Mott The Hoople drummer Dale Griffin dies at 67

Griffin had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a decade earlier

Dale Griffin, drummer of British glam-rocker Mott The Hoople, has passed away aged 67.

Griffin was a founding member of the group that released eight albums over their five-and-a-half years as a band. The group are best known for their hit ‘All The Young Dudes’, which was penned by David Bowie.

The news of Griffin’s death was confirmed by Peter Purnell of Mott’s label Angel Air Records, who informed BBC News that the musician had died “peacefully in his sleep” on Sunday (January 17).

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Purnell called Griffin “one of the nicest, friendly and talented men I have ever known.”

The band were on the verge of splitting in 1972 when Bowie wrote ‘All The Young Dudes’ for them. He originally offered ‘Sufraggette City’. ‘All The Young Dudes’ reached number three in the UK and spurred the band on to create more hits with ‘Honaloochie Boogie’, ‘All The Way From Memphis’ and ‘Golden Age of Rock’n’Roll’ all following.

Mott The Hoople split in 1974 after pulling an entire European tour. Griffin continued playing alongside bassist Pete Overend Watts and Morgan Fisher under the name Mott in 1976.

Mott The Hoople reunited in 2009 for their 40th anniversary but Griffin was unable to perform with the group due to ill-health, having been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 58.

Purnell said: “All he ever wanted was for his beloved Mott The Hoople to reform and it was his determination that achieved that very feat in 2009 but sadly by then he was too ill to perform at the five sold-out dates – though he did join the band for encores.”

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Griffin spent the latter part of his career working as a live session producer for BBC, working with Nirvana, Pulp and more on John Peel sessions.

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