Scott Walker, renowned singer-songwriter and former member of The Walker Brothers, has died at age 76. While the cause of death is still unknown, the news was confirmed in a statement this morning by Walker’s label 4AD.
Walker was born as Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943, in Hamilton, Ohio. His career in entertainment began early, getting his start in the 1950s as a child actor and a brief attempt to become a teen idol under the moniker Scott Engel with singles like 1957’s “When Is A Boy A Man?” and 1958’s “The Livin’ End” (billed as Scott Engel with Count Dracula & Boys).
After moving to Los Angeles, Walker took to progressive jazz music and built up his bass playing skills to start a career as a session musician. In 1961, he’d meet John Maus – who performed under the name John Walker – first performing together in the backing band for Maus’ sister’s band Judy and the Gents and later forming The Walker Brothers together with Gary Leeds in 1964.
All three men would change their last names to Walker and released their debut album Take It Easy with the Walker Brothers in 1965. The group found greater success initially abroad than in the United States. While John Walker was initially the lead vocalist, the Scott Walker-led single “Love Her” became a hit in the UK and prompted the band’s record label Phillips to swap out Scott Walker as the band’s new vocalist.
Scott Walker would live in the UK for the next five years and would obtain British citizenship in 1970. After contentious creative differences, The Walker Brothers broke up in 1968. Scott began his solo career near the end of the band’s tenure in 1967 with a prolific streak of records starting with his debut album Scott and releasing a new record each year after through 1970.
Scott’s early solo work was critically acclaimed and was commercially successful until the release of Scott 4 in 1970, which failed to chart. He’d continue to release solo music for the next four years, though Scott would recall this era as being full of “bloody awful records” and would lead to the eventual reunion of The Walker Brothers in 1975, releasing three more records before breaking up again in 1978.
The later era of Scott’s career would see an avant-garde, creative resurgence beginning in the mid-80s with the release of Climate of Hunter in 1984. He’d take time away from music before returning in 1995 with the experimental LP Tilt. The rest of his life was spent creating and producing music, working with artists like Pulp, Bats For Lashes, and Sunn O))). His later career also saw him taking on more orchestral, soundtrack work – his final release would be the score for the 2018 film Vox Lux.
Join us in remembering Walker’s life and music with favorites from The Walker Brothers and his solo career below.
