Brian James, Founding Member of The Damned & Punk Rock Pioneer, Dead at 70

Brian James, founding member of English punk-rock band The Damned, died Thursday (March 6). The guitarist was 70.

The news was shared with fans via a post on James’ Facebook page on the day of his death. “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of the true pioneers of music, guitarist, songwriter and true gentleman, Brian James,” it read.

The message added that the musician was surrounded by family when he “passed peacefully.”

James formed The Damned in 1976 with bandmates Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and Rat Scabies. That year, they released what is considered the first-ever British punk single: “New Rose.”

The guitarist would work on two albums with the foursome before leaving the group: 1977’s Damned Damned Damned and Music for Pleasure.

Captain Sensible honored his late bandmate with a post on X Thursday, sharing a photo of himself with James and writing, “We’re shocked to hear that creator of @thedamned, our great chum Brian James has sadly gone.”

“A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk,” he added. “Cheers BJ!”

After leaving The Damned, James would form short-lived group Tanz Der Youth before starting The Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators. The latter group released three studio albums: 1983’s Is Nothing Sacred?, 1984’s The Method to Our Madness and 1988’s Killer Lords. James also created The Dripping Lips and the Brian James Gang as well as released a plethora of solo music throughout his six-decade career.

His career came full circle in 2022 when James reunited with The Damned for a string of U.K. live shows. Five years prior, his former bandmates emphasized how important he’d been not only to the band, but to developing the English punk scene, in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone.

“With the Damned, it was always about the music,” Vanian told the publication at the time. “Brian was a fantastic guitarist.”

“We used to call Brian the riff-meister,” Captain Sensible recalled. “That’s why Jimmy Page was such a fan of the band at the time. There are photographs of him and Robert Plant backstage at our gig at the Roxy. Jimmy Page saw something special in Brian’s guitar style and writing, as did I, since I was a guitar player before The Damned and switched to bass to play with Brian.”

James is survived by his wife, Minna, his son, Charlie, and his daughter-in-law, Alicia.