‘You’ll Never Walk Alone:’ Singer Gerry Marsden dies at 78

Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the Nineteen Sixties British group Gerry and the Pacemakers that had such hits as “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and the tune that turned the anthem of Liverpool Football Club, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” has died

LONDON — Gerry Marsden, lead singer of the Nineteen Sixties British group Gerry and the Pacemakers that had such hits as “Ferry Cross the Mersey” and the tune that turned the anthem of Liverpool Football Club, “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” has died. He was 78.

His household stated that Marsden died Sunday “after a brief sickness on no account related with COVID-19″ and that his wife, daughters and grandchildren are “devastated.”

His friend Pete Price said on Instagram after speaking to Marsden’s family that the singer died after a short illness related to a heart infection.

“I’m sending all the love in the world to (his wife) Pauline and his family,” he said. “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Marsden was the lead singer of the band that found fame in the Merseybeat scene in the 1960s. Though another Liverpool band — The Beatles — reached superstardom, Gerry and the Pacemakers will always have a place in the city’s consciousness because of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

“I thought what a beautiful song. I’m going to tell my band we’re going to play that song,” Marsden told The Associated Press in 2018 when recalling the first time he heard the song at the cinema. “So I went back and told my buddies we’re doing a ballad called ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’”

Marsden is best known for his band’s rendition of the song from “Carousel,” which was a 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that became a feature film in 1956. The Pacemakers’ cover version was released in October 1963 and became the band’s third No. 1 hit on the British singles chart. It was adopted by fans of the soccer club Liverpool and is sung with spine-tingling passion before each home game of the 19-time English champion — before coronavirus restrictions have meant that many matches have been played in empty stadiums.

“I was saddened by Gerry Marsden’s passing. His voice will always lead the way at Anfield, in times of celebration or lament,” singer Elvis Costello stated, referring to Liverpool’s stadium.

The tune’s lyrics, showcasing unity and perseverance by means of adversity — together with “When you stroll by means of a storm, Hold your head up excessive, And don’t be afraid of the darkish” — have been a rallying cry for the Liverpool trustworthy and the tune’s title are on the Liverpool membership crest.

The tune has additionally been adopted by supporters of Scotland’s Celtic and Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.

Liverpool tweeted alongside a video of the followers in full voice that Marsden’s voice “accompanied our biggest nights” and that his ”anthem bonded gamers, workers and followers all over the world, serving to create one thing actually particular.”

The tune was embraced in the course of the outset of the coronavirus pandemic final spring when a canopy of the tune, which featured World War II veteran Tom Moore, reached primary. Moore had captivated the British public by strolling 100 laps of his backyard in England within the run-up to his a centesimal birthday in April to lift some 33 million kilos ($40 million) for the National Health Service.

The Cavern Club in Liverpool, the music venue which was the venue for a lot of of The Beatles’ early gigs, described Marsden as a “legend” and a “very good friend.”

In 1962, Beatles supervisor Brian Epstein signed up the band and their first three releases reached No. 1 in 1963 — “How Do You Do It?” and “I Like It” in addition to “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Later hits included “Ferry Cross the Mersey,” and “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.” The group cut up in 1967 and Marsden pursued a solo profession earlier than reforming the financial institution a number of years later.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood singer Holly Johnson, who’s from Liverpool and coated “Ferry Across The Mersey” tweeted that Marsden was a “Liverpool legend.”

Marsden is survived by his spouse Pauline, whom he married in 1965. The couple had two daughters.