‘Safe travels Gaz. Thanks for everything mate’ – Boomtown Rats pay tribute as guitarist Garry Roberts passes away

In a statement on social media today, the band said: "It is with very great grief that the members of The Boomtown Rats announce the death this morning of Garry Roberts, their friend and guitarist.

"The remaining members of the band, Pete, Bob and Simon, extend their deepest sympathy to his family and friends. On a clear spring evening in 1975, in a pub in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Garry became THE founding member of what turned out to be a great rock'n'roll band, driven largely by that sound of his, a storm of massive considered noise that punched out from his overtaxed amplifiers; and which animated not just the rest of the group but audiences he played to around the world. For fans he was The Legend - and he was. For us he was Gazzer, the guy who summed up the sense of who The Rats are,” the statement read.

"We have known Garry since we were children and so we feel strangely adrift without him tonight. Safe travels Gaz. Thanks for everything mate.”

The statement was signed by founding band members Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette and Simon Crowe.

Hot Press magazine editor Niall Stokes also paid tribute to the musician, describing him as “every inch a rock ‘n’ roller" and his death “a very sad day for Irish music.”

“The Boomtown Rats made a brilliant noise and it was Garry’s guitar which drove that,” Stokes said.

"He was a fine musician, but he also embodied the spirit of rock music. He loved being in a band – and even more so being in a hugely successful band that changed the musical landscape in Ireland completely.

"The Rats' fantastic, and extraordinarily quick success from 1977 onwards made it possible for Irish musicians to dream big – leading on to the success of U2, and all of the bands and artists that followed in their wake.”

Stokes continued: “Garry, and his ability as a guitar player, were central to that success – which arrived at its apotheosis when the band’s single Rat Trap hit No.1 in the UK, in 1978 – pushing Summer Nights by John Travolta and Olivia Newton John off the top of the UK charts.

“I hadn’t spoken to Garry for some time, but I was really glad to have the opportunity to talk to him again, when he was in town with The Boomtown Rats, for the Late Late Show special celebrating Bob Geldof’s 70th birthday. He was in really good form that night and loving being back in the game with Bob and the boys.

“It is a very sad day for Irish music – and for everyone who loved The Boomtown Rats, and who understood and appreciated what they achieved for this country culturally and musically.”

Roberts was one of the group's founding members and is said to have been instrumental in them settling on Boomtown Rats as a name.

He reportedly threatened to quit unless they changed their name from The Nightlife Thugs.

Their new name was chosen by Geldof after he read the phrase in US protest singer Woody Guthrie's autobiography, Bound for Glory.