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Gerry Marsden, the lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers known for hits like You’ll Never Walk Alone and Ferry Cross the Mersey, died at 78 after a brief illness.
Rose to fame in the 1960s as the leader of the band Merseybeat at a time when Liverpool was the center of the musical universe.
His friend, DJ Pete Price, broke the news on Sunday, tweeting: “It is with a very heavy heart after speaking with the family that I have to tell them that the legendary Gerry Marsden MBE after a brief illness that was an infection in his heart, has unfortunately passed away. Sending all the love in the world to Pauline and her family. You will never Walk alone”.
In 1963 the Pacemakers topped the UK charts with their first three singles, How Do You Do It ?, I Like You and You Will Never Walk Alone, a Rodgers and Hammerstein composition from the musical Carousel. The song became the Liverpool FC anthem, sung by the Kop in every match. The club tweeted: “It is with such sadness that we learn of Gerry Marsden’s passing. Gerry’s words will live forever with us. You will never Walk alone”.
Gerry and the Pacemakers played regularly with the Beatles. Both groups were part of the Liverpool-based Brian Epstein management stable.
The Cavern Club, where both bands played regularly, tweeted:
Devastated to learn of Gerry Marsden’s passing today.
The word legend is often overused, but Gerry was not only a legend, but also a very good friend to The Cavern. pic.twitter.com/74HQZP4gio
– The Cavern Club (@cavernliverpool) January 3, 2021
Born in the Dingle area of Liverpool, Marsden was just 14 when he joined his first band, a skiffle group called the Red Mountain Boys, which featured his older brother Freddie on drums. They were later renamed Mars Bars, but the chocolate company demanded that they change their name, and in 1959 the group became Pacemakers.
In June 1960 they first played with the Beatles, then the Silver Beetles, and in December of that year they were hired to play for a four-month stint in Hamburg, prompting the group to leave their day jobs to become professional musicians. “We went with the Beatles and we laughed a lot,” Marsden later recalled.
The group’s first hit, How Do You Do It ?, was first recorded by the Beatles in 1962, but rejected by them and handed over to Marsden’s band by producer, George Martin, becoming their first No. 1 in April. from 1962.
Ferry Cross the Mersey was launched in late 1964 and peaked at number 8 in the UK. In 1989, Marsden topped the charts with a new version of the song recorded with fellow Merseyside artists, the Christians, Holly Johnson and Paul McCartney, in aid of the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, which resulted in a multitude of Liverpool fans in a Sheffield stadium. in 96 deaths.
Angela Eagle, a Labor MP for Wallasey in Wirral, tweeted:
Marsden’s version of I’ll Never Walk Alone re-entered the charts in March at the start of the lockdown, after he encouraged people to sing it from his doorstep during the weekly applause for our caretakers. Captain Tom Moore topped the charts in April with his own version recorded with Michael Ball and an NHS choir to raise money for health care charities.
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