This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-44679446
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
Bay City Roller Alan Longmuir dies | Bay City Roller Alan Longmuir dies |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Alan Longmuir, a founding member of the Bay City Rollers, has died. | Alan Longmuir, a founding member of the Bay City Rollers, has died. |
The Edinburgh-born musician was surrounded by his family when he died at Forth Valley Hospital in Larbert at 06:00, following a short illness. | |
Mr Longmuir formed the Bay City Rollers with his brother, Derek, and went on to find huge chart success in the 1970s. | |
Paying tribute to the 70-year-old, his family said he would humbly describe himself as "just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky". | |
Frontman Les McKeown, described his friend as "the original Bay City Roller". | |
And bandmate Stuart Wood said he would "remember the good times we had for over 40 years". | |
The Bay City Rollers were tartan-clad teen sensations in the UK and the US in the 1970s with hits including Bye Bye Baby and Shang-a-Lang. | |
At the height of their success, they were responsible for "Rollermania" and they even had their own TV show. | |
In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Longmuir's family described him as an "extraordinary man with an extraordinary heart". | In a statement posted on Twitter, Mr Longmuir's family described him as an "extraordinary man with an extraordinary heart". |
"He brought so much love and kindness to everyone he met, and he leaves a huge hole in our family," they added. | "He brought so much love and kindness to everyone he met, and he leaves a huge hole in our family," they added. |
"He would humbly say he was 'just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky'. | "He would humbly say he was 'just a plumber from Edinburgh who got lucky'. |
"However we were the lucky ones; the ones that were lucky enough to have Alan as part of our lives." | "However we were the lucky ones; the ones that were lucky enough to have Alan as part of our lives." |
He died three weeks after being flown home from Mexico by air ambulance. He fell ill while on holiday with his wife, Eileen. | |
Mr Longmuir's friend and biographer, Liam Rudden, described him on Twitter as "one of the most gentle, generous and kind-hearted people I've ever known". | |
He added that he "touched the lives of all he met with a smile that made them feel special". | |
During their career the Bay City Rollers sold 120 million records, finding success in the UK, US, Australia and Japan. | |
They were mobbed by teenage girls dressed in the band's trademark wide trousers, skinny shirts and obligatory tartan. | |
But at the height of their success in 1976 - the year the group cracked the US and hit the top of the Billboard charts with Saturday Night - Longmuir quit the band. | |
In 2015, he told a BBC Scotland documentary that the pressure was taking its toll. | |
"I was getting depressed. I couldn't take it anymore," he said. | |
The band finally split in 1978 but bitter legal battles about money dragged on for years. | |
He joined a one-off concert of the Bay City Rollers at the Edinburgh Hogmanay in 1999 and further reunion gigs in 2015 and 2016. | |
He also returned to the stage in 2014, to appear in a show based on his life - And I Ran With the Gang - at the Edinburgh Fringe, which featured some of the band's biggest hits. | |
The show was due to return to the festival this August. |