FOLK music legend Bill Fay has died, aged 81.
The singer-songwriter’s label, Dead Oceans, said in a statement he had died “peacefully” in London on Saturday morning (February 22).
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He was previously diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“Bill was a gentle man and a gentleman, wise beyond our times,” the statement said.
“He was a private person with the biggest of hearts, who wrote immensely moving, meaningful songs that will continue to find people for years to come.”
Fay was born in North London in 1943 and began writing songs and recording demos while at university – before noticed by former Van Morrison drummer Terry Noon.
Noon helped him sign to Decca Records subsidiary Dream, where he released two albums Bill Fay in 1970, and Time of the Last Persecution the following year.
However, low sales for the latter saw him dropped from the label.
But almost 40 years later in 1998, a small UK label reissued his music before it was discovered by producer Jim O’Rourke.
He played Fay’s music to Jeff Tweedy while he was recording Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – leading to him covering Be Not So Fearful during live shows with his band Wilco.
Fay later performed with the band in 2007 and 2010.
