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Joey Molland, a guitarist and singer who co-anchored ’70s hitmakers Badfinger – and was their final surviving original member – has died at the age of 77.
The news was confirmed in a post on Molland’s official Facebook page, which read: “Well, the day we never wanted to see has arrived. Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night, surrounded by [his girlfriend] Mary, his two sons, and other family members at 11:39pm CST.
“Long Live Badfinger. Thank you, Joey – for keeping the band’s music alive for so long and for being a friend to us all.”
Born in Liverpool in 1947, Molland – like so many guitarists of his generation – was first inspired to pick up the instrument by Elvis Presley, and moved from him to Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly.
Molland already had plenty of experience – and even some limited success, via his membership in the band Gary Walker and The Rain – before he joined the fledgling Welsh band the Iveys in 1969.
Though they had yet to find much success, the Iveys had a major ace up their sleeve – the backing of the Beatles’ Apple Records, and with it, the musical and personal support of the Fab Four themselves.
It was Paul McCartney who gave the band – rechristened Badfinger, shortly after Molland’s arrival – Come and Get It, a Top Ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic. That tune would then give the band enough momentum to accomplish the same Top-Ten-in-the-US-and-UK feat with a song of their own, No Matter What, just months later.
No Matter What (Remastered 2010) – YouTube
Along with Badfinger’s own success, Molland, along with his bandmates, also played on some of John Lennon and George Harrison’s most seminal early solo material.
Of his time working with Harrison on his triple-album masterpiece, All Things Must Pass, Molland told Guitar World in 2020, “George was very direct. He’d come over, sit with me or the other guys, and he’d play a song. I remember him doing that with Beware of Darkness; he had an acoustic, and he played it for us a few times so that we could get a feel for the tune.
“He was always very sweet but very direct. He knew exactly what he wanted as far as rhythm guitar: all straight up-and-down strokes. No jingle-jangle stuff. He made that very clear. But he was cool, and we became good friends.”
Harrison also recruited Badfinger for what would go on to become one of the most famous all-star charity concerts in rock history, 1971’s Concert for Bangladesh, and co-produced the band’s second consecutive hit album, Straight Up.
From there, though, things declined quickly for Badfinger. Shady business dealings and legal wrangling interfered with their creative output, and even more with their income. Struggling with financial issues, and the pressure to pull the band out of the hole they found themselves in, Pete Ham, the band’s singer, guitarist, and biggest hitmaker, committed suicide in 1975.
After years in the wilderness, Molland and Badfinger bassist/vocalist Tom Evans re-convened in the late ’70s, forming a band that would eventually be called Badfinger.
Though this second Badfinger would meet with some limited success, they, too, would fall victim to legal and business disputes, infamously culminating in Molland and Evans each touring with separate bands both named Badfinger.
Evans, too, would commit suicide in 1983.
In addition to touring under the Badfinger, or Joey Molland’s Badfinger name, Molland had a substantiative solo career, releasing half-a-dozen albums. The most recent of these was 2020’s Be True to Yourself.
Molland was particularly loved in the Beatles fan community, embarking, for one, on a 2019 tour with Todd Rundgren and others in celebration of the (previous year’s) 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ White Album.
“We are crushed to hear of the passing of Joey Molland,” the Fest for Beatles Fans wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Joey was an unbelievably special musician. And he was an amazing person. He’ll be badly missed.”
Despite their misfortunes, Molland reflected warmly in his later years on the opportunities afforded to him by Badfinger.
“There are times when it all feels like a dream,” Molland told Guitar World in 2020.
“Badfinger gave me the opportunity to do everything a musician could want. I got to make records. I heard my music on the radio, and I toured all over. I couldn’t believe the luck we were having. For a time, everything was great.”
