Grant McLennan

Go Betweens Founder Dead At 48

GW McLennan

by Tim Cashmere @ Undercover

May 7 2006

Grant McLennan of Australia's The Go-Betweens has been found dead in his Brisbane home at the age of 48.

McLennan was a founding member of The Go-Betweens after forming the band with Robert Forster in the early 80s.

Despite never really achieving commercial success, their credibility was carved from their first album 'Send Me A Lullaby' in 1981.

With a firmly planted name in the UK market, the band became quiet well known across Europe but by 1989, it was all over … at least for a decade.

In that time, McLennan released solo albums including 'Watershed' which was given a 5 star review by Rolling Stone.

In 2000, the McLennan and Forster reformed the band and have continued to record annually.

Grant McLennan, born February 12th 1958, is survived by his mother, sister and girlfriend Emma.

Grant McLennan R.I.P.

On Saturday 6th May, legendary Australian singer songwriter Grant W McLennan died in his sleep at his home in Brisbane.

McLennan was one of Australia's greatest songwriters who created an outstanding musical legacy as a founder member of The Go-Betweens and as a solo artist. He was enjoying enormous acclaim for the band's most recent album Oceans Apart, which has received five star reviews around the world and won had a prestigious ARIA award.

McLennan was born in Rockhampton, Queensland on 12th February 1958. While attending university in Brisbane he met fellow student Robert Forster and together they formed The Go-Betweens. After releasing a string of singles the band recorded their debut album, Send Me A Lullaby, in 1981. The Go-Betweens recorded a series of exceptional albums that achieved widespread critical acclaim and were fundamental in bringing Australian music to a global audience. He was an unparalleled lyricist and a prolific and meticulous composer. His auto-biographical masterpiece 'Cattle and Cane' was recently voted by the Australian Performing Rights Association as one of the ten greatest Australian songs of all time.

In 1989 The Go-Betweens took a ten year sabbatical and McLennan recorded four powerful solo albums including the vivacious debut Watershed and the epic Horsebreaker Star as well as forming satellite groups like Jack Frost with Steve Kilbey of The Church and The Far Out Corporation with Iain Haug of Powderfinger.

When Robert Forster and Grant McLennan reformed The Go-Betweens in 2000, the band was greeted with adulation by a new generation of musicians like Belle and Sebastian for whom, their songs had been an inspirational teenage soundtrack. The three albums the band subsequently released were universally acknowledged as containing some of McLennan's greatest compositions.

McLennan was a passionate supporter of the arts, extremely well-read and maintained a keen interest in all contemporary music, cinema and visual art. He was an exceptionally charming and polite man who endeared himself to everyone who met him and was one of the rare individuals worthy of the epithet 'larger than life'.

His singular contribution to music and his commitment to his craft simply cannot be understated. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his mother, sister, girlfriend Emma and lifetime musical colleague Robert Forster.

Bernard MacMahon, Lo-Max Records, 6th May 2006