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.

Several public figures and social media users expressed their condolences and revered the punk rock icon.

“RIP Chris Bailey. One of our greatest. Had the pleasure of staying at his amazing, rambling home at Queen St, Woollahra. He was incredibly generous, wickedly funny and just what a rock star should be. Legend,” actor Rhys Muldoon wrote on Twitter.

“RIP Chris Bailey. Surely one of the greatest frontmen ever. He inspired so many musicians and lovers of music,” wrote one Twitter user.

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Another user added, “Another legend down. This one a co-creator of punk music. RIP Chris Bailey.”

In the 70s, Bailey emerged as a trailblazer of punk music in Brisbane, an Australian city that had never truly experienced the musical genre.

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The Saints was founded in 1973, with band members including Bailey, Ed Kuepper, Algy Ward, Kym Bradshaw, Marty Willson-Piper and others. 

The band’s 1976 single ‘(I’m) Stranded’ portrayed its approach of punch, hooks and energy. In 1977, The Saints released their first album as the group toured across the world. 

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The band released two albums right before it began to fall apart, with Bailey keeping new pop cultural influences into focus such as 1982’s ‘Casablancas’.

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Bailey, who led the band for over 50 years, released ‘King Of The Sun’, his most recent album, in 2012.