Brad Delp, Lead Singer for Boston, Dead at 55

It is my sad duty to report that Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, was found dead Friday in his home. He was 55 years old. Yahoo News AP wire excerpt:

ATKINSON, N.H. - Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, was found dead Friday in his home in southern New Hampshire. He was 55. Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and that there was no indication of foul play.
Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.

The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.

Delp sang vocals on Boston's 1976 hits "More than a Feeling" and "Longtime." He also sang on Boston's most recent album, "Corporate America," released in 2002.

He joined the band in the early 1970s after meeting Tom Scholz, an MIT student interested in experimental methods of recording music, according to the group's official Web site. The band enjoyed its greatest success and influence during its first decade.

Boston was a ridiculously hot act when they first appeared on the music scene. The sound Scholz created was as heavy as anything you could hear at the time, but was balanced with sharp technique and a polished sound, without being too slick. Delp's vocals soared over the sonic layers that guitarists Scholz and Barry Goudreau laid down, and now that voice is gone forever.

The Scholz Rockman was an essential part of every young guitar player's arsenal, and I still have mine (okay, not my original, but one I got from fellow guitarist/space enthusiast Em Jeigh in a trade for an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope and some eyepieces). The signature Boston sound was the brainchild of Scholz, but it was greatly enhanced by Delp's high register vocals. Nobody I ever played with could ever hit the high notes of "More Than a Feeling". Delp was truly a one-of-a-kind singer, and he will be missed.

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