Bay City Rollers Bassist Alan Longmuir Passes At 70
Alan Longmuir, the bass guitarist in Scottish pop group The Bay City Rollers, has died following a short illness.
The 70-year-old died in hospital ‘surrounded by loved ones,’ only a fortnight after he was flown home from Mexico where he had contracted an illness. Confirming the musician’s death, close friend Liam Rudden said: “Having worked closely with Alan for the last seven years I am devastated by the news he has left us." “Alan was one of the most gentle, generous and kind-hearted people I have ever known.” Rudden, the writer and director of I Ran With The Gang, added: “He touched the lives of everyone he met with a smile that made them feel special, insisting that despite his amazing adventures in life he was still just ‘a plumber from Edinburgh’." Mr Longmuir founded the Bay City Rollers at the end of the 60s with younger brother Derek, before the band achieved huge success during the 1970s with number one songs including "Bye, Bye Baby" and "Give A Little Love." He was replaced as bass guitarist at the height of their fame in 1976, but returned to the band in 1978 and later performed at reunion shows at Glasgow Barrowlands in 2015.
Reprint permissions courtesy of Shawn Perry (VintageRock.com)
