Bob Welch Dead from suicide

[card]

Bob Welch, early Fleetwood Mac guitarist, kills self

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By Michael Winter, USA TODAY #post-date-updated {border-top: solid 1px #E5E5E5;}
Updated 13h 58m ago


Bob Welch, the influential guitarist and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac in the band's early days, took his life today at his Nashville-area home, WKRN-TV reports.
Welch, who was either 65 or 66, died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest. His wife found him about 12:15 p.m. at their home in Antioch. He had recently suffered undisclosed health issues, a Metro police spokesperson said.
Welch played with Fleetwood Mac in the early to mid-1970s, before the group achieved superstar status with Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours (1977).
He joined the band in 1971 when it was an English blues band and helped shape its future sound and attract an American audience. He played on five records -- Future Games, Bare Trees, Penguin, Mystery to Me and Heroes Are Hard to Find, the band's first to crack the U.S. Top 40. He was also responsible for two early hits, Sentimental Lady and Hypnotized.
Welch left the band in late 1974, replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who helped catapult the group to stardom. He had some success as a solo artist in the late 1970s. In 2008, he emerged from what he called a 30-year "beauty sleep" and "extended" vacation.
Born into an entertainment family, his father, Robert, produced several hit films for Paramount Pictures in the 1940s and 1950s, and his mother, Templeton, was a singer and actress who worked with Orson Welles' Mercury Theater in Chicago.
Update at 8:04 p.m. ET: There are conflicting dates of birth for Welch. FleetwoodMac.net and other sites say he was born July 31, 1946, while Wikipedia says Aug. 31, 1945. However, the Wikipedia entry contains an editor's note that the article "needs additional citations for verification," so it's not clear if the D.O.B. was confirmed.
A comment on Welch's MySpace page two years ago from a University of Illinois-Chicago radio DJ stated "Bob will be 63 this week." That would seem to support the July 1946 birthdate.
We'll try to clarify further.

[witchcurlgirl]

He joined the band in 1971 when it was an English blues band and helped shape its future sound and attract an American audience

they did some really interesting stuff pre- Buckingham/Nicks. This is one of my favorites from the Peter Green era


[YOUTUBE]wKjfjO2Y1H4[/YOUTUBE]

this is a great bob welch/ fleetwood mac song



[YOUTUBE]8yA2i60AVIw[/YOUTUBE]

[faithanne]

Is this the guy who sang Ebony Eyes? That was a huge hit here. When I was a little tike I fell in love with Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights and scraped together my pocket money to go and buy the single one Saturday morning, but they'd sold out so I bought Ebony Eyes instead. When I took it to school for Show & Tell on Monday, there were 3 other girls with the same single and the same story. Maybe that's why it was such a big hit.

RIP, guy who was not Kate Bush.

[pinkbunnyslippers]

I like the group. My favorite song by them is Tusk. What a shame.

[card]

Is this the guy who sang Ebony Eyes? That was a huge hit here. When I was a little tike I fell in love with Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights and scraped together my pocket money to go and buy the single one Saturday morning, but they'd sold out so I bought Ebony Eyes instead. When I took it to school for Show & Tell on Monday, there were 3 other girls with the same single and the same story. Maybe that's why it was such a big hit.

RIP, guy who was not Kate Bush.

Yes, he sang that song, and Sentimental Lady. I really liked him with Fleetwood Mac, and his brief solo career, Ebony Eyes included. I actually have Ebony Eyes and Sentimental Lady on my ipod, really saddened by his suicide. Said he had been ill, wonder what was wrong.

Ya think himand Robin Gibb are having a jam session in the afterlife?

[VeraGemini]

I read that he'd had surgery on his spine, that he was not recovering well from.

[Bluebonnet]

I read that he'd had surgery on his spine, that he was not recovering well from.

He was probably majorly depressed from back pain! Poor guy.

I always LOVED "Sentimental Lady".

RIP, Bob.

[smileznlaughs]

it is sad , he was awesome .

[Trixie]

Suicides are always so sad, especially a damn gunshot death with his wife finding him...

Hypnotized is one of my all-time favorites, still have the Mystery to Me and Bare Trees vinyls here somewhere. RIP Mr. Welch, your pain is over now.

[Charmed Hour]

There's a great live verison of Bob and Stevie doing Ebony Eyes on youvbe

[gas_chick]

So sad. Hope you are at peace now.