Singer and guitarist Tony McPhee, who fronted British blues and rock group The Groundhogs throughout six many years, has died aged 79.

The band confirmed McPhee’s loss of life in a press release on their Fb web page, which learn: “We are deeply saddened to announce that 79-year-old guitar and blues legend Tony (TS) McPhee, died peacefully at home today 6th June, from complications following a fall last year.”

Born on March 22, 1944, in Humberston, Lincolnshire, McPhee started listening to imported blues albums that his brother would deliver dwelling. He advised Traditional Rock in 2007 that “it was then that I first heard this raw stuff and my ears pricked up. There was some good pop music at the time but nothing that really stirred you. Then I went to see Cyril Davies at the Marquee in 1963, heard proper R&B and thought: ‘this’ll do’”.

He joined a south London group, the Greenback Payments, in 1962 and renamed them the Groundhogs after the John Lee Hooker tune ‘Groundhog Blues’. The band caught to their blues roots whereas their friends strayed away leaning into pop as a approach to appeal to extra of a mainstream viewers.

The Groundhogs would get the prospect to work with Hooker himself, backing him on his 1965 LP ‘Hooker And The Hogs’ after which on two UK excursions. Their debut, 1968’s ‘Scratching The Surface’ faltered as Motown took over. “The first blues boom ended when soul came in, that killed it stone dead,” shared McPhee.

With Fleetwood Mac and Humble Pie getting into the scene, The Groundhogs returned with their second album ‘Blues Obituary’ which was adopted by ‘Thank Christ For The Bomb’, ‘Split’ and ‘Who Will Save the World?’.

“Tony McPhee is an absolute genius. He was the British Hendrix, y’know? He could do soaring feedback solos, and really took the whole guitar-playing thing as far as he could. And what he doesn’t know about the blues isn’t worth knowing,” shared The Dammed’s Captain Wise in an interview with Traditional Rock.

After splitting up in 1976, The Groundhogs returned within the mid-80s with a brand new lineup and recorded two extra albums. The band re-recorded their basic first albums and scheduled a tour for his or her fortieth anniversary in 2003.

In 2009, McPhee suffered the primary of a sequence of strokes, which took a toll on his speech and affected his singing voice, and he retired from the group in 2015.

“My main wish is to be recognised for my contributions to blues and rock and the guitar,” McPhee advised US radio station WMFU in 2011. “That’s all the status I need.”

McPhee is survived by his spouse Joanna, sons Conan & Vincent, grandchildren Scarlett and Victor, and sister Olive.