Burke Shelley | |
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 Shelley in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Burke Shelley |
| Born | 10 April 1950 Cardiff, Wales |
| Died | 10 January 2022 (aged 71) Heath, Cardiff, Wales |
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| Years active | 1967–2022 |
John Burke Shelley (10 April 1950 [1] – 10 January 2022) was a Welsh musician, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist of the early heavy metal band Budgie.
In 1967, Cardiff-born Shelley [1] co-founded the band Hills Contemporary Grass with Tony Bourge on guitar and vocals and Ray Phillips on drums. The following year they changed their name to Budgie. [1]
Shelley is often compared to Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, [2] as they both share the position of bassist/vocalist in power trio bands, both have distinctive high-pitched singing voices, and during the mid- to late 1970s, they bore a striking resemblance to one another, with long, straight hair and large glasses. Both vocalists possessed a high tenor vocal range, but unlike Lee, who is a fingerstyle player, Shelley played bass with a pick. In addition to singing and playing bass for the group, Shelley also performed keyboards on Budgie's early albums, including the Mellotron on "Young Is a World" from the band's second album Squawk .[ citation needed ]
Budgie's November 2010 tour of Central Europe had to be cancelled as Shelley was hospitalised on 9 November in Wejherowo, Poland, with a 6 cm aortic aneurysm. After surgery, he returned to Britain for recovery, but no decision about the future of the band had been made. [3] By the time of his death in 2022, Budgie were considered disbanded or on hiatus, having not performed or recorded since Shelley's hospitalisation.
Burke Shelley was born in Cardiff, the second child of John B. Shelley and Vera Selwood, and was one of seven children born between 1949 and 1959. [4] Shelley was a father of four children. [5] In a 2010 interview for the BBC documentary Heavy Metal Britannia , Shelley expressed his Christian [6] [7] beliefs and said he had always been uncomfortable with the occult-themed lyrics of bands such as Black Sabbath. [8]
In the final years of his life, Shelley suffered from Stickler syndrome and, on two occasions, had an aortic aneurysm. He died in his sleep at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff on 10 January 2022, aged 71. [5]
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with their first three albums Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality (1971). Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the band underwent multiple line-up changes, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout its history.
Budgie is the debut album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie. It was released on 30 July 1971, through MCA Records. The US version on Kapp Records includes "Crash Course in Brain Surgery", originally released as a single and covered by Metallica on their 1987 EP The $5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited. "Homicidal Suicidal" has also been covered by the Seattle grunge band Soundgarden. Canadian band Thrush Hermit covered "Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman" on the album All Technology Aside, included on the 2010 The Complete Recordings box set.
If I Were Brittania I'd Waive the Rules is the sixth album by the Welsh power trio heavy metal blues rock band Budgie, released in April 1976.
Ronald James Padavona, known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hell.
Budgie were a Welsh heavy metal band from Cardiff. The band formed in 1967, and recorded a demo the following year.
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 18 September 1970, by Vertigo Records in the United Kingdom and on 7 January 1971, by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 on the UK charts.
Black Sabbath is the debut studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 13 February 1970 by Vertigo Records in the United Kingdom and on 1 June 1970 by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album is widely regarded as the first true heavy metal album, and the opening title track, "Black Sabbath", was named the greatest heavy metal song of all time by Rolling Stone, and has been referred to as the first doom metal song.
William Thomas Ward is an English musician. He was a co-founder and the original drummer for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Ward helped found Black Sabbath in 1968 alongside bandmates Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi (guitarist), and Geezer Butler (bass).
Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, released on 18 April 1980. It is the first Black Sabbath album to feature vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who replaced original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne in 1979.
Vincent Samson Appice is an American rock and metal drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice.
Never Turn Your Back on a Friend is the third studio album by Welsh heavy metal band Budgie, released in June 1973. This was drummer Ray Phillips' final appearance on a Budgie recording date. The album shows the band continuing the successful heavy metal formula of their previous album Squawk, adding a hint of speed metal in the single "Breadfan", one of the band's best known songs.
Trouble is an American doom metal band from Aurora, Illinois, formed in 1978. They are often considered one of the pioneers of doom metal, and have been referred to as one of the genre's "big four" alongside Candlemass, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. The band created a distinct style, taking influences of the British heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, and psychedelic rock of the 1960s.
Thomas "Craig" Goldy is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio and Giuffria.
Slaves on Dope is a Canadian nu metal band based in Montreal, Quebec.
Anthony Philip Harford, better known by his stage name Tony Martin, is an English heavy metal vocalist, best known for his time fronting Black Sabbath, initially from 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1997. Martin was the band's second-longest-serving vocalist after Ozzy Osbourne. He has since been involved in many other projects.
Hermética was an Argentine thrash metal band from San Martín, Buenos Aires. It was formed by bassist Ricardo Iorio in 1987 after his previous band, V8, disbanded. Hermética was signed to the independent record label Radio Trípoli Discos throughout their career. The band's initial lineup consisted of Iorio, vocalist Claudio O'Connor, drummer Fabián Spataro and guitarist Antonio Romano. Spataro left the band in 1988 and was replaced by Antonio Scotto. This lineup recorded their eponymous album, the first thrash metal album recorded in Argentina. At this point of their career, Hermética performed mainly in Argentina, except for one concert held in Uruguay. In 1990, they released Intérpretes—an extended play which included covers of Argentine rock and tango songs. Both albums were released by Radio Trípoli Discos as a single CD when digital technology became available.
Nightflight is the ninth album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie, released in 2 October 1981 on RCA Records. A remastered version, with two live tracks from 1981, was released in 2013. The illustration on the cover is by Derek Riggs.
You're All Living in Cuckooland is the eleventh and final album by the Welsh heavy metal band Budgie. Released in November 2006, it was their first official studio album in 24 years. It was accompanied by a UK tour.
The aim is always at Christ... Christianity. That's what it's always at. You know, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, and all the rest of them, you know... the names are all fiddling around with... to sound menacing. I'm a Christian, so I don't want to mess with anything like that, you know...cause I read in the Bible it's a bad thing, you know... to mess around with anything.
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