Andy Rourke, founding bass player with iconic British indie band the Smiths, has died following a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 59.
Bandmate and guitarist Johnny Marr confirmed the sad news: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer,” he writes on social media.
“Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. We request privacy at this sad time.”
Rourke performed on all four of the Smiths’ studio albums, each of them considered classics: The Smiths (from 1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987).
More to come…
