Burke Shelley, the founding member, and bassist of Welsh rock band Budgie has died aged 71. The heavy metal band announced on Facebook that Shelley had lost a short battle with pneumonia.
Shelley, who was born in Swansea in 1946, formed Budgie in 1969 after a previous incarnation as a blues band called Seventeen collapsed.
Their self-titled debut album was released the following year and the band went on to release 11 further LPs before splitting in 1991. Burke went on to form a new outfit called Comerious, with his son Steve Shelley (drums), and recorded several albums in the 1990s and 2000s.
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Burke Shelley, the founding member, and bassist of Welsh rock band Budgie has died aged 71. The heavy metal band announced on Facebook that Shelley had lost a short battle with pneumonia.
Shelley, who was born in Swansea in 1946, formed Budgie in 1969 after a previous incarnation as a blues band called Seventeen collapsed. Their self-titled debut album was released the following year and the band went on to release 11 further LPs before splitting in 1991.
Burke went on to form a new outfit called Comerious, with his son Steve Shelley (drums), and recorded several albums in the 1990s and 2000s. He also reunited with Budgie several times, releasing the new album ‘You’re All Living In Cuckooland’ in 2006. Shelley was also involved in a number of other bands, including Empire and Karnataka.
The heavy metal scene paid tribute to Shelley on social media following his death. Metallica’s James Hetfield, for example, posted a picture of himself with Shelley on Instagram. Tributes have also come in from other metal acts, including Anvil’s Lips Kudlow and Ghost’s Spiidi goose.