The Damned bass player Byrn Merrick has lost his battle with cancer at age 56.
Merrick joined The Damned in 1984 replacing original member Paul Gray. He left in 1989 after two albums.
His first album with the band was ‘Phantasmaogia’ (1985), their biggest selling record ever.
The single ‘Eloise’, a cover of the Barry Ryan 60s classic, peaked at no. 8 on the Australian chart and no. 3 in the UK.
Merrick also once appeared with The Damned on ‘The Young Ones’.
Merrick also played with Ramones covers band The Sharmones until recently. The band split last month. Merrick was known as BeeBee Sharmone in that band.
In a bizarre twist of fate, Merrick met Gray, the man he placed weeks ago in the cancer ward where they were both being treated.
Merrick posted his last comment of Facebook on August 18. It read, “Goodbye,signing out for a while”. He died at Llandough Hospital in Cardiff on Saturday 12 September 2015.
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