Songwriter Gerry Rafferty Passes On

Songwriter Gerry Rafferty passed on 4 January 2011 at the age of 63. The cause was liver failure.

Gerry Rafferty was born in Paisley, Scotland on 16 April 1947. At age 15 Mr. Rafferty dropped out of St Mirin's Academy and went to work in a butcher shop. He spent weekends playing in a group, The Mavericks, with his friend Joe Egan. Messrs. Rafferty and Egan were later members of the band Fifth Column, which released one single in 1966. In 1969 Gerry Rafferty was a member of the folk group The Humblebums. The group recorded two albums before disbanding in 1971. In 1972 he released his first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back.

It was in 1972 that Gerry Rafferty and his old friend Joe Egan formed Stealer's Wheel. Signed to A&M Records, Stealer's Wheel would have a hit with the song "Stuck in the Middle with You." Gerry Rafferty would leave the band before they even released their first album. Prevented from recording for some time because of legal problems stemming from Stealer's Wheel, Mr. Raffety released his second solo album in 1978, City to City. Over the next twenty two years he would release seven more albums.