Steve Priest, bassist, vocalist and founding member of glam rockers The Sweet, sometimes called Sweet, has died aged 72, the band have confirmed.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce at 8:25am PT today, Steve Priest, founding member of The Sweet, passed away,” reads a post on the band’s Facebook. “He is survived by his wife, Maureen, three daughters, Lisa, Danielle & Maggie and 3 grandchildren, Jordan, Jade & Hazel.”
By 2020 there were two iterations of The Sweet: ‘Steve Priest’s Sweet’ who were based in the US and ‘Andy Scott’s Sweet’ in the UK, the latter led by the band’s founding guitarist.
“I am in pieces right now,” Scott wrote on Facebook. “His wife Maureen and I have kept in contact and though his health was failing I never envisaged this moment. Never. My thoughts are with his family.
He was the best bass player I ever played with. The noise we made as a band was so powerful. From that moment in the summer of 1970 when set off on our Musical Odyssey the world opened up and the rollercoaster ride started! He eventually followed his heart and moved to the USA. First New York then LA. Rest in Peace brother. All my love.”
Priest and Scott formed The Sweet in London in 1968, alongside lead singer Brian Connolly, who died in 1997, and drummer Mick Tucker who died in 2002.
The band scored 13 Top 20 hits in the 1970s, including number one single ‘Block Buster!’ in 1973, ‘The Ballroom Blitz’ that same year, and ‘Fox On The Run’ in 1975.
Priest later relocated to California and in 1994, published his autobiography, Are You Ready Steve?, the title of which is taken from the intro to the Sweet’s “The Ballroom Blitz” when Brian Connolly counts in the song with, “Are you ready Steve? …Andy? …Mick? …Alright fellas, let’s gooooo!”, and in 2006, he released a CD entitled Priest’s Precious Poems. In January 2008, Priest formed a new version of the Sweet, not related to Andy Scott‘s version of the band.
This new band played mainly festivals and venues in the U.S. and Canada. In early 2009, the band released a live CD, recorded in August 2008 at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, California.
Steve lived with his wife Maureen and daughters Danielle and Margaret “Maggie” in La Cañada Flintridge in California.
