R.I.P. Chris Bailey of The Saints
Chris Bailey, founding singer and songwriter of legendary Australian punk band The Saints has died. The group broke the news on their social media, writing, “It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th 2022. Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night.”
Bailey was born in Nanyuki, Kenya and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, before his family relocated to Brisbane, Australia when he was seven years old. He attended Corinda State High School there, where he met Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay, with whom he’d end up forming The Saints in 1973, originally under the name Kid Galahad and the Eternals. The group released their best known single, “(I’m) Stranded” in 1977, as well as their debut album, which was also titled (I’m) Stranded. Eternally Yours (which we included in ourand Prehistoric Sounds followed in 1978.
Hay, Kuepper and bassist Alasdair Ward left the group in 1979, but Bailey kept the band going under a new lineup, which would change many times, including reuniting with Hay and Kuepper years later. Bailey released 14 albums with The Saints, as well as seven solo albums.
Kuepper writes on social media, “I couldn’t have hoped for a better singer. My deepest condolences to his wife Elisabet, his sisters Margaret, Carol and Maureen and the rest of his family and loved ones.”