Manny Charlton of Nazareth has died aged 80.
The musician formed the Scottish hard rock band in Dunfermline in 1968 with Dan McCafferty, Darrell Sweet and Peter Agnew.
And bassist Peter, 75, confirmed the news of Manny’s passing at Classic Rock.
He said: “When Manny joined he was the first to suggest we write our own songs.
We never thought about it until then, because they were using you as a human jukebox. Then suddenly Zeppelin, Purple, and Spooky Tooth started appearing, and a whole range of possibilities opened up.”
No cause of death was given.
Nazareth had a huge hit with “Hair of the Dog” – the title track from their 1975 album – and a cover of the ballad “Love Hurts”.
The former was covered by Guns N’ Roses on their 1993 album “The Spaghetti Incident?”, and a riff from The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” was added at the end as a joke.
Manny actually ended up working with Guns N’ Roses on 25 tracks for their 1987 LP “Appetite for Destruction.”
And although the songs they worked on didn’t make the final cut, they were later released on a deluxe reissue of the seminal album.
Manny once said of his collaboration with Axl Rose and company: “They were just a bunch of young guys living their rock ‘n’ roll dreams and having a blast.
“I never anticipated that they would become one of the greatest bands in rock history.”
Manny decided to end his tenure with Nazareth in 1990, after their 1989 ‘Snakes ‘N’ Ladders’ album tour, the last album he was featured on.
He then released his first solo album “Drool” in 1999.
His last solo record was “Solo” from 2016.
In 2021, to mark his 80th birthday, Manny re-recorded Nazareth’s 1976 classic “Telegram”.
