The Damned’s founding guitarist Brian James has died, aged 70

Brian James, founding guitarist of legendary British punk band The Damned, has died at the age of 70.

James’ death was announced via his official Facebook account on Thursday night (March 6). A cause of death was not revealed, though the post notes that he died “peacefully” with his family by his side.

The post also reflects on the punk icon’s legendary career, including his illustrious credit as a writer on “the first ever UK punk single ‘New Rose’. The post also mentions James’ post-Damned career including his stints in The Lords of the New Church, The Dripping Lips, The Brian James Gang and more.

See the full post below.

Brian’s ex-Damned bandmate Raymond ‘Captain Sensible’ Burns has reacted to the news, sharing a photo of himself with Brian on X (formerly Twitter). Burns wrote: “We’re shocked to hear that creator of The Damned, our great chum Brian James has sadly gone. A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk.”

We're shocked to hear that creator of @thedamned, our great chum Brian James has sadly gone. A lovely bloke that I feel so lucky to have met all those years ago and for some reason chose me to help in his quest for the music revolution that became known as punk. Cheers BJ! Read More