Gerry Marsden, the lead singer of the British group Gerry and the Pacemakers of the 1960s, died. He was 78 years old.
The band was known for their hit songs like “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and the Liverpool Football Club anthem, “You Never Walk Alone”.
His family said that Marsden died on Sunday “after a short illness that had nothing to do with COVID-19” and that his wife, daughters and grandchildren are “devastated”.
His friend Pete Price said on Instagram after talking to Marsden’s family that the singer died after a short illness related to a heart infection.
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“I’m sending all the love in the world to (his wife) Pauline and his family,” he said. “You’ll never Walk Alone.”
Marsden was the lead singer of the band that found fame on the Merseybeat scene in the 1960s. Although another Liverpool band – The Beatles – has achieved stardom, Gerry and the Pacemakers will always have a place in the city’s consciousness because of “You will never walk alone”.
“I thought it was beautiful music. I’m going to tell my band that we’re going to play that song,” Marsden told the Associated Press in 2018, recalling the first time he heard the song in the cinema. “So I came back and told my friends that we were doing a ballad called ‘You Never Walk Alone’.”
Marsden is best known for his band’s interpretation of the song “Carousel”, which was a 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that became a feature film in 1956. The cover version of the Pacemakers was released in October 1963 and became the band’s third No. 1 hit on the British singles chart.
Gerry Marsden, the British singer and lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, who was instrumental in turning a song in the musical “Carousel” by Rodgers and Hammerstein into one of the great anthems of the football world, died. He was 78 years old.
(Matthew Fearn / PA via AP, Archives)
He was adopted by fans of the Liverpool football club and is sung with a passion for goosebumps before every game at the home of the 19-time English champion – before the coronavirus restrictions meant many matches in empty stadiums.
“I was saddened by the death of Gerry Marsden. His voice will always show the way in Anfield, in moments of celebration or regret,” said singer Elvis Costello, referring to the Liverpool stadium.
The lyrics of the song, showing unity and perseverance in the face of adversity – including “When you walk through a storm, keep your head up and don’t be afraid of the dark” – have been a rallying cry for Liverpool’s faithful, and the song the title is on the crest of the Liverpool club.
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The song was also adopted by fans of Scotland’s Celtic and Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool tweeted alongside a video of the fans in full voice that Marsden’s voice “accompanied our greatest nights” and that his “anthem brought together players, staff and fans around the world, helping to create something truly special.”
Gerry Marsden jumps on his band, the Pacemakers.
(AP via AP, Archive)
The song was adopted during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, when a cover of the song, featuring World War II veteran Tom Moore, reached number one. Moore captivated the British public by walking 100 laps in his garden in England before his 100th birthday in April, to raise about 33 million pounds ($ 40 million) for the National Health Service.
The Cavern Club in Liverpool, the venue that hosted many of the Beatles’ early shows, described Marsden as a “legend” and a “very good friend”.
In 1962, Beatles manager Brian Epstein hired the band, and their first three releases reached number one in 1963 – “How Do You Do It?” and “I Like It”, as well as “You Never Walk Alone”. Later hits include “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”. The group split in 1967 and Marsden pursued a solo career before reforming the band a few years later.
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The Beatles’ Paul McCartney said that Marsden was “a companion since our early days in Liverpool” and that his group was “our biggest rival” on the local scene.
“His unforgettable performances of ‘You Never Walk Alone’ and ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ remain in the hearts of many people as reminders of a joyful time in British music,” he said.
Marsden leaves his wife, Pauline, whom he married in 1965. The couple had two daughters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.