Rick Parfitt, Status Quo Singer/Guitarist, Dead At 68

Rick Parfitt (Shutterstock)

RICHARD JOHN "RICK: PARFITT, the singer and rhythm guitarist for U.K. boogie band STATUS QUO, passed away at the age of 68 after complications from shoulder surgery and a massive heart attack suffered in JUNE on CHRISTMAS EVE in MARBELLA, SPAIN. The cause of death was an infection he picked up while in the hospital there.

His guitar work was largely responsible for the band's raucous chugging sound since transitioning from psychedelic music at the close of the '60s. PARFITT had been a pivotal member of the band even before it became known as STATUS QUO with fellow singer/guitarist FRANCIS ROSSI. The band was famously the opening act at the 1985 LIVE AID concert from LONDON's WEMBLEY STADIUM.

Hugely popular in BRITAIN, STATUS QUO placed more than 60 hits on the U.K. singles charts and released 32 studio albums, as well as a string of live recordings and compilations.They were one of the most successful BRITISH bands of all time, scoring chart hits in every decade from the '60s until 2010 and spending more than 200 weeks in the singles chart.

In 1991 QUO earned themselves a place in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS by playing four arena-sized concerts across BRITAIN in one day, and in 2005, ROSSI and PARFITT appeared on the popular U.K. TV series "Coronation Street." In 2010 both were appointed OBE.

Born in WOKING, SURREY, RICK learned to play guitar at the age of 11, leaving home at 15 to become a professional musician, earning £5 a week playing at the SUNSHINE HOLIDAY CAMP in HAYLING ISLAND in HAMPSHIRE. He first met ROSS at another holiday camp in WEST SOMERSET, joining forces for an acid-rock group dubbed TRAFFIC JAM, changing their name to STATUS QUO to avoid confusion with STEVIE WINWOOD's similarly named TRAFFIC.

The band's 1968 single, "Pictures Of Matchstick Men," reached #7 in the U.K. and cracked the U.S. Top 40. They had another U.K. Top 10 hit later that year with "Ice In The Sun."

The self-produced 1972 Top 5 album "Piledriver," featured the hit single, "Paper Plane," which sported the classic QUO sound -- churning guitars, simple lyrics and a 12/24/bar blues riff structure.  They scored their first #1 U.K. album the following year with "Hello!" and its hit single, "Caroline," followed in '75 with another chart-topper, "On The Level" and their first #1 single, "Down Down Down."

The group disbanded temporarily in 1985, with the WEMBLEY LIVE AID appearance being the last performance by the original lineup. With bassist JOHN EDWARDS and drummer JEFF RICH, PARFITT made a solo album, "Recorded Delivery," which was never released, though some tracks from it later appeared as QUO B-sides. A subsequent left PARFITT and ROSSI with the STATUS QUO name, which produced the #2 U.K. hit, "In The Army Now" in '86. 

In 1986, STATUS QUO played with QUEEN at WEMBLEY, and toured EUROPE with them. PARFITT's 2004 autobiography, "XS All Areas," which he co-wrote with ROSSI, detailed his rock 'n' roll drinking and drugging, and in 1997, underwent quadruple bypass surgery after doctors warned that his partygoing lifestyle threatened to kill him. He was back onstage within three months. In 2005 he had tests for suspected throat cancer but was given the all clear. In AUGUST, 2014, he fell ill while the band were on tour in CROATIA, and needed to have further heart surgery.

PARFITT married MARIETTA BOEKER and in 1974, had a son, RICHARD, and a daughter, HEIDI, who drowned when she was two. “Life went on and you learn to live with it, but you never get over it,” PARFITT said.

The tragedy wrecked the marriage, and in 1988 he married his former 17-year-old sweetheart, PATTY BEEDOM. They had a son, HARRY, before splitting when PARFITT secretly became engaged to LYNDSAY WHITBURN, a beauty salon owner, whom he married in 2006. Their twins TOMMY and LILY, were born in 2008. 

In 2007, STATUS QUO performed at the rebuilt WEMBLEY STADIUM for the "Concert for DIANA," and in 2009 they played at GLASTONBURY.

"Hello QUO!," a two and a half hour documentary about the band’s history, appeared in 2012, and was much more kindly received than "Bula QUO! (2013), a comedy feature in which the band got mixed up with a murder mystery in FIJI.

The album "Aquostic II: That’s a Fact" was released two months ago, featuring songs from the band's catalog in new acoustic arrangements. In 2015, UNIVERSAL MUSIC released the compilation "Accept No Substitute!: The Definitive Hits."

PARFITT suffered a severe heart attack in JUNE after a performance in TURKEY. then announced his retirement from touring with the group, but had been planning a solo album and an autobiography for next year. 

PARFITT is survived by wife LYNDSAY, twins TOMMY and LILY and by sons RICHARD and HARRY from his previous marriages.

« see more Net News