The Pretty Things singer Phil May dies aged 75
THE Pretty Things singer Phil May has died aged 75.
May, who achieved fame with the band in the 1960s, died after suffering a fall from his bike, his family said.
A statement read: "Phil May passed away at 7.05am on Friday 15 May at the Queen Elizabeth hospital, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. He was 75.
"He had been locked down in Norfolk with his family and, during the week Phil had suffered a fall from his bike and had undergone emergency hip surgery, after which complications set in."
It adds: "Phil had been in poor health for some time when the Pretty Things played their last live concert, ‘The Final Bow’, on 13 December 2018 at the Indigo, O2 where they were joined onstage by old friends David Gilmour and Van Morrison."
ROCK STAR
May, from Dartford in Kent, formed The Pretty Things in 1963 with Dick Taylor who had just left a burgeoning Rolling Stones.
John Stax, Brian Pendleton and Viv Andrews joined the band and they became part of London's R'n'B scene releasing three chart singles - including a Top 10 hit with 'Don’t Bring Me Down'.
They later became known for their psychdelic experimentalist sound.
May considered himself a rebel and said his shoulder length hair sometimes got him attacked in the street in the early 1960s.
He told the Guardian in 2018: "By the time the Pretty Things hit the TV screens, I was used to being abused and spat at and getting into punch-ups, because it had happened when we were art students.
"We’d done our apprenticeship at being outsiders.”
LOVED BY HENDRIX
The band are most well known for their rock opera album SF Sorrow, which while unsuccessful on release in 1967, later became a cult favourite.
Fans of their sound included rock royalty such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Aerosmith, the Ramones and Kasabian.
MOST READ IN SHOWBIZ
While they did not achieve success in the US like other British bands in the 1960s, they were a hit in European countries and New Zealand.
The band also became known for their wild antics on stage and lyrics about drug taking - with behaviour so controversial on one tour that they were banned from New Zealand by the country's Parliament.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.