Who was Chris Bailey, legendary Australian singer dead at 65?

Chris Bailey, lead singer and co-founder of rock band The Saints, died on Monday morning at the age of 65.

“It is with great pain in our hearts that we have to inform you about the passing of Chris Bailey, singer and songwriter of The Saints, on April the 9th, 2022,” the Australian band said in a statement on social media.

“Chris lived a life of poetry and music and stranded on a Saturday night,” the band added.

Early life

Bailey was born in 1957 to Irish parents in Nanyuki, a town in Kenya. He spent his childhood years in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. His family then relocated to Australia and finally settled in Inala, a suburb in Brisbane, Queensland. Along with his sister, Bailey pursued his education at Inala State High School, Oxley State High School and Corinda State High School.

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Band years

Bailey met Ed Kuepper and Ivor Hay, his fellow band members, in high school. In 1973, the trio founded The Saints and paved the way for punk rock music in Australia. The band also included Algy Ward, Kym Bradshaw, Marty Willson-Piper and others.

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Their first hit single was 1976’s ‘(I’m) Stranded’, which quickly became a punk anthem across the world.

Over the next few albums, the band evolved towards a better style momentarily, until it began to fall apart.

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The Saints albums include ‘Howling’ (1996), ‘Everybody Knows the Monkey’ (1998), ‘Spit the Blues Out’ (2002), ‘Nothing is Straight in My House’ (2005), ‘Imperious Delirium’ (2006) and Bailey’s last album, ‘King of the Sun’ (2012-Australia, 2013-Europe).

He led the band for over five decades.

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Solo albums

Bailey’s solo albums include, ‘Casablanca’ (1983), ‘What we did on our holidays’ (1984), ‘Demons’ (1991), ‘Savage Entertainment’ (1992), ‘54 Days at Sea’ (1994), ‘Encore’ (1995) and ‘Bone Box’ (2005).