Trevor Bolder, who played bass for Uriah Heep and David Bowie, has died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 62.
Trevor Bolder
The band posted the following on their website:
A Statement From Uriah Heep
It is with great sadness that Uriah Heep announce the passing of our friend the amazing Trevor Bolder, who has passed away after his long fight with cancer. Trevor was an all time great, one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, and one of the finest and most influential bass players that Britain ever produced.
His long time membership of Uriah Heep brought the band’s music, and Trevor’s virtuosity and enthusiasm, to hundreds of thousands of fans across the world. He joined the band in 1976 and, barring one short break, was a fixture until his ill health forced him to take a step back early this year. Prior to joining Heep he was a founder and ever-present member of David Bowie’s legendary Spiders From Mars band, performing on all of their key albums and at countless shows. He also performed with Wishbone Ash, Cybernauts and The Rats.
Mick Box said, “Trevor was a ‘World Class’ bass player, singer & songwriter, and more importantly a World Class friend. He will be sadly missed by family, friends and rock fans all over the world. We are all numb to the core”.
Bolder started playing in bands in the mid-60’s, including The Rats with Mick Ronson. In 1971, he replaced Tony Visconti in David Bowie’s band the Spiders From Mars and played on four Bowie classics, Hunky Dory (1971), The Rise of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972), Aladdin Sane (1973) and Pin-Ups (1973).
In 1976, Bolder replaced John Wetton in Uriah Heep, with which he stayed until early 2013 except for a short period in 1982 when Heep was going through legal battles and he joined Wishbone Ash, once again replacing Wetton. He was with them to record only one album, Twin Barrel’s Burning and returned to Uriah Heep in 1983.
On the side, Bolder also played in Cybernauts with Joe Elliott and Phil Cullen of Def Leppard. The band played David Bowie covers.
