The Saints reunited, L-R: Chris Bailey, Ivor Hay and Ed Kuepper with new bass player Casper Wijnberg. Photo / News.com
Chris Bailey, lead singer of Australian rock band The Saints, has died.
The band announced their 65-year-old frontman had passed away in a statement posted to social media today.
"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," the statement read.
"Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night."
The Saints originated in Brisbane in 1973, and soon became the first "punk" band outside of the US to release a record. From those beginnings the band have enjoyed a multi-decade career, releasing 14 studio albums, the most recent of which came out in 2012. The group was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001.
Tributes are flowing today for the legendary Aussie music star.
"RIP Chris Bailey. One of our greatest. Had the pleasure of staying at his amazing, rambling home at Queen St, Woollahra. He was incredibly generous, wickedly funny and just what a rock star should be. Legend," actor Rhys Muldoon tweeted.
Broadcaster Zan Rowe called Bailey "a giant in punk music's history, and present. What a loss." Musician and broadcaster Lindsay McDougall dubbed him a "legend" and the "a co-creator of punk music."
An amicable settlement was reached – but the terms remain confidential.