December 3, 2009 14:27

Alan Parsons Project member Eric Woolfson dies

Songwriter, keyboardist and singer had been suffering from cancer

The Alan Parsons Project founder member Eric Woolfson has died aged 64.

Woolfson, who formed The Alan Parsons Project with Parsons in 1975, passed away in London on Tuesday (December 1), after suffering from cancer.

The Glasgow-born musician was largely a self-taught pianist and had been on the fringes of the music business for some years before finding fame with The Alan Parsons Project.

As a songwriter Woolfson was signed up by The Rolling Stones' producer Andrew Loog Oldham. He went on to pen songs for Marianne Faithfull, Chris Farlowe and Frank Ifield. He later turned to management and looked after Alan Parsons before the duo decided to make music together. They released ten albums together before splitting in 1990.

Speaking of his death, friend Deborah Owen praised Woolfson's talent.

"Eric was very much a self-made man. He couldn't read music but if you asked him to play anything he could do it straight away," she told BBC News. "He had an extraordinary gift."

Woolfson was the singer on many of The Alan Parsons Project's best-known songs, including 'Time' and 'Eye In The Sky'. After The Alan Parsons Project split, he moved into writing for musicals.

He is survived by his wife Hazel and the couple's two daughters.