Sunday, May 07, 2006

Go-Betweens frontman McLennan dies

From ABC Online:

Go-Betweens frontman McLennan dies

Australian singer-songwriter Grant McLennan has died at his home in Brisbane at the age of 48.

McLennan was a founding member of the band the Go-Betweens and its website reports he has died in his sleep.

The Go-Betweens became the much heralded heroes of the Queensland music scene and songs like Bachelor Kisses and Through the Streets of Your Town became part of the musical vernacular.

The Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA) recently voted his song Cattle and Cane as one of the 10 greatest Australian songs of all time.

McLennan and Robert Forster formed the Go-Betweens while attending university in Brisbane during the Bjelke-Petersen days of the 1970s, when McLennan was arrested for participating in protests.

The band split up in 1989 and reformed in 2000 and has released nine albums.

The website says: "McLennan was a passionate supporter of the arts, extremely well-read and maintained a keen interest in all contemporary music, cinema and visual art".

"He was an exceptionally charming and polite man who endeared himself to everyone who met him and was one of the rare individuals worthy of the epithet 'larger than life'."

McLennan was raised by his mother on a cattle-station in Rockhampton, Queensland.

He is survived by his mother, sister and girlfriend Emma.