Badfinger co-founder and guitarist, the last surviving member of the band, has died at the age of 77.
Badfinger were signed to The Beatles Apple Records. Their name came from the working title for ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ which as ‘Bad Finger Boogie’.
Badfinger were initially called The Iveys and released their debut album ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ under that name. ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ was produced by Tony Visconti and Mal Evans but did not chart.
Badfinger was an instant success with thanks to The Beatles. Paul McCartney wrote and produced their first hit ‘Come and Get It’ (1969). The song was featured in the movie ‘The Magic Christian’ starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. It reached no 4 in the UK, no 6 in the USA and no 14 in Australia.
‘No Matter What’ (1970), the lead single of the third Badfinger album ‘No Dice’ was produced by Beatles road manager Mal Evans. The song reached no 5 in the UK, no 8 in Australia and no 8 in the USA.
‘Day After Day’ (1971) from the fourth album ‘Straight Up’ is credited to George Harrison as producer but was actually done by Todd Rundgren. It reached no 1 in the USA, no 10 in the UK and no 7 in Australia.
‘Baby Blue’ (1971), also from ‘Straight Up’ reached no 9 in the USA and no 16 in Australia. ‘Baby Blue’ was not released as a single in the UK because of the chaos breaking out in Apple at the time. However, it did make a comeback in 2013 when it was used in the final episode of ‘Breaking Bad’.
The song ‘Without You’ was a Badfinger song written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans. ‘Without You’ became a major hit for Harry Nilsson in 1971 and again in 1994 for Mariah Carey.
Joey left Badfinger in 1974 after playing on the seven albums from The Iveys ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ through to ‘Wish You Were Here’. In 1979, he and Tom Evans formed a new band using the Badfinger name and released two more albums ‘Airwaves’ (1979) and ‘Say No More’ in 1983.
Molland then released his first solo album ‘After The Pearl’ in 1983. His final release was ‘Be True To Yourself’ in 2021.
Pete Ham died in 1975, Tom Evans died in 1983, Mike Gibbons died 2005.
Joey Molland was in poor health at the end of 2024. He died on 1 March 2025.
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