Dan McCafferty, an original member of Scottish rock legends Nazareth, has died at the age of 77.
The sad news was first broken to the rock world by his friend and Nazareth bandmate, bassist Pete Agnew, who wrote the following on Facebook:
“Dan passed away today at 12:40. This is the saddest announcement I’ve ever had to make in my whole life. Maryann and the family have lost a wonderful, loving husband and father, I’ve lost my best friend, and the rock world has lost one of the greatest singers who ever lived.”
“Right now I’m too shaken to add anything more.”
McCafferty was born in the Scottish town of Dunfermline. Influenced by artists like Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Otis Redding, among others, he co-founded Nazareth in 1968 with Pete Agnew (bass), Manny Charlton (guitar) and drummer Darrell Sweet. With Nazareth, who drew inspiration from the likes of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones, he recorded every album up to and including 2014 (23 in total) and toured with the band for a full 45 years. He co-wrote some of Nazareth’s biggest hits, including Broken Down Angel and Bad Bad Boy. Over the course of his career he also released three solo studio albums.
The best-known Nazareth album of them all is “Hair Of The Dog”. The band’s sixth studio record came out in 1975 and sold two million copies worldwide, and the success was fueled at the time by the hit Love Hurts, originally written by Boudleaux Bryant (The Everly Brothers had covered the song before Nazareth). Nazareth’s version of Love Hurts became a huge hit in the US, climbing into the top 10 of the singles chart there. Alongside Love Hurts, the album’s title single also brought the band enviable success, and many years later Guns N’ Roses covered it on their album “The Spaghetti Incident?” (1993).
Dan McCafferty retired from touring in August 2013 due to progressive chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. His last album with Nazareth, “Rock’n’Roll Telephone”, came out in June 2014.
Dan McCafferty released his first solo studio album, “Dan McCafferty”, back in 1975. It was followed in 1987 by the second one, “Into The Ring”, and then in 2019 by “The Last Testament”.
Just this July, McCafferty’s Nazareth bandmate Manny Charlton passed away.
Top photo: Dan McCafferty performing with Nazareth on 5. 5. 2010 at the Orpheum Teatru in Graz (RockLine photo archive 2006-2022, all rights reserved).
