Stealers Wheel co-founder Joe Egan dies aged 77

Joe Egan, who co-founded and co-fronted the Scottish band Stealers Wheel with Gerry Rafferty, has died aged 77.

The news was confirmed on the Facebook page of the late Rafferty, who died in 2011. His daughter Martha, who runs the official page, shared a series of images of Rafferty and Egan together alongside her message.

“Very sad news that the other half of Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon with his nearest and dearest around him,” she said. “I will always remember him as a sweet and gentle soul. May he rest in peace.”

The folk rock band were best known for their 1973 debut single, ‘Stuck In The Middle With You’, which reached No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Its initial chart success was amplified decades later when it featured in a pivotal scene in Quentin Tarantino‘s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs.

Reflecting on the song’s inclusion in the film, Tarantino previously told Rolling Stone: “That was one of those things where I thought [the song] would work really well, and [during] auditions, I told the actors that I wanted them to do the torture scene, and I’m gonna use ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’, but they could pick anything they wanted, they didn’t have to use that song.

“And a couple of people picked another one, but almost everyone came in with ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’, and they were saying that they tried to come up with something else, but that’s the one. The first time somebody actually did the torture scene to that song, the guy didn’t even have a great audition, but it was like watching the movie. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna be awesome!’”

Joe Egan has passed away. The wheel has left the stealer. His talent was immense and it shone beautifully, alas, all too briefly. His songs under the 'Stealers Wheel' moniker meant as much to me as Gerry's. They still do. Here's a snippet of one they wrote together. R.I.P. Joe xx pic.twitter.com/E1Culr65BN

— Thomas Walsh (@ThomasWalsh1) July 7, 2024

RIP Joe Egan. Hell of a voice, hell of a songwriter, another of Paisley’s finest shuffled off. https://t.co/FfrFSIm0Vp

— Martin Heron (@GizmoDelTurbo) July 7, 2024

A fond farewell to Joe Egan, who died yesterday. The 'other half' of Paisley's Stealers Wheel, alongside Gerry Rafferty. pic.twitter.com/8lQsGqndmY

— BoomRadioUK (@BoomRadioUK) July 7, 2024

RIP, Joe Egan. This was always my favourite composition of his: the way that chorus melody tumbles is unreasonably attractive.https://t.co/t5O8Tkyun4

— Marco Rossi (@marcosquawks) July 7, 2024

Stealers Wheel disbanded in 1975, with Egan and Raffety both going on to pursue solo ventures. Egan released his debut album, ‘Out of Nowhere’, in 1979, which was followed by ‘Map’ in 1981.

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