{"id":47814,"date":"2025-08-06T12:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47814\/"},"modified":"2025-08-06T12:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T12:31:07","slug":"terry-reid-who-led-zeppelin-eyed-as-their-lead-singer-has-died-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/47814\/","title":{"rendered":"Terry Reid, who Led Zeppelin eyed as their lead singer, has died at 75"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terry Reid, the British singer-songwriter musician revered by the likes of Mick Jagger<\/a>, Aretha Franklin<\/a> and more, has died aged 75.<\/p>\n

A rep for the Reid confirmed the news to The Guardian<\/a> yesterday (August 5), with no cause of death given, although the publication noted he had been battling various health issues as well as cancer.<\/p>\n

A recent GoFundMe<\/a> page set up to help with Reid\u2019s medical costs said he had been \u201cin and out of the hospital, enduring rounds of treatment and uncertainty,\u201d which subsequently forced him to cancel a six-week tour set for the autumn.<\/p>\n

An update later shared on the page said that on Monday (August 4), Reid \u201ctransitioned peacefully surrounded by those who meant the most to him, his loving wife Annette and his adoring daughters Kelly and Holly.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added that he \u201cmet every challenge with remarkable courage and an unshakable optimism\u201d, sharing that in his final days, he believed he would make a full recovery and had sat up to play his guitar only days ago.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Reid was considered the musician\u2019s musician, with Aretha Franklin famously declaring in 1968: \u201cThere are only three things happening in England: The Rolling Stones<\/a>, The Beatles<\/a> and Terry Reid.\u201d<\/p>\n

His soulful voice also earned him the nickname \u201cSuperlungs\u201d, as well as offers to front Led Zeppelin<\/a> and Deep Purple<\/a>, but he declined both offers to pursue a solo career.<\/p>\n

Reid performed from his early teens, first joining local Cambridgeshire group the Redbeats, and then Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers. By the time he was 16, he was supporting the Rolling Stones on tour along with Ike & Tina Turner<\/a> and The Yardbirds, and caught the attention of their guitarist Jimmy Page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Page asked Reid if he\u2019d be willing to join a new band he was putting together, but Reid ultimately turned him down \u2013 instead recommending Band of Joy singer Robert Plant<\/a>, as well as that band\u2019s drummer, John Bonham.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on turning down Led Zeppelin, Reid said he was intent on doing his own thing, telling The Guardian last year: \u201cI contributed half the band \u2013 that\u2019s enough on my part!\u201d\u00a0 Plant was among those paying tribute, taking to his official Instagram page to write: \u201cHe was all of everything \u2026 such charisma. His voice, his range. His songs, capturing that carefree era.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuperlungs, indeed. He catapulted me into an intense new world he chose to decline. I listen now to his album The River and shed a tear for my brother in arm,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Reid also fielded offers from Ritchie Blackmore to be Deep Purple\u2019s lead singer, something he described as \u201cvery flattering\u201d, but remained dedicated to his solo ventures, releasing \u2018Bang, Bang You\u2019re Terry Reid\u2019 in 1968.<\/p>\n

The debut album featured a song he wrote at age 14, \u2018Without Expression\u2019, which went on to be covered by the likes of John Mellencamp<\/a>, REO Speedwagon<\/a>, The Hollies<\/a> and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His immersion in the burgeoning psychedelic rock scene saw more support slots come in later years, and in 1969, he joined Fleetwood Mac<\/a> and Cream<\/a> on tour and became a close friend of Jimi Hendrix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By 1973, he was signed by Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertegun and released cult critical success \u2018River\u2019, but eventually left for ABC Records to record follow-up \u2018Seed of Memory\u2019 (1976), after which he did session work with Bonnie Raitt<\/a>, Don Henley and Jackson Browne.<\/p>\n

In the early \u201990s, he released the Trevor Horn-produced comeback record \u2018The Driver\u2019, and released his final album \u2018The Other Side of the River\u2019 in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Terry Reid, the British singer-songwriter musician revered by the likes of Mick Jagger, Aretha Franklin and more, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136,1771,39],"class_list":["post-47814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}