Gerry Marsden of Gerry and The Pacemakers died at age 78 after a “brief illness,” according to radio host Pete Price on Sunday, January 3.
Price revealed in a tweet: “It’s with a very heavy heart after speaking to the family that I have to tell you the Legendary Gerry Marsden MBE after a short illness which was an infection in his heart has sadly passed away. Sending all the love in the world to Pauline and his family. You’ll Never Walk Alone”
It’s with a very heavy heart after speaking to the family that I have to tell you the Legendary Gerry Marsden MBE after a short illness which was an infection in his heart has sadly passed away. Sending all the love in the world to Pauline and his family. You’ll Never Walk Alone pic.twitter.com/Ezd9WcdeQK
— Pete Price (@PeteCityPrice) January 3, 2021
Fans flooded Twitter with heartwarming tributes, with a reading: “Really shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Gerry Marsden – such a shame we can’t be belting out his anthem at our next home game.”
Really shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Gerry Marsden – such a shame we can’t be belting out his anthem at our next home game.
You’ll Never Walk Alone Gerry— Br19n Durand (@BrianDurand56) January 3, 2021
Gerry and the Pacemakers are best remembered for being the first act to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart with their first three single releases: “How Do You Do It?”, “I Like It” and “I ‘ll Never Walk Alone. ”- with the latter famously adopted as the Liverpool Football Club anthem.
“I think it’s extended my career because of all the other hits we had, none of them were as massive as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,'” Marsden said at the team’s official site in a 2013 interview. “The response with everybody singing it and with it being on TV for every home game, it’s been great for me.”