Richard Tandy obit

Richard Tandy, Keyboardist of ELO Dies at 76

 

He was not on the list.

Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) posted the sad news that the band’s longtime keyboardist Richard Tandy has passed away. He wrote on Facebook, alongside several photos of Tandy and the band, “It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my long-time collaborator and dear friend Richard Tandy. He was a remarkable musician & friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together. Sending all my love to Sheila & the Tandy Family.”

Tandy was best known for his contributions to ELO and played a plethora of keyboards including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano. His story truly began when he met his future bandmate Bev Bevan at the Moseley School. In 1972, he joined ELO as a bassist before becoming the band’s full-time keyboardist. He became especially close to bandmate and ELO frontman Jeff Lynne and they worked on many other projects together.

In 1985, Tandy formed the Tandy Morgan Band featuring Dave Morgan and Martin Smith and released a concept album called Earthrise. Over the years, he kept working and reunited with Lynne in 2012 for another ELO project, a live set of the band’s greatest hits. They reunited several more times, often for charity concerts. Just a month ago, ELO announced a farewell tour. It is unclear as of now if the tour will go on without Tandy.

While not much is known about his personal life, he is survived by his second wife Sheila and was said to have been residing in Wales. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of posting. Feel free to share your condolences in the comments and share what your favorite ELO song is.