Richard Tandy, the English musician who rose to fame as the keyboardist for Electric Light Orchestra, has died. He was 76.
It was his Electric Light Orchestra bandmate and “dear friend” Jeff Lynne who announced Tandy’s death, with the singer-songwriter taking to Facebook to share a tribute this morning.
“It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my long-time collaborator and dear friend Richard Tandy,” Lynne, 76, wrote to his 395,000 followers.
Watch the video above.
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Lynne’s message continued: “He was a remarkable musician & friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together.”
”Sending all my love to Sheila & the Tandy family.”
Born on March 26, 1948 in Birmingham, Tandy first met his future bandmate, drummer Bev Bevan, when the duo were both at Moseley School.
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Two years after Electric Light Orchestra was founded by Lynne, Bevan and Roy Wood in 1970, Tandy joined the band as a bassist.
He then became Electric Light Orchestra’s full-time keyboardist, which saw him shape the group’s unique sound, particularly on albums A New World Record (1976), Out of the Blue (1977), Discovery (1979) and Time (1981).
Tandy was a member of the group until Lynne disbanded it in 1986, and he briefly reunited with his bandmates in 2000, when Lynne and Tandy reformed Electric Light Orchestra to release Zoom (2001).
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Electric Light Orchestra then went on another hiatus until 2014, which saw Tandy and Lynne again briefly reunite to release Alone in the Universe (2015).
No other former Electric Light Orchestra members joined Tandy and Lynne during their most recent reunion.
In 2017, Tandy, Wood, Lynne and Bevan were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as Electric Light Orchestra.
Tandy is survived by his second wife, Sheila, with whom he was understood to be residing in Wales.
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