Ian Mitchell, the bassist for the Bay City Rollers on their fourth album, has died at the age of 62. This was according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.
Ian Mitchell replaced original member Alan Longmuir in 1976. Only 17, Mitchell, from Northern Ireland, was the only band member not from Edinburgh. He participated on the album Dedication, which spawned a hit with a cover of Dusty Springfield’s I Only Want To Be With You.
But that was the top for the group, and after just seven months as a member, Ian Mitchell left in 1977.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Ian Mitchell’s death,” the Facebook message reads. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Wendy, their family and friends. Rest In Peace, Ian.”
The Rollers were formed in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1964 by brothers Alan and Derek Longmuir. In the late ’60s, they decided on a new direction and a name change, and legend has it a dart thrown at a map of the United States landed near Bay City, Michigan.
The group became a UK sensation, and broke through in the US for Arista Records, thanks to hits including the US No. 1 Saturday Night and Bye Bye Baby. The tartan-clad Bay City Rollers became a teenage pop delight in the 1970s.
They have reunited in various incarnations in the years since their major US and UK successes.