Terry Reid, the influential British singer-guitarist who famously turned down singing gigs for Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, has died at age 75.
Reid had recently been forced to cancel tour dates “due to medical issues arising from recent treatment for cancer,” per an official statement at the time.
In a post on Instagram, contemporary blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa paid tribute to Reid, calling him, “One of the greatest to ever do it and a beautiful person and soul.”
Nicknamed “Superlungs” for his incredible falsetto voice, Reid was considered a pioneer of the British blues sound of the 1960s and the hard rock that would arise later in the decade and into the 1970s. However, Reid was perhaps most famous for the musical endeavors he didn’t undertake, such as when he turned down a chance to be the singer of Led Zeppelin.
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Having already been in groups since his early teenage years, Reid — born in Cambridgeshire in 1949 — was already a seasoned guitar-player and a mighty vocalist when he was recruited to go on tour as support for the Rolling Stones’ US tour in 1969. It was this commitment that kept Reid from enlisting in a new band being formed by guitarist Jimmy Page.
“I was very friendly with Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones,” Reid recounted in a 2023 interview with Classic Rock. “Keith asked me to support the Stones in the States, but then shortly afterward Jimmy wanted me to join his new band. I was torn. In the end, I put the ball in Jimmy’s court. I said: ‘You’d better speak to Keith and tell him I’m not going.’”
He continued, “But Jimmy bottled it. He said: ‘I’m not having him shoot me in the fucking leg.’ Even then, Keith had a reputation. So I ended up going to America with the Stones. I even played with them at Altamont.”
Still, Reid played a vital part in the formation of Led Zeppelin, suggesting Page give singer Robert Plant and drummer John Bonham a shot after Reid saw them perform with The Band of Joy.
“He needed a singer who could sing around those guitar licks,” he told Uncut [via Music Radar], “and not everybody could do that. I’d seen Robert with John Bonham, so I said to him, ‘Not only is Robert perfect, you’ve got to get the drummer, he’s an animal’”.
Reid also turned down an offer to join Deep Purple a year later, with the job ultimately going to Ian Gillan. Meanwhile, Reid’s solo career kicked off with the 1968 debut Bang, Bang You’re Terry Reid and its eponymous follow-up Terry Reid a year later — LPs that showcased his fiery guitarwork and vocal prowess. A dispute with producer Mickie Most halted his career, however, with a contract dispute keeping Reid from releasing another until 1973’s River and the Graham Nash-produced Seed of Memory in 1976.
Two other proper studio albums would be released in 1978 (Rogue Waves) and 1991 (The Driver), with Reid continuing to perform live in concert up until last year.
See a promo trailer for a 2016 documentary on Terry Reid, as well as Joe Bonamassa’s tribute post below.
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