Joe Egan, the singer and co-founder of Stealers Wheel, has died aged 77 confirmed by the family of his late bandmate Gerry Rafferty.
The group were best known for their hit single Stuck in the Middle With You, released in 1973.
Tributes have flooded in for the Scottish singer, with Rafferty’s family sharing snaps of the duo together.
‘Very sad news that the other half of Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan, passed away peacefully on Saturday with his nearest and dearest around him,’ the post read.
Rafferty’s daughter Martha added: ‘I will always remember him as a sweet and gentle soul. May he rest in peace.’
Egan and Rafferty met as teenagers in Paisley, forming the band in the early 70s after working together in a string of bands including The Mavericks and The Fifth Column.
Alongside Stealers Wheel success, the I Get By singer worked as a session musician and sang backup vocals on his bandmate’s debut solo album.
Stuck in the Middle With You stormed into the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number six in the US as well as peaking at eight in the UK charts.
Stealers Wheel split in 1975, citing creative differences, but their biggest track had a resurgence in 1992 when it was used in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.
Speaking about the use of the hit for a scene in which Mr Blonde sings and dances while torturing a policeman, the director explained he just thought it would ‘work really well’.
He shared: ‘During auditions, I told the actors that I wanted them to do the torture scene, and I’m gonna use Stuck in the Middle With You, but they could pick anything they wanted, they didn’t have to use that song. And a couple of people picked another one, but almost everyone came in with Stuck in the Middle With You and they were saying that they tried to come up with something else but that’s the one.
‘The first time somebody actually did the torture scene to that song, the guy didn’t even have a great audition, but it was like watching the movie. I was thinking, “Oh my God, this is gonna be awesome!”‘
Stealers Wheel also saw some chart success with tracks like Late Again, Star and Everyone’s Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine.
Egan released two solo albums in his career, although they did not see commercial success, and the band reunited in 2008 very briefly.
Rafferty died in 2011 from liver failure at the age of 63, with the pair remaining in contact until his death.
Third founding member Rab Noakes died in 2022 aged 75, with many calling the band ‘influential’ at the time.
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