Tributes after Steve Wright of Australian 60s band Easybeats, dies

Australian band The Easybeats achieved global success in just five years.

Decorated UK-born, Australia-based musician Stevie Wright – best known for his seminal role in renowned Aussie outfit The Easybeats – has passed away in NSW, it has been confirmed.

He passed away in hospital on Sunday night.

Their song Friday On My Mind was a number-one hit in Australia, number six in Britain and made the top 20 in the US.

A number of songs were covered prominently by worldwide stars decades on, such as David Bowie who recorded Friday on my mind INXS who covered Good Times. The 68-year-old entertainer was one of Australia’s most loved performers back within the 1960s.

Battling drug and alcohol addiction, he underwent electric shock treatments and “deep sleep therapy” – medically induced comas – in the 1970s, that left him with long-term after-effects. In 2004, the song was performed at a benefit concert, WaveAid, led by members of You Am I, Powderfinger, Grinspoon, Spiderbait, Jet, The Living End and of course, The Easybeats, who came together for a legendary one-off performance (this this editor was lucky enough to have witnessed), the proceeds of which went to a variety of charities. Wright confessed in an interview that his lengthy rock “n” roll lifestyle was taking its toll on his health.

The Easybeats broke up in 1969 and Wright became a renowned solo artist with his last live performance taking place at the Legends of Rock Festival in Byron Bay in 2009.