The Damned founding member Brian James dies aged 70
By Charlotte McLaughlin, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
The Damned founding member Brian James has died aged 70, a representative has confirmed.
Guitarist James was part of the original line-up of the group, whose debut album, 1977’s Damned Damned Damned, was the debut full-length release by a UK punk group.
He wrote the UK punk single, New Rose, and was behind the creation of their first record.
On Friday, record label Easy Action said: “I can confirm that Brian passed away peacefully yesterday with his family present.”
Fellow band member, bassist Raymond “Captain Sensible” Burns, wrote on Instagram: “While it’s truly awful our mate has been taken I prefer to celebrate the life… and what a life Brian James had.”
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He added: “And looking back I have to say what an absolute gent Brian was.. despite having to occasionally endure some pretty appalling behaviour by yours truly he never once lost it with me – and whenever we met over the following decades we would have a drink and a bloody good laugh.”
A statement on James’s Facebook page called him “one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter, and true gentleman”, and a musician who was “incessantly creative and a musical tour de force” with a long career.
It also said: “With his wife Minna, son Charlie, and daughter-in-law Alicia by his side, Brian passed peacefully on Thursday 6th March 2025.”
The Damned supported the Sex Pistols on their infamous Anarchy Tour of the UK before going on to play with T Rex on Marc Bolan’s final tour before his death.
Following his departure from the band after the release of its second album Music For Pleasure, he was part of the short-lived Tanz Der Youth, before he formed The Lords Of The New Church with American singer Stiv Bators, and drummer Nick Turner.
He put out the songs Open Your Eyes, Dance Wth Me, and Method To My Madness with The Lords Of The New Church and went on to work with The Dripping Lips, create his won band the Brian James Gang, and release solo albums.
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He announced in 2020 alongside lead singer Dave Vanian, drummer Christopher “Rat Scabies” Millar, and Burns that The Damned would be reformed more than four decades after the band began in 1976.
James would perform with the group in 2022, and they have continued to tour with him absent.
Burns also said: “When BJ, Rat, DV and myself got back together for The Damned originals shows it was magical in all sorts of ways.. that we were chums again of course but also the way we managed to recreate our ’76 garage punk sound right from the first chord in rehearsals.
“We were all up for doing it again too.. but that’ll never happen now, sadly.”
He added that their set in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Friday will be dedicated to James, who he said “without whom the Damned would never ever have happened”.