Nicky Tesco of UK punks The Members has died, aged 66

"Mr Tesco has left the building"

Nicky Tesco, a founding member of UK punks The Members, has died aged 66.

The news was confirmed in a post on Tesco’s Facebook page, which simply said that Tesco had “left the building” and died on Saturday (February 26).

Tesco formed The Members in 1976 alongside Gary Baker (guitar), Steve Morley (bass guitar) and Clive Parker (drums), and the band underwent a number of line-up changes across his career.

Their debut album, ‘At The Chelsea Nightclub’, came out in 1979 and featured their biggest hits, ‘Sounds Of The Suburbs’ and ‘Solitary Confinement’.

26.02.22Mr Tesco has left the building.Thanks for everything.

Posted by Nick Tesco on Sunday, February 27, 2022

Tesco departed the band in 1983 before going on to launch a successful acting career, appearing in movies such as Cha Cha Cha (1989) and Amar Akbar & Tony (2015), as well as composing music for films.

The Members reunited without him in 2008, and have steadily released new albums across the last decade. Their most recent album, ‘Bedsitland’, came out in 2021.

Tributes have been pouring in online for Tesco since news of his death broke. Rough Trade led the tributes, writing: “RIP Nicky Tesco, the magnetic former frontman of The Members. Thoughts with your loved ones.”

Writer David Quantick also paid tribute online, tweeting: “The Members were a brilliant group with fantastic observational, witty songs. Their singer Nicky Tesco was a fantastic frontman and in later years a great presence on social media. RIP Nicky Tesco.”

Pete Paphides added: “I remember my brother first playing Sound Of The Suburbs by The Members – a song which perfectly mirrored the hot oil & cold water mix of ennui and pent-up energy of teen life far away from punk’s epicentre. He loved them, and very soon after, so did I.

“Much later, I saw the byline Nick Tesco in Music Week & wondered if this was the same guy. On Twitter, I learned not only was he *the* Nicky Tesco, but that he was a sweetheart: wise, humane, funny & gentle as you’d want the pop stars of your youth to be.

“His appearance on my timeline always prompted an involuntary half-smile – until today, that is. What desperately sad news. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his loved ones.”

Fans have also been paying their tributes, with one saying that Tesco “contributed to the sound of my youth” and another praising how he was “as passionate and acerbic on [Twitter] as he was all those years ago with The Members”.

See a range of tributes to the late singer below.

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