Les McKeown Passes Away Aged 65

Published April 23rd, 2021 - 06:43 GMT
Les McKeown dies aged 65
Les McKeown, lead singer of the Bay City Rollers. (Twitter)

Les McKeown, lead singer of the Bay City Rollers, died Tuesday at age 65. McKeown's wife Keiko and son Jubei posted a statement on Les McKeown's Twitter account Thursday.

"Leslie died suddenly at home," the statement read. "We are currently making arrangements for his funeral and ask for privacy after the shock of our profound loss."

The band also posted condolences to the McKeown family on Thursday.

Bay City Rollers is a Scottish pop band founded in 1966 by Alan and Derek Longmuir with their cousin Neil Porteous. McKeown joined the band as lead singer in 1973.


Hit Bay City Rollers songs with McKeown on vocals include "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)," "Shang-a-Lang" and "Summerlove Sensation." McKeown left the band in 1978.

McKeown released solo albums from 1979 - 1993. His last release was a 2016 compilation The Lost Songs. These included songs McKeown wrote for Bay City Rollers but they did not record them.

Bay City Rollers welcomed McKeown back for reunion shows, according to Billboard. McKeown had tweeted about upcoming Bay City Roller shows as recently as Saturday.

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