Joe Strummer Dead at Fifty

23 Dec 2002
Joe Strummer Dead at Fifty
Joe Strummer Dead at Fifty
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Clash star Joe Strummer, one of the pioneers of punk rock, has died aged 50.

Strummer had recently been working with Bono and Dave Stewart on their song'48864' for the Mandela-SOS concert which takes place in February.

'The Clash was the greatest rock band,' said Bono. 'They wrote the rule bookfor U2. Though I was always too much of a fan to get to know him well, wewere due to meet in January to finish our Mandela song with Dave Stewart.It's such a shock.'

Strummer, together with Mick Jones (guitar), Paul Simonon (bass) and TerryChimes (drums), formed The Clash in 1976, releasing their first records thefollowing year. They quickly established themselves as one of the seminalbands in the UK punk explosion, combining raw political passion with avitriolic energy. Along with the Sex Pistols, they were the figureheads ofthe punk scene and Bob Geldof - a musical contemporary as frontman for theBoomtown Rats - said he admired their refusal to sell out.

'I know for a fact they were offered huge amounts of money,' he told theBBC's One O'Clock News. 'They just said no, that isn't really what we stoodfor. That's truly admirable. They were very important musically but as aperson, he was a very nice man.'

Among the best known songs of the Clash were London Calling, Should I StayOr Should I Go, Rock The Casbah and White Riot. 'Within The Clash, Joe wasthe political engine of the band,' said Billy Bragg. 'And without Joethere's no political Clash and without The Clash the whole political edge ofpunk would have been severely dulled.'

Organisers of February's HIV/AIDS benefit concert on Robben Island, SouthAfrica have said that 84-year-old Mandela will walk onto the stage to thetune of the new song entitled 48864 - penned for Mandela by Bono, Strummerand Dave Stewart. The number is the one he wore as a prisoner on the islandduring the apartheid regime.

'It's a great way to close, to chant this number and get Nelson Mandela towalk onto the stage and be able to speak to the world about HIV/Aids," saidStewart, the concert's music coordinator.

More on Joe Strummer here
www.strummersite.com

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