Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland dead at 77
Joey Molland, best known as the guitarist and the last surviving member of 1970s rock legends Badfinger, has passed away at the age of 77.
Molland was a key member of Badfinger during their time with Apple Records in the late 1960s. His guitar work was featured on beloved songs such as ‘No Matter What’, ‘Day After Day’, and ‘Baby Blue’.
News of Molland’s death was confirmed on Badfinger’s official Facebook page. A statement read: “Well, the day we never wanted to see has arrived. Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night, surrounded by Mary, his two sons, and other family members at 11:39pm CST.”
Molland’s health had been unsteady ever since December of 2024, when his wife, Mary, confirmed that he was in the ICU. Though he had shown many signs of improvement ever since first being admitted, he would eventually succumb to his problems after initially being put on a ventilator.
In addition to working with Badfinger, Molland was a major session musician who turned in time working on multiple Beatles solo albums. Aside from joining the rest of Badfinger on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, he is also credited with performing on a number of tracks on John Lennon’s Imagine album, playing acoustic guitar on both ‘Jealous Guy‘ and ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier’.
Molland was also instrumental in being a part of the backing band for The Concert For Bangladesh. Aside from Harrison putting on the show with a star-studded cast of performers, Molland helped round out “The Band” for that run of shows, being accompanied by fellow legends like Jim Keltner, Klaus Voorman, and Jesse Ed Davis.
Outside of Pete Ham and Tom Evans writing the majority of the songs for Badfinger, Molland would eventually see one of his own tracks reach the top of the hit parade with ‘Love Is Gonna Come At Last’ in 1979. Ever since the breakup of Badfinger in the 1980s, Molland had embarked on a solo career, with his most recent album, Be True To Yourself, being released in 2020.
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