Terry Reid, the British musician whose soaring and soulful voice earned him the nickname “Superlungs”, and whose career intersected with the likes of the Rolling Stones and Jimmy Page, has died aged 75, as confirmed by his UK representative. He had been receiving cancer treatment in recent months.
Reid never had a hit on the UK charts, but albums such as 1973’s River remain critically acclaimed, and he was held in such high esteem that he was courted by Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple to be those bands’ lead singer, but turned each of them down. Aretha Franklin stated in 1968: “There are only three things happening in England: the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and Terry Reid.”
Born and raised in Cambridgeshire, Reid was a singer, guitarist and songwriter from his early teens, initially with local group the Redbeats. After supporting Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, Reid was asked to join the latter band. By 16, he was supporting the Rolling Stones on tour along with Ike & Tina Turner and the Yardbirds, and after breaking away as a solo artist (and befriending Jimi Hendrix), Reid supported the Stones again around the US.
Yardbirds guitarist Jimmy Page admired Reid and asked if he would join a new band he was forming, but Reid turned him down, citing his commitment to the Stones’ US tour. He recommended Robert Plant, singer in Band of Joy, along with that band’s drummer John Bonham: both men joined Page and formed Led Zeppelin. “I was intent on doing my own thing,” Reid told the Guardian in 2024. “I contributed half the band – that’s enough on my part!”
He also turned down Ritchie Blackmore’s offer to be Deep Purple’s lead singer after Rod Evans’s departure in 1969, but acknowledged: “It was very flattering. Ritchie was one hell of a guitar player.” Ian Gillan would become Deep Purple’s vocalist instead.
Reid signed a management and recording deal with svengali Mickie Most, who oversaw his first two studio albums. His debut Bang Bang, You’re Terry Reid contained a song he wrote when he was 14 years old, Without Expression, which would end up being covered by John Mellencamp, REO Speedwagon and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. There were other high-profile tour support slots, with Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull and more. But Reid’s albums were not commercial successes, and Reid, not seeing eye to eye creatively with Most, eventually split from him.
After some years in limbo thanks to a contractual dispute with Most, Reid returned to recording with 1973’s River, the first of three albums that decade, and moved to California. But he put his solo career on hold in the 1980s, focusing instead on session work with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley and Jackson Browne.
A comeback in 1991 with the Trevor Horn-produced album The Driver was not commercially or creatively successful, and though his cover of the Spencer Davis Group’s Gimme Some Lovin’ appeared on the soundtrack to Tom Cruise movie Days of Thunder, Reid later pronounced The Driver “unlistenable”.
Reid’s earlier albums became favourites of crate diggers and musos, and he was sought out by artists including DJ Shadow and Alabama 3 for guest appearances in his later years. Jack White’s band the Raconteurs, Marianne Faithfull and Chris Cornell were among the artists who covered his songs. He told the Guardian of unreleased sessions made with Dr Dre, who “became fascinated with [Reid’s album] Seed of Memory and invited me into his studio where we reworked it alongside his rappers, a fascinating experience”.
He also continued to tour, but had to cancel a recent run of live dates amid his cancer treatment. A crowdfunding appeal was set up to cover his medical expenses, which read: “Terry’s spirit remains strong, and he’s deeply grateful for the outpouring of care he’s already received.”
Reid is survived by his wife, Annette. Tributes have been paid by musicians including Joe Bonamassa, who said Reid was “one of the greatest to ever do it and a beautiful person and soul”.
