Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland has died at the age of 77. The news was confirmed in a statement shared on Badfinger's social media channels, which read, "Joey (Joseph Charles) Molland passed away last night, surrounded by Mary, his two sons, and other family members at 11:39pm CST. "
The cause of death was not announced, although Molland had been battling ill health and was hospitalised in November. In January, a GoFundMe page was created to raise funds to pay for medical treatment.
"Joey was vaguely ill throughout the fall, and then in early December acquired a very bad bacterial infection due to his diabetes," wrote his girlfriend, Mary Joyce. "The infection caused septicemia and travelled through his body, causing harm in multiple critical organs and bones. His recovery has been slow and arduous, including several surgeries and procedures."
Molland joined Badfinger in 1969, eight years after the group's formation as The Iveys in Swansea, Wales, and months after they'd become the first band to sign to The Beatles' Apple label. He joined after the Paul McCartney-penned single Come And Get It was recorded, but enjoyed its success as the song became a Top 10 hit on both sides of The Atlantic.
Molland’s first album with Badfinger was the following year's No Dice (1970), which included two of the band’s most famous tracks, No Matter What and Without You, famously covered by both Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey.
Molland would play guitar on the next four Badfinger albums, Straight Up, Ass, Badfinger and Wish You Were Here – released 10 months before the Pink Floyd album of the same name – before the band disbanded after founder Pete Ham took his own life in 1975.
Away from the band, Molland also played on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass and the live album The Concert for Bangladesh, and on John Lennon's Imagine album.
After working as a carpet fitter in Los Angeles, Molland took on more of a lead role after Badfinger reformed for 1978's Airwaves, but the album – and its follow-up, 1981's Say No More – were both commercial flops, and they spilt again after bassist Tom Evans also died by suicide.
A string of solo releases followed, the most recent Be True To Yourself in 2021. The same year Molland – then the sole survivor from the band's best-known lineup – was the focus as a "new" Badfinger album emerged. No Matter What - Revisiting The Hits found the guitarist rerecording highlights from the band's catalogue, joined by a cast that included Rick Springfield, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Matthew Sweet, Todd Rundgren, Sonny Landreth, The Legendary Pink Dots, Vanilla Fudge frontman Mark Stein, Terry Reid and Albert Lee.
"I feel as if things could’ve turned out differently. If we had different management, we could have gone on," Molland told Guitar World in 2020. "We could always write songs; we could always play. We just had bad business, and it finished us."
