Brian James, founding guitarist of The Damned and a key figure in the UK punk scene, passed away peacefully on Thursday (6). He was 70 years old and surrounded by his family. Born in London in 1955, James was the primary songwriter for The Damned’s early albums, including Damned Damned Damned and Music for Pleasure. He wrote “New Rose,” widely regarded as the first UK punk single. Before The Damned, he played in proto-punk bands London SS and The Subterraneans.
After leaving The Damned in 1977, James formed Tanz Der Youth and later co-founded The Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators, releasing three albums in the early ’80s. He remained active in music, working with artists like Iggy Pop and Wayne Kramer and releasing solo material, including 2015’s The Guitar That Dripped Blood. James briefly reunited with The Damned in the late ’80s and again in 2022 for a series of UK shows. His influence on punk and rock spanned six decades.
The Damned issued the below statement on James’ passing:
“Brian James was a visionary – the Damned is his masterpiece and Damned Damned Damned the album that kick started the 1976 UK punk revolution. But Brian’s vision didn’t extend to any kind of perfection – on the contrary he wanted his souped up rock ‘n roll left raw, with all it’s rough edges intact which is possibly why he recruited Rat, Dave and Cap to help drive his music revolution.
You can probably guess how we’re feeling today now that the news of his passing has sunk in.. but thankfully the original lineup got together to recreate the spirit of ‘76 London again recently.. a sonic delight that no-one who attended will ever forget. Least of all us!
And although the great man is now gone his own particular take on punk and rock ‘n roll in general lives on in his phenomenal body of work with the Damned and the Lords Of The New Church. Young bands starting up could do a lot worse than take some of that onboard.
This hasn’t been easy to write – Brian James meant so much to this band but we cannot finish without saying (and I’m sure anyone who met him would agree) what an absolute gent he was – even when some of his colleagues might get a bit bolshy.. he’d stare at you with a smile on his face and utter his immortal line.. “you want some action then.. yeah?”
What a character – thanks for everything BJ!”
Our thoughts are with James’ family and friends during this difficult time.
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