The Stranglers

Almost uniquely among those who emerged in the 1970s punk era, The Stranglers endured for five decades, notching multiple Top 40 albums such as 1977’s No More Heroes, 1979’s The Raven, and 1983’s Feline, and Top 40 singles, including the classics “Golden Brown,” “No More Heroes,” and “Peaches”. Formed in Guildford, Surrey in 1974 by Hugh Cornwell (vocals / guitar), JJ Burnell (vocals / bass), Dave Greenfield (keyboards / vocals), and Jet Black (drums), they were far from a typical punk outfit. In contrast to their contemporaries, they used keyboards, wrote strong melodies and were more technically adept than most bands of the genre, but still presented a menacing image. They built a strong following after support tours with The Ramones and Patti Smith. They had a series of pop hits and outgrew punk with ambitious works like The Gospel According to the Meninblack, a concept album exploring both religion and extra-terrestrial activity. Hugh Cornwell left the band in 1990 to concentrate on his solo career with Paul Roberts and John Ellis (The Vibrators) joining. Ellis left in 2000 to be replaced by Baz Warne and Roberts quit in 2006, though they continued as a four-piece playing to a devoted fanbase for the rest of the decade. Drummer Jet Black, who was experiencing health issues, went into semi-retirements in 2007 but would continue to be a member of the group until he finally retired in 2018. Keyboardist Dave Greenfield sadly lost his life to COVID-19 on May 3rd, 2020, at the age of 71, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across the music industry. Instead of retreating from that loss, the band put out a new album for the first time in nine years with 2021’s Dark Matter, and the result was their first top 5 LP in almost thirty years. Former drummer and founding member Jet Black died on December 6, 2022, at the age of 84.

Please enable Javascript to view this page competely.