10cc drummer Paul Burgess quits band after more than 50 years
Paul Burgess, the longstanding drummer with 10cc, has announced his decision to leave the band.
Burgess joined the band in 1973 and was the second-longest-serving member of the pop-rock group after Graham Gouldman.
While he didn’t contribute to their eponymous debut album in 1973, which featured the original drummer Kevin Godley, Burgess was the beating heartbeat of all 10cc’s subsequent releases over the last 50 years.
However, Burgess, who is now 75, has confirmed their most recent tour of the United States will be his final run of dates with the band.
The drummer shared, “Having enjoyed many years with 10cc, I’m sorry to say that for me the rigours of touring have become incommensurate with age, and it’s time to put excessive hours spent waiting in airports and sitting on tour buses behind me.”
While he’s not retiring from music, Burgess is aiming to slow down, adding,” I have no intention of retiring and will continue to play, but at a more agreeable pace, working with past associates and a new band of like-minded musicians, The Guilty Men.”
Gouldman also reflected fondly of the journey he has been on alongside Burgess, stating, “When Paul and I started working together in 10cc, we never imagined in our wildest dreams that we would still be doing it even 30 years later, let alone 52.”
He continued, “Paul is my longest-running musical associate and it will be strange to turn around and see someone else on drums, but I can fully understand his desire to withdraw from sitting on a plane for 14 hours and then changing hotel each day for several week.”
Although Burgess has moved on to pastures new, 10cc are set to embark upon an 11-date tour of the Netherlands in November, before hitting the road across the United Kingdom next March, as well as a date next summer at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The band are yet to confirm a replacement for Burgess.
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