Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland dead at 77, remembered as a 'friend' to all

Joey Molland, the Badfinger guitarist and the last surviving member of the band, has died. He was 77. 

Molland died surrounded by family late Saturday night, long-time friend, backing bandmate and social media and website manager Paul Davie confirmed in an interview with Paste BN. 

The '70s Welsh pop-rock band was popular for tracks like "Baby Blue," "No Matter What," "Day After Day" and "Without You," which was later recorded by artists like Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey. Frequent collaborators of The Beatles, Badfinger was among the first acts signed to the band's label, Apple Records. Paul McCartney wrote one of their first hits, "Come and Get It."

Molland also worked on several solo Beatles projects, including George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and "The Concert for Bangladesh" as well as John Lennon's 1971 album "Imagine."

Molland released several solo albums of his own, including "This Way Up," "After the Pearl," “The Pilgrim" and 2020's "Be True To Yourself." He was also part of the rock band Natural Gas. He continued performing live – both his own songs and Beatles tributes – until late 2024, when his health began deteriorating, according to Davie.

Earlier this year, Molland's girlfriend, Mary Joyce, posted on GoFundMe that he was experiencing illness from pneumonia and complications related to his diabetes and that he had spent more than a month in the hospital. Fans and supporters would go on to raise over $30,000 to cover his medical costs. Davie worked to personally sell leftover tour merch to fans via the Badfinger Facebook page, he said.

Love and support from 'Badfinger' fan community

Davie first met Molland through Davie's Syracuse-based Beatles tribute band, The Fab Five. He was putting together a show to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' British invasion. The two "clicked automatically." With Molland's help, Davie went from a local musician and radio ad seller to backing up the Badfinger singer around the world. He’s been running his social media, including the Facebook page, since 2011. 

"I owe him so much," Davie told Paste BN. "He always believed in me."

Since news of Molland's death broke, the outpouring of love and support from fans and supporters has been overwhelming, Davie said. Even music lovers who don't know the guitarist personally refer to him as their "friend."

"That's how he made you feel," Davie said – he was the kind of guy who would share his french fries with a perfect stranger. "Whenever they had signings (at festivals), they would have some big name stars from the Beatles world, but Joey's line at the signing table was always five times longer than everybody else's because they wanted that special face time. In fact, he'd yell at me if I'd say, 'Yeah, we gotta kind of move it along here.' He'd say, 'No man, I'm having a conversation with this guy, don't cut me off!'"