Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the 1960s British band Gerry and the Pacemakers, has died. He was 78 years old.
The group was known for its hit songs such as ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ and the national anthem for the Liverpool football club ‘You’re Never Walk Alone’.
His family said Marsden died Sunday “after a brief illness unrelated to COVID-19” and that his wife, daughters and grandchildren were “crushed”.
His friend Pete Price said on Instagram after talking to Marsden’s family that the singer died after a brief illness related to a heart infection.
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“I send all the love in the world to (his wife) Pauline and his family,” he said. “You will never walk alone.”
Marsden was the lead singer of the group that gained notoriety in the Merseybeat scene in the 1960s. Although another Liverpool band – The Beatles – have reached superstructure, Gerry and the Pacemakers will always have a place in the city’s consciousness because of ‘You’re Never Walk Alone’.
“I thought what a beautiful song. I’m going to tell my group that we’re going to play that song,” Marsden told The Associated Press in 2018 when he first remembered hearing the song in theaters. “Then I went back and told my friends we were doing a ballad called ‘You’re Never Walk Alone’.”
Marsden is best known for the version of the song from his band from ‘Carousel’, which was a musical from Rodgers and Hammerstein from 1945 that became a feature film in 1956. The cover version of the Pacemakers was released in October 1963 and becomes the group’s third third hit on the UK singles chart.
Gerry Marsden, the British singer and lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who was instrumental in converting a song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ‘Carousel’ into one of the great folk songs in the world of football, has died. He was 78.
(Matthew Fearn / PA via AP, File)
It has been adopted by fans of Liverpool football club and is sung with passionate passion before every home game of the 19-time English champions – before coronavirus restrictions meant many matches were played in empty stadiums.
“I was saddened by the passing of Gerry Marsden. His voice will always lead the way at Anfield, in times of celebration or complaint,” said singer Elvis Costello, referring to Liverpool’s stadium.
The lyrics of the song, which show unity and perseverance through adversity – including “When you walk through a storm, keep your head up and do not be afraid of the dark” – were a rally for Liverpool believers and the song title is on the clubhouse of Liverpool.
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The song was also adopted by fans of the Scottish Celtic and German Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool tweeted along with a video of the fans in full voice that Marsden’s voice “accompanies our biggest nights” and that his “national anthem bound players, staff and fans around the world, and helped create something special.”
Gerry Marsden jumps over his band, the Pacemakers.
(PA via AP, file)
The song was embraced during the start of the coronavirus pandemic last spring when a cover of the song, featuring Tom Moore, a World War II veteran, reached number one. Moore captivated the British public by walking 100 rounds of his garden in England before his 100th birthday in April to raise about $ 40 million for the national health service.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool, the music venue for many of The Beatles’ early concerts, describes Marsden as a ‘legend’ and a ‘very good friend’.
In 1962, Beatles manager Brian Epstein reported the band and the first three releases reached number one in 1963 – “How Do You Do It?” and “I like it” as well as “You will never walk alone.” Later hits included ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ and ‘Don’t Let the Sun Catch Catch You Crying’. The group split in 1967 and Marsden pursued a solo career before reshaping the group a few years later.
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Paul McCartney of The Beatles said Marsden “was a friend of our early days in Liverpool” and that his group were “our biggest opponents” on the local scene.
“His memorable performances of ‘You’re Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ remain in many people’s hearts as a reminder of a joyous time in British music,” he said.
Marsden is survived by his wife, Pauline, whom he married in 1965. The couple had two daughters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.