Bradley Delp


- zu einem Video eines 9jährigen Drumers
in Erinnerung an Brad Delp

- zu einer sehr herzlichen Erinnerungsseite
von M. Eva Rajczyk


As you all know by now, BOSTON'S lead singer, Brad Delp, was found dead in his home on Friday, March 9th 2007. Plans for live BOSTON performances this summer have, of course, been cancelled.

My heart goes out to his wonderful fiance Pamela, his two children and other family members, his close friends and band mates, and to the millions of people whose lives were made a little brighter by the sound of his voice. He will be dearly missed.

Tom Scholz


Samstag, 17. März 2007

"Einsame Seele" Delp beging Selbstmord

Der amerikanische Sänger Brad Delp von der Rockband Boston, der in der vergangenen Woche tot in seinem Haus gefunden wurde, hat Selbstmord begangen. Der 55-Jährige hinterließ einen Abschiedsbrief, in dem er sich selbst als "einsame Seele" bezeichnete, wie die Polizei laut "E!Online" bestätigte. Der Abschiedsbrief war mit einer Büroklammer am Ausschnitt seines T-Shirts befestigt. "Mr. Brad Delp. Ich bin eine einsame Seele" stand in dem Brief. "Ich übernehme die volle und alleinige Verantwortung für meine gegenwärtige Situation. Ich habe meine Sehnsucht zu leben verloren", schrieb Delp weiter. Man solle zu seiner Verlobten Pamela Sullivan Kontakt aufnehmen, sie habe keine Ahnung, was er getan habe.

Delp lag dem Polizeibericht zufolge auf dem Boden seines Badezimmers mit dem Kopf auf einem Kissen. Er hatte sich in dem Raum eingeschlossen, in dem er zwei brennende Kohlegrills aufgestellt hatte. Die Obduktion ergab, dass der Musiker durch Kohlenmonoxidvergiftung starb. Die Polizei fand noch weitere Briefe an die Verlobte, seine Kinder und seine Ex-Frau Micki Delp, die die Polizei ungeöffnet weitergab. Delp und Sullivan hatten im Sommer heiraten wollen.

Als großer Beatles-Fan hatte der aus Boston stammende Delp schon als Teenager seine Liebe zur Musik entdeckt. In den 90er Jahren gründete er die Band BeatleJuice, die sich ganz den Songs der Beatles verschrieb. Boston um Delp und Gitarrist Tom Scholz wurde durch Hits wie "More Than A Feeling" und "Long Time" bekannt. Das Debütalbum "Boston" stürmte 1976 die Charts und verkaufte sich allein in den USA über 17 Millionen Mal. 2002 brachten die Rocker mit "Corporate America" ihr sechstes Album heraus.

Nach Delps Tod sagte Boston alle Konzerte ab, die für den Sommer geplant waren.


Adresse: http://www.n-tv.de/779799.html

I met Brad, soft spoken and unassuming, when he auditioned in a recording studio outside of Boston one night to sing several songs I had written. Back then in the early seventies recording a song demo meant coming up with a significant amount of money, several weeks of my day job savings, to buy a few hours of 8 track time.

Having endured countless sessions with other singers, most with undeserved egos, I had only the faintest glimmer of hope that he might be good enough to squeak by as a suitable vocalist.

He didn't warm up; he just listened to the prerecorded instrument track once. Then he started to sing. I don't know if it took two seconds or three, but before he finished singing the first line I knew that some guardian angel had just delivered to me one of the best vocalists ever to step up to a microphone! Then he kept going and I realized he wasn't just one of the best, he was amazing! High notes I hadn't heard before followed by harmonies, and overdubbed exact duplicate layered tracks, all with ease, all with emotion, and yet all technically precise.

Before we left that night he had rewritten the lyrics and the melody, sung all the vocal parts, and with the magic of his voice turned my stark guitar riff into a song! From that moment on I only hoped I could write and record music worthy of his attention and interpretation.

There were soulful notes that pulled you into the song, stratospheric screams and angelic high notes, and after hitting these record breaking notes he'd go back and sing a harmony part above it! He didn't rehearse any of these parts, he could jump back and forth between harmony parts, double tracking parts, and then go back and do it again exactly the same with one tiny change, adjusting all the other singing parts to fit with bionic accuracy.

You'd think anyone with this super human talent would be an insufferable egomaniac. But Brad was just the opposite, and amazingly he remained honestly humble in spite of the incredible star pressure that followed BOSTON's success.

Brad and I banged our heads against the wall trying to get a break with record companies for five years. During that time he and I did a lot of basement recording; we received absolutely zero recognition locally and complete rejection submitting our demos to national record labels. I think this experience put our future success in perspective as we both realized that after so many years of insult, we were just very lucky to be able to record and play music above ground! Unlike many other individuals eventually involved with BOSTON, Brad's down to earth personality never wavered; it was his natural demeanor.

When someone asked me what Brad was like, the first words that always came to mind were "nice guy." Oddly, his incredible performing abilities seem barely worth mentioning compared to his attributes as a human being. He was soft spoken yet very quick and funny. Although I rarely remember seeing him in the throws of a good belly laugh, he could keep the people around him in stitches effortlessly, and did so on a daily basis. When he wasn't making someone laugh, or giving his time to a fan, he was a tireless worker, both in the studio and on stage.

He and I had a very strong personal connection because of our moral beliefs, yet we were drastically different kinds of people. While I am rebellious and easily provoked to an unyielding defense, Brad was passive and studiously non confrontational.

Somehow over the years I think we both grew not only to accept this in each other, but to respect it; I think this is part of the reason we were able to work together for so much of our lives. In an odd parallel we were also opposites in the studio. Once Brad would laid down a vocal track he became instantly committed to it and would dig in if challenged, whereas I would want to change everything and never be sure. We were usually at odds on how vocal arrangements should go also, which in early years caused heated debates. Later we both developed such respect for each other's abilities that the collaboration, so important to the eventual outcome of BOSTON's music, became much easier. It was largely my music, but it was Brad who brought it to life, and this struggle we both had to endure was part of what made it so many people's favorite.

I last saw Brad at rehearsal last month where we prepared several old and new songs for our upcoming summer shows. These are my fondest memories, playing music with my friend and the greatest singer in rock and roll.

Andy, Brad and I have been used and abused throughout our adult life by the music business, it continues even in his death. Please do the right thing with this. Sorry I wrote you a tome.

Tom Scholz


Suicide confirmed in Delp’s death

By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa

Thursday, March 15, 2007 - Updated: 01:29 AM EST

Brad Delp lit two charcoal grills in the bathroom adjacent to his master bedroom and committed suicide via asphyxiation last week, according to New Hampshire police who yesterday confirmed that the lead singer of the band Boston took his own life.

“He was a man who gave all he had to give to everyone around him, whether family, friends, fans or strangers,” the singer’s family said in a statement. “He gave as long as he could, as best he could, and he was very tired. We take comfort in knowing that he is now, at last, at peace.”

Delp, 55, a Danvers native, left two sealed suicide notes taped to a door and letters to his family and his fiancée, Pamela Sullivan. But Atkinson, N.H., Police Lt. William Baldwin said the cops were not told why he took his life. Toxicology tests by the state medical examiner’s office showed that Delp died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“It’s very sad for all of us who loved this guy,” said ex-Extreme drummer Paul Geary, a close friend of Delp and his family. “Whenever I called him for anything he’d drop everything and help, and whenever he called me it was for someone else.”

Friends said it was Delp’s constant need to help and please people that may have driven him to despair. He was literally the man in the middle of the bitter break-up of Boston - pulled from both sides by divided loyalties.

Delp remained on good terms with both Tom Scholz, the MIT grad who founded the band, and Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan and Sib Hashian, former members of Boston who had a fierce falling out with Scholz in the early ’80s.

Delp tried to please both sides by continuing to contribute his vocals to Scholz’ Boston projects while also remaining close to his former bandmates. The situation was complicated by the fact that Delp’s ex-wife, Micki, is the sister of Goudreau’s wife, Connie.

“Tom made him do the Boston stuff and the other guys were mad that they weren’t a part of it,” said another insider. “He was always under a lot of pressure.”

As you may know, in 1976 the band’s first album, featuring Scholz, Delp, Goudreau, Hashian and Sheehan, was the best-selling debut album in history, spawning rock staples “More Than a Feeling,” ‘Peace of Mind,’ “Foreplay/ Long Time” and ‘Rock and Roll Band.’ But shortly thereafter things deteriorated.

Scholz’ penchant for perfection and his well-chronicled control issues led to long delays between albums. As a result, Goudreau, Delp and Hashian released an album without him, which led to an irretrievable breakdown.

Scholz claimed that the other band members - with the exception of Delp - attempted to steal the name Boston. While the bitter battle raged, Delp tried to keep peace with both sides. He continued to perform with Scholz and the reconstituted Boston but also did projects with Goudreau and remained friends with the other original members.

But the never-ending bitterness may have been too much for the sensitive singer to endure. Just last fall the ugliness flared again when Scholz heard some of his ex-bandmates were planning to perform at a tribute concert at Symphony Hall for football legend Doug Flutie - and then had his people call and substitute himself and Delp for the gig, sources say.

In fact, the wounds remained so raw that Scholz wasn’t invited to the private funeral service for Delp that the family held earlier this week.

“What does that tell you?” asked another insider. “Brad and Tom were the best of friends and he’s been told nothing about anything.”

In an interview with Rolling Stone after Delp’s death, Scholz said he and Delp were “friends and collaborators for 35 years but our bond ran much deeper than just Boston.”

But Scholz also made reference to the ongoing feud in the interview when he told the rock bible that “unlike other individuals eventually involved with Boston, Brad’s down-to-earth personality never wavered.”

Police discovered Delp’s body in his southern New Hampshire home at around 1:30 p.m. last Friday. Sullivan had gone to the house after failing to reach her fiance by phone. Police said Delp was alone at the time of his death.

Some friends expressed surprise at the timing of Delp’s suicide. He had been planning to tour with Boston and to marry Sullivan this coming summer. He was also content working with his first love - a Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice. But friends say there was a dark side.

“He was a sad character to begin with,” said one close pal. “He didn’t think highly of himself. He was always very self-deprecating. He’s always been that way, though, so there was really nothing to lead anyone to believe that he would do this.”

Delp leaves two children, Jennifer, 26, and John Michael, 22.

Tomorrow, the classic rock station WZLX will pay tribute to Delp with a special edition of “Classic Cafe” featuring his music. The show, hosted by Carter Alan, begins at noon.

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