Christopher James Mannix Bailey (29 November 1956 – 9 April 2022) was an Irish-Australian singer, songwriter, musician and producer. He was the co-founder and singer of the rock band the Saints.

Early life

Bailey was born in

Nanyuki Nanyuki is a market town in Laikipia County of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road (Kenya), A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. The name is derived from Enyaanyukie Maasai word for resemblance. It ...

Colony of Kenya A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often o ...

to Irish parents. He grew up in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, until the age of seven, when his family migrated to Australia. His family settled in Inala in

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He and his sister Margaret attended Inala State High School, Oxley State High School and

Corinda State High School Corinda State High School (CSHS) is a non-selective, co-educational, state secondary school, located in Corinda, Queensland, Australia. The school was established in 1960. Campus The school is located on one campus in the western suburbs of Br ...

, where

Ed Kuepper Edmund Kuepper (born 20 December 1955) is a German-born Australian guitarist, Singing, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded the punk band The Saints (Australian band), The Saints in 1973, the experimental post-punk group Laughing Clowns (acti ...

and Ivor Hay were also students.

Career

Bailey, Kuepper and Hay formed the band, The Saints in 1973. Their first significant success was in the UK with the classic punk anthem "

(I'm) Stranded ''(I'm) Stranded'' is the debut album by Australian punk rock group The Saints (Australian band), The Saints which was released by EMI on 21 February 1977. Their debut single, "(I'm) Stranded (song), (I'm) Stranded", was issued ahead of the album ...

". The band slowly evolved toward a more sophisticated sound on their next few albums. Bailey continued to lead the band into the 1980s. A cover of

the Easybeats The Easybeats were an Australian Rock music, rock band which formed in Sydney in late 1964. They are best known for their 1966 hit single "Friday on My Mind", which is regarded as the first Australian rock song to achieve international success ...

' "The Music Goes Round My Head" was issued as a single in December 1988 and featured on the soundtrack to the film ''

Young Einstein ''Young Einstein'' is a 1988 Australian comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Yahoo Serious. It is a fantasized account of the life of Albert Einstein which alters all people, places and circumstances of his life, including ...

''.

Later activities

In 1991, Bailey formed the Chris Bailey Combo which included

Paul Hester Paul Newell Hester (8 January 1959 – 26 March 2005) was an Australian musician and television personality. He was the drummer for the band Split Enz for their last year together from December 1983 to December 1984, and co-founding member an ...

Nick Seymour Nicholas More Seymour (born 9 December 1958) is an Australian musician and record producer. He is the founding bass guitarist and a mainstay of the rock group Crowded House, and is the younger brother of Mark Seymour, singer-songwriter-guitaris ...

and Dror Erez as well as a revolving cast of guest players. ''Demons'' was Bailey's second solo album, recorded in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where he had been sent by TVT Records. ''Savage Entertainment'' was released in October 1992. In 1993, Bailey wrote and recorded with Concrete Blonde's

Johnette Napolitano Johnette Napolitano (born Jonette L. Napolitano; September 22, 1957) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and bassist for the alternative rock group Concrete Blonde. Early life Johnette Napolitano was born and r ...

, including a reworking of the song "All Fools' Day". Bailey's fourth solo album, ''54 Days ... at Sea'', was recorded in Malmö, Sweden, and was released in 1994. It featured Bolivian folk musicians Mundo Folk, whom Bailey had seen busking when visiting friends in Sweden the previous year. Swedish musicians Eddie Nyström (guitar), Magnus Börjeson (bass) and Stellan Colt (drums) provided the rock base for the album. For the Earth Music compilation, issued in June 1994, Bailey contributed a cover of

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

's "Not Even Close". After several years of solo adventure, Bailey revived the Saints to record ''

Howling Howling is a vocal form of animal communication seen in most canines, particularly wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs, as well as cats and some species of monkeys. Howls are lengthy sustained sounds, loud and audible over long distances, often with ...

'' in 1996. This album was followed by '' Everybody Knows the Monkey'' (1998), ''

Spit the Blues Out ''Spit the Blues Out'' is the eleventh studio album released by The Saints. Track listing All tracks composed by Chris Bailey; except where indicated #"A Gentleman Came Walking" - 4:09 #"Who's Been Talking?" ( Chester Burnett) - 2:59 #"Waitin ...

'' (2002), '' Nothing is Straight in My House'' (2005), ''

Imperious Delirium ''Imperious Delirium'' is the thirteenth studio album released by Australian rock music group The Saints. With Marty Willson-Piper out of the band, The Saints were, for the first time, a trio. Chris Bailey played all the guitar accompaniments ...

'' (2006) and '' King of the Sun'' (2012-Australia, 2013-Europe) which were all recorded under the name of the Saints. When

Mushroom Music Mushroom Group is the largest independent music and entertainment company in Australia. It comprises more than two dozen companies. It has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland with over 200 employees. History The Mushroom Group was found ...

celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1998, Bailey was one of the invited artists to perform on a stage at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

in front of an audience of about 100,000 people. He performed solo two of his most famous songs, "Ghost Ships", and "Just Like Fire Would", and also a duet with Paul Kelly on "Wide Open Road", a tribute to the late

David McComb David Richard McComb (17 February 19622 February 1999) was an Australian musician. He was the singer-songwriter and guitarist of the Australian bands, The Triffids (1976–89) and The Blackeyed Susans (1989–93). He also had a solo career incl ...

the Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...

. In 2003, Bailey made a guest appearance singing the chorus vocals on "Bring It On" on

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

album '' Nocturama''. Bailey then toured America with the group and performed with them on the ''

Late Show with David Letterman ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...

''. At the 2005 Queensland Poetry festival in Brisbane, held at the

Judith Wright Arts Centre The Judith Wright Arts Centre, formerly the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, is a visual and performing arts centre in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Queensland. The venue was renovated and re-opened as an arts centre in October 2001. T ...

, Bailey headlined the event. Bailey and the General Dog was another of Bailey's constellations, their last record being ''Bone Box'' in 2005. In 2007, Bailey undertook a solo tour of France, on occasion as a double act with French rock artist Mickaël Furnon (alias Mickey) from the rock group

Mickey 3D Mickey 3D is a French rock group from Montbrison, Loire; it was founded in 1997 when Mickaël Furnon alias ''Mickey'' and Aurélien Joanin alias ''Jojo'' parted from the local group 3Dk. They have fronted for the group Louise Attaque, which had ...

Death

Chris Bailey died in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

on 9 April 2022, aged 65.

Discography

Solo albums

*''Casablanca'' (1983) *''What we did on our holidays'' (1984) *''Demons'' (1991) *''Savage Entertainment'' (1992) *''54 Days at Sea'' (1994) *''Encore (1995)'' *''Bone Box'' (2005)

The Saints albums

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * Note: n-lineversion established a
White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd
in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. ;Specific

External links

The Saints on FacebookThe Saints Official homepage
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Chris 1956 births 2022 deaths APRA Award winners Australian rock bass guitarists Australian male bass guitarists Australian rock singers Musicians from Belfast Musicians from Brisbane Australian punk rock singers Punk rock guitarists Emigrants from Northern Ireland to Australia The Saints (Australian band) members