Pop Group Member Dead: John Waddington Was 63
The Pop Group guitarist John Waddington has died. The pioneering UK post-punk band announced Wednesday that Waddington passed away at the age of 63 on Tuesday, June 20, just two months after his bandmate Mark Stewart died. Waddington's cause of death was not provided.
"An influential musician, and an integral member of the group, John contributed to some of the band's most iconic recordings," the band wrote in part alongside a series of images of Waddington. "His energy and friendship will be sorely missed, and his unforgettable musicianship will always be remembered."
JOHN WADDINGTON – 01/01/1960 – 20/06/2023
— The Pop Group (@ThePopGroup) June 21, 2023
John Waddington – former guitarist and founding member of The Pop Group – has passed away. An influential musician, and an integral member of the group, John contributed to some of the band’s most iconic recordings. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/W1KT1h5KFQ
After fronting his own band, the Boyfriends, as a teenager, Waddington founded The Pop Group, inspired by genres including dub, proto-punk, and funk, in Bristol in 1977 alongside Stewart, Gareth Sager, Simon Underwood, and Bruce Smith. The group released their landmark debut, Y, in 1979. The following year, The Pop Group released their sophomore album, For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? The album was more commercial, offering "tighter funk rhythms and a presaging of the industrial music of the rest of the decade," per The Guardian. The album also featured a collaboration with U.S. group the Last Poets. The group disbanded that same year, with a final performance at a rally for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
Following the split, Stewart worked with dub producer Adrian Sherwood on 1983's Learning to Cope With Cowardice. Waddington, meanwhile, went on to play on records by the post-punk supergroup New Age Steppers, as well as Maximum Joy, Playgroup, African Head Charge, and Judy Nylon, according to Stereogram. He joined the guitar-pop band Perfume in 1990 and also played bass on "Take What You Take" from Lily Allen's 2006 debut Alright, Still.
The Pop Group's Wednesday announcement was met with a string of tributes by fans. Responding to the tweet, one fan wrote, "This is deeply saddening especially after the recent passing of Mark Stewart... RIP," with somebody else tweeting, "Commiserations to his family, friends, band members and those touched by his creativity." A third person wrote, "terrible saddened by the news about John Waddington. It was an honor to support his music."