Bill Fay, the cult favorite British singer-songwriter, has died. He was 81.
The folk musician died Saturday, his label Dead Oceans announced in a social media post.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bill Fay, who died peacefully this morning in London, aged 81,” the post read. “Bill was a gentle man and a gentleman, wise beyond our times. He was a private person with the biggest of hearts, who wrote immensely moving, meaningful songs that will continue to find people for years to come.”
A cause of death has yet to be revealed although Fay battled Parkinson’s Disease in his later years.
The London-born singer signed with popular British label Deram Records in the late ‘60s and released his debut single “Some Good Advice”/“Screams in the Ears” in 1967. He released his first two albums “Bill Fay” (1971) and “Time of the Last Persecution” (1971) before being dropped from the label after not finding commercial success.
Fay went decades without recording music before his career saw a resurgence in the ‘90s when his first two albums were reissued. He teamed up with produced Joshua Henry to begin making songs again.
The British musician returned with album “Life is People” in 2012 on the Dead Oceans label and then released “Who is the Sender?” in 2015 and “Countless Branches” in 2020.
“Up until 1998, when some people reissued my albums, as far as I was concerned, I was gone, deleted,” Fay told Spin in 2012. “No one was listening. But then I got the shock that people remembered my music.”
Fay’s records have been covered by numerous artists like Jeff Tweedy, Steve Gunn, Kevin Morby and Julia Jacklin.
“Only a month before his passing, Bill was busy working on a new album. Our hope is to find a way to finish and release it, but for now, we remember Bill’s legacy as the “man in the corner of the room at the piano”, who quietly wrote heartfelt songs that touched and connected with people around the world," Dead Oceans' post read.
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