Darryl Hunt obit

Darryl Hunt, Longtime Pogues Bassist and Songwriter, Dead at 72

"May he spend eternity doing whatever he wants to do in eternal bliss," frontman Shane MacGowan wrote on Instagram

 He was not on the list.

Darryl Hunt, the longtime bassist and occasional songwriter for the legendary Anglo-Irish punk outfit the Pogues, died Monday, Aug. 8. He was 72.

The Pogues confirmed Hunt’s death on Instagram Tuesday, Aug. 9, writing “We are saddened beyond words. Our Darryl passed away yesterday afternoon in London.” No cause of death was given.

A line from one of the songs Hunt wrote for the Pogues, “Love You ’Till the End,” was also included in the post: “I know you want to hear me catch my breath/I love you till the end.”

Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan shared an additional statement on his Instagram, sending condolences and “blessings” to Hunt’s family and friends.

“I am very very sorry that Darryl has passed away, we will all miss him, he was a really great person and friend and a great bass player,” he wrote. “May he spend eternity doing whatever he wants to do in eternal bliss.”

Hunt was born in Hampshire, England in 1950, and came up playing in bands like Plummet Airlines and the punk outfit, the Favorites. Another early outfit, a lounge act dubbed Pride of the Cross, featured the Pogues’ original bassist Cait O’Riordan.

Hunt first entered the Pogues’ orbit as a member of their touring crew, doing sound, driving the van, and effectively serving as their tour manager. As O’Riordan began to drift away from the group, Hunt would fill-in for her on bass; he officially replaced O’Riordan in 1986, the same year she left the band and married Elvis Costello.

Not long after Hunt joined, the Pogues scored some serious mainstream success with their 1987 classic, “Fairytale of New York.” Along with his bass duties, Hunt would fill in on other instruments occasionally and wrote several songs for the Pogues as well, including the aforementioned “Love You ‘Till the End,” “Big City,” “Modern World,” and “Living In a World Without Her.”

Hunt reminded in the Pogues until they split in 1996, The group reconnected in 2002 with MacGowan, Hunt, Spider Stacy, guitarist Philip Chevron, multi-instrumentalist James Feamley, drummer/harmonica player Andrew Ranken, and saxophonist Jem Finer, before disbanding again in 2014.