Gerry Marsden

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Gerry Marsden (2011)

Gerard "Gerry" Marsden MBE (born September 24, 1942 in Liverpool , † January 3, 2021 in Birkenhead ) was a British singer , musician and television presenter . In the 1960s he became known as the singer of the group Gerry & the Pacemakers .

life and career

Gerry Marsden was born in Toxteth in Liverpool in 1942 and was initially active in skiffle bands as a teenager . Like the Beatles , with whom they shared manager Brian Epstein , the Pacemakers, founded in 1959, came from the Liverpool Mersey Beat scene . In addition to being the group's lead singer and primary face, Gerry Marsden wrote a few of their bigger hits like Ferry Cross the Mersey (which was intended as a hymn to his hometown of Liverpool) and Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying himself it was Marsden's idea to use the Broadway hit You'll Never Walk Alone, a rather unusual material for a beat groupto cover. In the version by Gerry and the Pacemakers, the song is the stadium anthem of Liverpool FC .

The group's first three singles in 1963 all rose to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, and this was briefly considered the Beatles' greatest competition. The group was only able to maintain its high popularity for a few years; they separated as early as 1967. Gerry Marsden remained active as a solo artist and made regular appearances until his retirement in 2018. Marsden then had a joint appearance with Take That in the Liverpool stadium on the occasion of the Liverpool Champions League victory in June 2019 , where he sang You'll Never Walk Alone . In addition to his activities as a musician, Marsden has occasionally been a presenter on British television.

With his later solo recordings Marsden was less successful, but he returned to the top of the British charts twice in the 1980s: After the Valley Parade fire disaster in Bradford football stadium in 1985, which killed 56 people, Marsden helped organize The Crowd , a group by well-known singers who re-recorded You'll Never Walk Alone for charity. After the Hillsborough stadium disaster with 96 deaths in 1989, Ferry Cross the Mersey , which he recorded together with the Liverpool musicians Paul McCartney , Holly Johnson and The Christians for donation purposes, also reached number 1 on the British charts. For his service to charity, Marsden was named a Member of the British Empire by the British Royalty in 2003 .

In 1993 he published his autobiography I'll Never Walk Alone with Ray Coleman . In 1965 he married Pauline Behan, a former girlfriend of George Harrison . They remained married and had two children until Gerry Marsden's death in 2021. He died of a heart infection at the age of 78.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Adam Sweeting: Gerry Marsden obituary. In: The Guardian . January 3, 2021, accessed January 3, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b Chris Robertson: Gerry And The Pacemakers star Gerry Marsden who sang You'll Never Walk Alone dies aged 78. In: Sky News . Accessed January 3, 2021 .
  3. ↑ John Hand, Kathryn Snowdon: Liverpool FC anthem singer Gerry Marsden dies aged 78. In: BBC News . January 3, 2021, accessed January 3, 2021 .
  4. ^ Richie Unterberger: Gerry & the Pacemakers: Artist Biography. In: AllMusic . Accessed January 3, 2021 .
  5. ↑ Gerry Marsden singing You'll Never Walk Alone with Take That at Anfield. (Video; 3:23 minutes) In: YouTube. June 6, 2019, accessed January 3, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Patrick Knox: Who is Gerry Marsden's wife, Pauline? In: The Sun . January 3, 2021, accessed January 3, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Ellie Harrison, Sam Hancock: Gerry Marsden death: Gerry and the Pacemakers star passes away aged 78. In: The Independent . January 3, 2021, accessed January 3, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Marsden, Gerry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Marsden, Gerard (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British singer, musician and television presenter
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 2021
Place of death Birkenhead