Drummer Robbie Bachman has died aged 69.
Drummer Robbie Bachman has died aged 69
The Bachman-Turner Overdrive musician’s passing was confirmed by his brother Randy on Twitter on Thursday. (12.01.23)
He hailed Robbie as “an integral cog in our rock’n’roll machine” and said the “pounding beat behind BTO” had “joined mum, dad and brother Gary” on the “other side”.
He referenced the death this week of guitarist Jeff Beck alongside a black and white picture of Robbie drumming, in his tweet that said: “Another sad departure. The pounding beat behind BTO, my little brother Robbie has joined Mum, Dad and brother Gary on the other side. Maybe Jeff Beck needs a drummer! He was an integral cog in our rock ‘n’ roll machine and we rocked the world together. #RIP #littlebrother #family.”
A cause of death has not yet been released.
Born Robin Peter Kendall Bachman on 18 February, 1953, Robbie and his brother were into music from their youth, before Randy invited him to drum for Brave Belt.
The group recorded two albums, released in 1971 and 1972, before they changed their name to Bachman–Turner Overdrive in 1973.
Its self-titled debut album reached No 9 in Canada and No 70 on the Billboard rock chart, with its follow up ‘Bachman–Turner Overdrive II’ getting to the Top 10 in the US and Canada.
It had one Top 40 single, ‘Let It Ride’, as well as one of the group’s best-known tracks, ‘Takin’ Care of Business’.
The band’s third album included ‘Roll on Down the Highway’, a hit single co-written by Robbie Bachman and Fred Turner that was originally produced for a car advert.
After 1979, Bachman–Turner Overdrive briefly split before regrouping in 1983, but without Robbie, who sued the new band for trademark infringement for its continued use of the name, resulting in a royalties pay out.
Robbie briefly rejoined the band for a 1988 reunion and in 2014, Bachman–Turner Overdrive were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
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