Bass guitar legend Herbie Flowers dies aged 86

8 September, 2024

Herbie Flowers. CREDIT: David Redfern/Redferns

Influential British bass guitarist Herbie Flowers died on Thursday (September 5) aged 86.

The news was confirmed on Facebook by a close family member. No cause of death has been given.

Throughout his career, which spanned over 50 years, Flowers contributed to recordings by some of the biggest names in music, including Elton John, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Bryan Ferry, among others.

His start as a musician came in 1956 when, aged 18, he was conscripted into the Royal Air Force. There, he played the tuba as a bandsman, before eventually taking up double bass shortly followed by electric bass.

Speaking to Guitar World last year, Flowers shared how his early experiences playing tuba eventually influenced his playing on Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. “I was a tuba and double bass player, and I wanted the strings to feel like a double bass,” he said. “But there was no intention to be clever. We really didn’t know what we were doing!”

Once his military service was complete, he spent a brief period as a bandsman on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth.

Eventually, he began working as a session musician, lending his talents to producers such as Shel Talmy, Mickie Most, Steve Rowland, Richard Perry, Gus Dudgeon and Tony Visconti.

In 1969, Flowers became a founding member of the group Blue Mink. Their biggest hit was ‘Melting Pot’, which reached Number 3 in the UK Singles Chart that year. Alongside Blue Mink, he was also a member of T. Rex, Rumplestiltskin and Sky.

By the end of the 1970s alone, it was estimated that Flowers had played bass on 500 hit recordings.

Perhaps his most famous contribution was the bassline he wrote for Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ – taken from his seminal 1972 album ‘Transformer’. It was the only song by Reed to reach the Top 20 in the US charts, and was listed as Number 4 on NME‘s 10 Greatest Basslines of all Time.

 

The official social media pages for Flowers’ late collaborator Bowie wrote of his “incredible musicianship over many decades”, and said the bassist be “sorely missed”. Flowers played on Bowie’s 1974 album ‘Space Oddity’ and ‘Diamond Dogs’ in 1969.

A statement read: “Though we’ve not managed to have it officially confirmed, if the news is correct, we are very sad to learn of the passing of Herbie Flowers in the last couple of days. His work with Bowie and associates over the years is too long to list here.

“Aside from his incredible musicianship over many decades, he was a beautiful soul and a very funny man,” it continued. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends.”

Elsewhere, tributes from fellow musicians and fans have been pouring in on social media.

Mat Osman, Suede‘s bassist, also paid tribute to Flowers writing: “Ah, damn. RIP Herbie Flowers. So many great basslines – imagine having played on Space Oddity, Walk on the Wild Side and Rock On…”

The Charlatans‘ Tim Burgess said: “Farewell Herbie Flowers. He made the greats sound greater”, while record producer Tony Visconti shared that he was “sad to hear” the news.

I was sad to hear the news of the passing of the great bass player Herbie Flowers yesterday. When I arrived in London in…

Posted by Tony Visconti on Sunday, September 8, 2024

In his later life, Flowers worked as a bass guitar teacher at Ardingly College in West Sussex, as well as becoming involved in local community initiatives, including founding two community choirs, Shoreham Singers-by-Sea and the Ditchling Singers.

He also played bass on Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds.

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