People took the piss out of Status Quo; they only knew three chords, all their songs sounded the same; they endlessly riffed on “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors. But that missed the point. They were one of those bands who did one thing but did it very, very well, rock’n'roll stripped back to its primal essence in the same spirit as Motörhead or The Ramones. Almost everyone I’ve met who’s ever seen The Quo on stage affirms that they were an awesome live band.

Read Michael Hann’s excellent tribute in The Guardian, who puts it better than I ever could.

2016 has been a dreadful year for musicians, actors and writers dying at a seemingly ever-increasing frequency. Part of it just because the heroes of our generation are growing old. But another factor has to be the explosion of popular culture in the 1960s and onwards. There are far more high profile musicians and actors from the generation now reaching their 70s than their equivalents from previous generations. The passing of music hall stars from the 1930s in the 1970s never had quite the same impact.