Scottish musician, a folk and pop singer, guitarist and songwriter. Rafferty is best known for his work with “Stealers Wheel.” Their single, “Stuck in the Middle with You,” became an international hit.
Born to a Scottish mother and Irish father, he was the youngest of three children. As a child, he was exposed to a wide variety of music, ranging from Catholic hymns to traditional folk music to ’50s pop songs. His father, although deaf, sang Irish rebel songs, and Rafferty and his two brothers, Joe and Jim, sang harmony. By the time he was 21, he was well on his way to a professional music career when he met Billy Connolly who, with Tam Harvey, was performing in a duo called the “Humblebums.” Turning the group into a trio, they quickly became a major success in England. Tension soon erupted between the members, however, and after Harvey left the group in 1970, they released only two more albums. Rafferty and Connolly parted ways in 1971.
Rafferty’s next move was joining the band “Stealers Wheel,” a promising band from the mid-1970s, but after releasing just three albums, the turbulent group broke up in 1975. Legal battles from that split kept him from recording until 1978 when he signed with United Artists. He released his solo album, “City To City,” that year. One of the songs, “Baker Street,” was extremely successful, but his reclusive nature and decision not to tour the United States in support of the album caused a rift with his management. Despite this, “City To City” sold more than five million copies worldwide. Throughout the 1980s, Rafferty released several pop albums in Great Britain and remained popular. In 1992, he recorded “On a Wing and a Prayer,” which chronicled the breakup of his marriage, and in 1994, he reworked and released several “Stealers Wheel” songs.
Died in Stroud, England on 4 January 2011, age 63.
Link to Wikipedia biography