Photo: Chris Walter/WireImage
Scott Walker, the musician whose career stretched from British pop sensation to avant-garde pioneer, has died, his record labelannounced in a statementMonday. He was 76.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Scott Walker,” the statement read. “Scott Walker has been a unique and challenging titan at the forefront of British music: audacious and questioning, he has produced works that dare to explore human vulnerability and the godless darkness encircling it.”
Born Noel Scott Engel in 1943 in Ohio, Walker started his music career as a session bassist.
Scott Walker.Chris Walter/WireImage
He changed his name to join The Walker Brothers in 1964, and soon the trio had skyrocketed to fame with songs like “Make It Easy on Yourself,” which featured Scott’s prominent baritone on vocals, and “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore.”
When the group called it quits in the late ‘60s, Scott pursued a solo career, releasing a steady stream of increasingly experimental albums that started withScottin 1967.
Walker toldThe Guardianin 2012 that he found his fame extremely difficult to deal with, and battled depression, alcoholism and suicidal thoughts after his fourth solo album,Scott 4, failed to chart in 1969.
The Walker Brothers.Michael Putland/Getty Images
“You had to be there to understand what it was. There was a lot of pressure. I was coming up with all the material for the boys, and I was having to find songs and getting the sessions together,” he said. “Everyone relied on me, and it just got on top of me. I think I just got irritated with it all… I was an intense young guy.”
By 1975, The Walker Brothers reunited for a fourth album, titledNo Regrets, a hit that included a single of the same name.
The group stayed together for two more albums, 1976’sLinesand 1978’sNite Flights, before going their separate ways once again when the latter, though critically praised, proved a commercial flop.
Walker subsequently left the spotlight for years, though he returned in 1984 with the solo albumClimate of Hunter, his only release until 1995’sTile.
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Though he all but retired from live performances, Walker continued to sporadically release albums that embraced his genre-bending sound, includingThe Driftin 2006 andBish Boschin 2012.
His final release came in 2018, when he wrote and produced the score for Brady Corbet’s filmVox Lux.
source: people.com
