Joey Molland, the last surviving member of the Welsh rock band Badfinger, died on March 1. He was 77. His longtime friend, backing bandmate, and social media manager Paul Davie confirmed the news in a statement on the band's Facebook page, writing: "Well, the day we never wanted to see has arrived. Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night, surrounded by Mary, his two sons, and other family members at 11:39pm CST... Needless to say, although I knew the situation was bad, it was still a shock to the system.I'm sure if you're reading this for the first time, it's a shock to yours, as well." The statement concluded: "Thank you, Joey...for keeping the band's music alive for so long and for being a friend to us all." While exact details have not yet been disclosed, he was admitted to the ICU in December, "battling multiple fronts."
Born in Lancashire, England in 1947, Molland initially performed in the band Gary Walker & The Rain, a short-lived spinoff group of the Walker Brothers. Around the same time, Pete Ham, David Jenkins, Ron Griffiths, and Mike Gibbins were playing in a Swansea-based band they called the Iveys, who had recently signed to the Beatles' Apple Corps. Dissatisfied with their band name, the members and Apple landed on the new name Badfinger, a reference to the working title for the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends."
In 1969, bassist Griffiths departed Badfinger to focus on his family. The group had already recorded their Paul McCartney-penned breakout single "Come And Get It" and were eager to replace Griffiths before the song's release. After some unsuccessful bassist auditions, the remaining members decided to hire Molland on guitar; existing guitarist Evans then moved to bass.
"Come And Get It" was released in the UK in December 1969 to much fanfare: It became a Top 10 hit in both the UK and US, and the album that followed, 1970's Magic Christian Music, also saw commercial success. They garnered more attention following their next album, 1970's No Dice, with album highlight "Without You" getting covered by Harry Nilsson in 1972 (and by Mariah Carey a couple of decades later).
Badfinger remained successful worldwide, though much to their chagrin, they were often plagued by comparisons to the Beatles. Despite this, the members of Badfinger participated in some sessions for Beatle solo projects through their affiliation with Apple Corps. Molland played on George Harrison's studio album All Things Must Pass (1970) and live album The Concert for Bangladesh (1971), and also recorded for John Lennon's Imagine (1971).
Infamously, Badfinger signed a management deal with businessman Stan Polley in 1970, which gave Polley too much control over the group's income. Unbeknownst to the members at the time, Polley was giving himself an overinflated "management commission," making over twice as much in a single year as the four bandmates combined. This ultimately led to Badfinger's demise. Molland properly left in 1974, and lead singer Ham died of suicide at 27 the following year, rendering the band defunct. Molland and bandmate Tom Evans did reunite to release two albums -- Airwaves in 1979 and Say No More in 1981 -- as a duo, though they still used the Badfinger name. Unsurprisingly, fans were disappointed and confused by this, and Molland and Evans' run together was also short-lived.
Molland continued to release music and tour throughout the rest of his life. Notably, he hit the road with Christopher Cross, Todd Rundgren, Micky Dolenz, and Jason Scheff in 2019 in celebration of 51 years of the Beatles' "White Album."
