Bryn Merrick, former bassist for seminal U.K. punk outfit The Damned, has died after a lengthy fight with cancer, according to a former bandmate (via Loudwire). Merrick was 56. According to a Facebook page for a recent documentary about The Damned, Merrick died Saturday (Sept. 12) after battling throat cancer.
“On behalf of his daughter, Ella, and sons, Richard and Christian, it is with so much sadness that I announce that my best friend, Bryn Merrick, passed away peacefully this morning after a long battle with cancer at Llandough Hospital near Cardiff,” wrote Andy Jonhson. Johnson and Merrick played in the Ramones cover band Shamones after the latter parted ways with The Damned.
Merrick played with The Damned from 1983-89, including on the mid-career albums Phantasmagoria (1985) and Anything (1986). Merrick supplanted Damned bassist Paul Gray, who replaced bassist Algy Ward in 1980. Ward, in turn, took over bass from original member Captain Sensible, who switched to guitar in 1978.