Gerry McGhee, lead vocalist of Canada's Brighton Rock, died Tuesday following a battle with cancer. He was 58.
“They say the good die young,” Helix frontman Brian Vollmer wrote on Facebook. “I’m in shock right now – this has happened so unexpectedly. Gerry kept this a big secret 'cos he obviously didn't want to go out with a lot of fanfare. That's just how he lived life – humble and low key.”
A native of Scotland, McGhee joined Brighton Rock in 1982, when it was formed by guitarist Greg Fraser and bassist Stevie Skreebs in Niagara Falls, Ont. He co-wrote “One More Try,” which was a Top 20 hit for the band in Canada.
Their self-titled 1985 indie EP earned them a record deal and their debut album, Young, Wild and Free, was released in 1986. Brighton Rock released two more studio albums – 1988’s Take a Deep Breath and 1991’s Love Machine – before splitting up. (They reunited several times over the years.)
Bob Roper, who signed Brighton Rock to WEA, shared on Facebook: “I can be assured that his next adventure will be as full of life and humour as this one. Happy trails my brother.”
McGhee went on to become president of Isotope Music Inc. in 1996 and executive vice-president of Precision Record Pressing, one of the North America’s largest vinyl plants, in 2016. Both are based in Burlington, Ont.
“The music world has lost a bright star,” the city’s mayor Marianne Meed Ward wrote on Facebook.
McGhee is survived by wife Carla and their two daughters.