his bedside.
It's understood the musician's funeral will be held in his home town of Paisley.
Rafferty and his band Stealers Wheel had a huge hit in 1972 with Stuck in the Middle With You. The song was discovered by a new generation of fans in 1992 when film director Quentin Tarantino used it on the soundtrack to his cult movie Reservoir Dogs.
Early in his career Rafferty also worked with Billy Connolly, 68, in folk band The Humblebums, and as a producer he had a hand in The Proclaimers' hit Letter From America.
He battled alcohol problems but continued to make albums, including the 2009 release Life Goes On. Rafferty's peak came when City to City beat Saturday Night Fever to the top of the US charts in July 1978. It sold five and a half million copies across the world.
He was reported to make about £80,000 a year on royalties from Baker Street.
In February 2009, solicitors for the former busker released a statement which said he was "extremely well" and composing new songs at his home in Italy.
It came after reports friends had not heard from him since he "disappeared" six months before while being treated in London for liver failure.
Read more:http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/221275/Baker-Street-singer-Rafferty-dies-at-63/Baker-Street-singer-Rafferty-dies-at-63#ixzz1A6uM7knM
