He was a guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer who studied Art at the University of Leeds.
While a teenager he played with several of his local bands including The Bourgeois Brothers, and while at university in 1977 he met up John King and started writing songs. After teaming up with two others they formed the Gang of Four, which became a successful “post-punk” band. They saw success with their chart singles “I Love a Man in a Uniform”, “Anthrax”, “At Home He’s a Tourist” and “Damaged Goods” and albums such as Solid Gold, Another Day, Another Dollar and Entertainment!
Known for his unique way of playing the guitar, his style was described as “jagged”. Working with many other artists in the form of producer and/or session musician, his work can be heard with on recordings by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Michael Hutchence, M , The Stranglers, Killing Joke and Mucho Macho among others.
In the movies he appeared in the film Urgh! A Music War and his work appeared on the soundtracks of The Manchurian Candidate, Marie Antoinette and The Covenant.
His death was announced on 1st February 2020 by the Gang of Four. He was 64 years old.
Here he is on guitar with Gang of Four on their “Damaged Goods”…
Sources:
- http://www.gillmusic.com/
- http://www.gillmusic.com/go4_history.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Gill
- http://www.furious.com/perfect/gangoffour.html
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1453248/