Dave Greenfield, best known as the keyboardist for the British rock band The Stranglers, died due to COVID-19. He was 71.
The Brighton, England native reportedly passed away late on the evening of May 3. The band's statement said the 80s keyboardist contracted the highly-contagious disease after an extended stay in the hospital due to his heart problems.
Greenfield was survived by his wife, Pam. Often noted as a contemporary to The Doors' Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player for the longstanding and highly-influential The Stranglers have been noted for his rapid arpeggios in performing. Greenfield famously used the electromechanical Hohner Cembalet model N, Hammond's L-100 electric organ, as well as the harpsichord and synthesizer.
During a recording session for their fifth studio album "The Gospel According to the Meninblack," Greenwood wrote a piece of music. It was initially discarded by the band but was later adapted by The Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell and became "Golden Brown," the band's biggest hit, winning an Ivor Novello award.
On the band's website, they expressed sincere and profound sadness about their keyboardist's passing. The Stranglers' bassist, Jean-Jacques "JJ" Burnel, called Dave a "musical genius" who passed away from "the Great Pandemic of 2020."
Founding member and drummer Jet Black also lamented the passing of a friend and a genius, calling Greenfield a "complete natural in music" and remembering their tours together.
The Stranglers was originally formed as "the Guildford Stranglers" in September 1974, initially building a fanbase in the local underground pub rock scene. They have become one of the pioneering acts in the rising UK punk rock era with their no-compromise attitude, although they made forays in other music genres throughout the 80s.
With a career spanning close to five decades, playing in July 2018 for the LUNAR festival in England's Tanworth-in-Arden, The Stranglers have been regarded as among the longest-running and most influential music acts.
They have eighteen studio albums, starting with "Rattus Norvegicus" in 1977 up to "Giants" in 2012. British author and music critic Dave Thompson summarized The Stranglers' contribution to music. He says, "from bad-mannered yobs to purveyors of supreme pop delicacies, the group was responsible for music that may have been ugly and might have been crude - but it was never, ever boring."
Dave Greenfield joined the band a year after it was founded. The band's on-site interview about him described him as the band's enigma, rarely taking part in interviews. He shared that he had been in other bands such as Rusty Butler & Credo and said that he "was taught to play guitar at school from an older student and, when I'd learned enough, joined a band with him."
The interview also asked Greenfield about the critics' common exclusion of The Stranglers from the punk genre mostly because of his keyboards, to which he answered that he considered their sound closer to new wave than punk.
Although he was often compared with The Doors' Manzarek, Dave shared that he didn't follow The Doors, referring to "Light My Fire" and "Riders on the Storm" as the only songs to which he listened. He also shared that his main influences were Deep Purple's Jon Lord and Yes' Rick Wakeman.
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