Boston (band) Death of Brad Delp (2007)
what was the depth of brad delp?
What was the Death of Brad Delp?
On March 9, 2007, lead singer Delp committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Police found him dead in his master bathroom, along with several notes for whoever would find him. In the bathroom where he committed suicide, two charcoal grills were found on the bathroom fixtures, and the door sealed with duct tape and a towel underneath. Police Lt. William Baldwin called the death "untimely" and said that no foul play was indicated. Delp was alone at the time of his death, according to the police report. He was found by his fiancee, who saw a dryer hose attached to his car. According to the New Hampshire medical examiner, his death was the result of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning as evidenced by carboxyhemoglobin. Delp's last concert with Boston was performed at Boston Symphony Hall on November 13, 2006, at a concert honoring Doug Flutie.  A concert in honor of Delp named "Come Together: A Tribute to Brad Delp" occurred on August 19, 2007, at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. The concert included, in order of appearance, Ernie and the Automatics, Beatlejuice, Farrenheit, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Orion the Hunter, and finally the current version of Boston.  All of the living members of Boston were invited to perform in the concert. The singers for Boston included Michael Sweet of Stryper, former band member Curly Smith, band member Kimberley Dahme, and a Boston fan from North Carolina named Tommy DeCarlo, who was chosen to sing based on his performances of Boston cover songs on his MySpace page. Another former Boston vocalist, Fran Cosmo, was unable to sing because of a ruptured blood vessel in his throat, but did play guitar. Jim Masdea, Fran Sheehan, and even Barry Goudreau joined Scholz and the rest of the band on stage for the finale, "Don't Look Back". Curly Smith and Kimberley Dahme split the lead vocal on the finale. Sib Hashian, while present, refused to go on stage with the other Boston alumni, citing discomfort with Tom Scholz. CANNOTANSWER
On March 9, 2007, lead singer Delp committed suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Police found him dead in his master bathroom,
Boston is an American rock band from namesake Boston, Massachusetts, that had its most notable successes during the 1970s and '80s. The band's core members on their most popular recordings included multi-instrumentalist founder and leader Tom Scholz, who played the majority of instruments on the debut album, and lead vocalist Brad Delp, among a number of other musicians who varied from album to album. Boston's best-known songs include "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back", "A Man I'll Never Be", and "Amanda". The band has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, including 31 million albums in the United States, of which 17 million were from its self-titled debut album and seven million were for its second album, Don't Look Back, making the group one of the world's best-selling artists. Altogether, the band has released six studio albums over a career spanning over  years. Boston was ranked the 63rd best hard rock artist by VH1.

After Delp's death in 2007, a number of other vocalists have taken the stage; currently the lead singer is Tommy DeCarlo.  Other current members of the band include multi-instrumentalist and singer Beth Cohen, guitarist Gary Pihl, bassist Tracy Ferrie, drummer Jeff Neal and percussionist Curly Smith.

History

Early years (1969–1975)
Tom Scholz first started writing music in 1969 while he was attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he wrote an instrumental song, "Foreplay". While attending MIT, Scholz joined the band Freehold, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea, who would later become members of Boston. Vocalist Brad Delp was added to the collective in 1970.  After graduating with a master's degree, Scholz worked for Polaroid, using his salary to build a recording studio in his basement, and to finance demo tapes recorded in professional recording studios. These early demo tapes were recorded with (at various times) Delp on vocals, Goudreau on guitar, Masdea on drums, and Scholz on guitar, bass and keyboards. The demo tapes were sent to record companies, but received consistent rejections. In 1973 Scholz formed the band Mother's Milk with Delp, Goudreau, and Masdea. That group disbanded by 1974, but Scholz subsequently worked with Masdea and Delp to produce six new demos, including "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Rock and Roll Band", "Something About You" (then entitled "Life Isn't Easy"), "Hitch a Ride" (then entitled "San Francisco Day"), and "Don't Be Afraid". Scholz stated they finished four of the six by the end of 1974, and they finished "More Than a Feeling" and "Something About You" in 1975. Scholz played all the instruments on the demos, except for the drums, which were played by Masdea, and used self-designed pedals to create the desired guitar sounds.

This final demo tape attracted the attention of promoters Paul Ahern and Charlie McKenzie.  Masdea left the band around this time. According to Scholz, the managers insisted that Masdea had to be replaced before the band could get a recording deal. Years later, Delp told journalist Chuck Miller: "[Jim] actually told me he was losing interest in playing drums. I know Tom felt very bad when the whole thing happened. And then, of course, we started getting some interest." Scholz and Delp signed a deal with Epic Records after Masdea's departure, thanks to Ahern and McKenzie. Before the deal could be finalized, the band had to do a live audition for the record company executives. The duo recruited Goudreau on guitar, bassist Fran Sheehan and drummer Sib Hashian to create a performing unit which could replicate Scholz's richly layered recordings on stage. The showcase was a success and the band agreed to put out ten albums over the next six years.

In addition to the firing of Masdea, the record label insisted that Scholz re-record the demo tapes in a professional studio. However, Scholz wanted to record them in his basement studio so that he could work at his own pace.  Scholz and producer John Boylan hatched a plan to send the rest of the band to Los Angeles to make the record label happy, while Scholz recorded most of Boston's debut album at home, with Masdea playing drums on the track "Rock and Roll Band" and Scholz playing the other instruments. The multitrack tapes were then brought to Los Angeles, where Delp added vocals and the album was mixed by Boylan. It was then that the band was named "Boston", by suggestion of Boylan and engineer Warren Dewey.

Boston and Don't Look Back (1976–1978)

The debut album, Boston, released on August 25, 1976, ranks as one of the best-selling debut albums in U.S. history with over 17 million copies sold.

During late summer and early fall of 1976, Boston attracted publicity due to the record sales. However, according to Cameron Crowe in Rolling Stone, there was "a conscious effort to de-emphasize Scholz as the total mastermind behind Boston". After opening for Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Foghat and others in the fall, the band embarked on a headlining tour in the winter and spring of 1976–1977 to support the album. This helped establish Boston as one of rock's top acts within a short time, being nominated for a Grammy Award as a "Best New Artist". Boston was the first band in history to make their New York City debut at Madison Square Garden.

The album spawned three singles, "More Than a Feeling", "Long Time", and "Peace of Mind", all of which made the national charts. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the charts for 132 weeks.

Despite having problems with manager Paul Ahern, being caught in the middle of a fight between Ahern and his business partner Charles McKenzie, and doing most of the recording work alone, Scholz completed the second Boston album two years after the debut album's release. The second album, Don't Look Back, was released by Epic in August 1978. At the time this was considered a long gap between albums, but Scholz still considered Don't Look Back to be a rush job and was unhappy with the album's second side in particular. Overall, Don't Look Back sold about half as well as the debut album, eventually selling over 7 million records.

Another tour followed (playing with the likes of AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar and The Doobie Brothers), and the album's title track became a top-5 hit. Additionally, two other singles, "A Man I'll Never Be" and "Feelin' Satisfied", went top 40 and top 50, respectively. Despite the success, Scholz's relationship with Ahern completely deteriorated. Delayed by technical renovations to his studio, Scholz eventually began the process of working on Boston's third album, determined to complete the album at his own pace and up to his demanding standard.

Solo projects and CBS lawsuit (1979–1985)
In late 1979, Scholz began writing new material, but Boston's former co-manager, Paul Ahern, argued that, according to an agreement Scholz had signed years earlier with Ahern, Ahern owned a percentage of all songs Scholz wrote from that point on. Delayed further by the dispute, Scholz suggested that in the meantime the individual members should work on whatever other projects they might be considering.
Goudreau then decided to record a solo album that featured Boston members Delp and Hashian, and which was recorded with the help of Paul Grupp, an engineer and producer familiar with Scholz's studio techniques. The album, released in 1980, was titled Barry Goudreau and featured the minor hit single "Dreams". There was tension when CBS's marketing connected Goudreau's solo album to Boston's signature guitar sound, despite Scholz not having played at all on this album. Scholz objected to the ad copy, but it became irrelevant when Epic dropped promotion on Goudreau's album citing lack of interest. Goudreau left the band in 1981 and formed Orion the Hunter. Delp contributed vocals and co-wrote songs on the debut album, but returned to Boston and recorded vocals on the third Boston album.

While Scholz and Delp were recording new material for the third Boston album, CBS filed a $60 million lawsuit against Scholz, alleging breach of contract for failing to deliver a new Boston album on time.

During this same period, Scholz founded his high-tech company Scholz Research & Development (SR&D), which made amplifiers and other musical electronic equipment. Its most famous product, the Rockman amplifier, was introduced in 1982.

The legal trouble slowed progress toward the completion of the next album, which took six years to record and produce. Joining Scholz in the album's development again were Delp and Jim Masdea. In 1985, guitarist Gary Pihl left Sammy Hagar's touring band to work with Scholz as both a musician and an SR&D executive. As CBS v. Scholz played out in court, CBS opted to withhold royalty payments to Scholz, hoping to force him to settle on unfavorable terms.

The lawsuit's first round was eventually decided in Scholz's favor, and Scholz moved the band to MCA Records.

The CBS case took seven years to run its course, and in April 1990 Scholz won.

Third Stage (1986–1988)
Despite the adversity, progress continued to be made on the third Boston album. A tape of one of the songs, "Amanda", leaked out of the studio in 1984. The song became the lead single when Third Stage was finally released on September 23, 1986.

The album topped the Billboard 200 while the lead single "Amanda" went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the subsequent singles "We're Ready" and "Can'tcha Say" reached No. 9 and No. 20, respectively. "Cool the Engines" also got significant airplay on rock radio. The album sold over 4 million copies.

The group headed off on tour to promote Third Stage in 1987 and 1988. Third Stage was played in sequence in its entirety during the shows, with expanded arrangements of some cuts. Boston opened with "Rock and Roll Band" and brought back the original drummer, Jim Masdea, to play drums for this one song. For the tour, the group was joined by Doug Huffman and David Sikes, both of whom stayed with the band into the mid-1990s.

Departure of Delp; Walk On (1989–1996)
By spring 1990, Scholz was back in the studio working on the band's fourth studio album. Later that year, Delp told Scholz he wanted to concentrate on other projects, and might not be available for some time. With Delp's departure, Scholz was then the last remaining original member. Before he left, Delp co-wrote with Scholz and David Sikes the song "Walk On", which eventually became the title track of the new album.

Delp subsequently joined Barry Goudreau's new band, RTZ. Scholz eventually replaced him with vocalist Fran Cosmo, who had been in Goudreau's previous band Orion the Hunter.

For the second album in a row, and for the second time in a decade, Scholz's work was delayed by renovations to his studio. In the end, eight years passed between Third Stage and Walk On, which was released in June 1994. Walk On was certified platinum by the RIAA, and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Unlike Boston's previous albums, it failed to chart in the top 5. It produced one hit single, "I Need Your Love", which was widely played on some rock radio stations. Delp reunited with Boston at the end of 1994. Their first appearance was for two benefit shows at the House of Blues on December 12–13, 1994, in Cambridge. The band also handed a check of $5,000 to Globe Santa and another check of $5,000 to Operation Christmas in Fall River.

The group, with Delp now back in the band, toured in the summer of 1995 with both Cosmo and Delp combining vocals. By that time drummer Huffman had been replaced by Curly Smith, who was previously with Jo Jo Gunne.  Following the conclusion of the "Livin' For You" tour in 1995, Scholz announced that a greatest hits album would be released. Initially planned for release in August 1996, the album was pushed back to a 1997 release date.

Greatest Hits and Corporate America (1997–2006)
Boston released a compilation album in 1997, titled simply Boston: Greatest Hits. The album featured all of the band's hit singles except "We're Ready", "Can'tcha Say (You Believe In Me)/Still In Love", and "I Need Your Love" along with three new songs, "Higher Power", "Tell Me", and an instrumental version of the "Star Spangled Banner". Smith and Sikes left the band in late 1997 and recorded an album together.

Scholz headed back to the studio in 1998 to begin work on a fifth album, which eventually turned out to be Corporate America. The title track of "Corporate America" was uploaded by Tom Scholz to MP3.com under the pseudonym of "Downer's Revenge" in early 2002 in order to test the album's appeal to a younger demographic. The song reached No. 2 on the progressive rock charts on the website for two weeks.

November 2002 marked the release of Corporate America on the independent label Artemis Records. This album featured the largest Boston lineup ever; returning members included Delp and Cosmo on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, Scholz on lead guitar and keyboards, and Gary Pihl on guitar, along with new members Anthony Cosmo on rhythm guitar, Jeff Neal on drums, and Kimberley Dahme on bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals. Dahme, Delp, and Cosmo all contributed lead vocals to the album. The group embarked on a national tour in support of the album in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, the first two Boston albums appeared in remastered form.

Death of Brad Delp (2007)
On March 9, 2007, lead singer Delp died by suicide at his home in Atkinson, New Hampshire. Police found him dead in his master bathroom, along with several notes for whomever would find him. In the bathroom where he died, two charcoal grills were found on the bathroom fixtures, and the door was sealed with duct tape and a towel underneath. Police called the death "untimely" and said no foul play was indicated. Delp was alone at the time of his death, according to the police report. He was found by his fiancée, who saw a dryer hose attached to his car. According to the New Hampshire medical examiner, his death was the result of suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. Delp's last concert with Boston was performed at Boston Symphony Hall on November 13, 2006, at a concert honoring Doug Flutie.

A concert in honor of Delp named "Come Together: A Tribute to Brad Delp" occurred on August 19, 2007, at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. The concert included Ernie and the Automatics, Beatlejuice, Farrenheit, Extreme, Godsmack, RTZ, Orion the Hunter, and finally the current version of Boston.

All of the living members of Boston were invited to perform in the concert. The singers for Boston included Michael Sweet of Stryper, former band member Curly Smith, band member Kimberley Dahme, and a Boston fan from North Carolina named Tommy DeCarlo, who was chosen to sing based on his performances of Boston cover songs on his MySpace page.

New line-up and intermittent performances (2008–2012)
The ongoing conflicts among the surviving band members spilled over to the 2008 Presidential campaign. Barry Goudreau appeared with Mike Huckabee and played with him at some rallies in New Hampshire. Huckabee used "More Than a Feeling" as a campaign theme song. Scholz, a self-described "Obama supporter", sent an open letter to Huckabee in February 2008 stating that the band had never endorsed any candidate, and that he had never authorized the use of "More Than a Feeling" as Huckabee's theme song. Scholz made a point of saying that he, and not Goudreau or Sheehan, actually played all the guitars on "More Than a Feeling" as well as most of Boston's songs. Huckabee eventually stopped using the song for his campaign.

In the spring of 2008, Scholz and Sweet introduced a new Boston lineup, which subsequently did a North American summer tour, playing 53 dates in 12 weeks (on a double bill with Styx). Scholz was the only founding member of Boston to play on the tour, although longtime member Gary Pihl was also part of the band, and Dahme and Neal returned on bass and drums, respectively. DeCarlo and Sweet shared lead vocals.

In January 2009, Greatest Hits was re-released as a remastered disc.

Michael Sweet left the band in August 2011 in order to focus on Stryper. In 2012, guitarist and vocalist David Victor joined the band, beginning in the studio, where he contributed vocals to several tracks on the album in progress.

Scholz and Pihl led the band on a 2012 North American tour, beginning on June 28, 2012, at the Seminole Hard Rock Live arena in Hollywood, Florida and ending on September 8 at the U.S. Cellular Grandstand in Hutchinson, Kansas. Victor and DeCarlo shared lead vocals, with drummer Curly Smith returning for the first time in over a decade, and former Stryper member Tracy Ferrie on bass. Neither Dahme nor Neal played on the tour.

Life, Love & Hope (2013–2017)
Boston's sixth album, Life, Love & Hope, was released on December 3, 2013, by Frontiers Records; it includes lead vocals from Brad Delp, Tommy DeCarlo, Kimberley Dahme, David Victor, and Tom Scholz. Work on the album started in 2002. On December 11, 2013, Boston re-recorded a Christmas song, "God Rest Ye Metal Gentleman 2013" (previously released in 2002 as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"). In 2014 Boston embarked on the "Heaven on Earth Tour" spanning the United States and Japan with a lineup including Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Victor and Ferrie. Dahme returned, this time performing rhythm guitar and vocals, and drumming duties were split between Neal and Smith, with Neal handling the first leg of the tour. Victor departed the lineup partway through the tour for unspecified reasons. In his stead, Siobhan Magnus joined the tour as a guest vocalist in July, performing lead vocals on 'Walk On'.

In 2015, Boston launched another tour with a lineup consisting of Scholz, Pihl, DeCarlo, Ferrie and new member Beth Cohen, who performed keyboards, rhythm guitar and vocals. Cohen had previously recorded with the group on both Corporate America and Life, Love & Hope as a vocalist and flautist. Initially, the lineup was to include former Spock's Beard drummer and vocalist Nick D'Virgilio for its first month of shows, with Neal then returning, but D'Virgilio proved "not the right fit" and Smith rejoined in his place. This seven-person lineup proved Boston's most stable lineup in some time, touring as well in the summers of 2016 and 2017. The 2016 tour marked the group's 40th anniversary and included shows in Boston's Wang Theatre, their first full performances in their namesake town since 1994.

On March 22, 2017, former drummer Sib Hashian died after collapsing on a Legends of Rock cruise ship.

Upcoming seventh album (2017–present)
In April 2017, Scholz reported that he has been writing new material for the seventh Boston album. He told Sun Herald, "I find that I'm in a position that I really need to write things that we can play at the shows. We play basically everything that people expect to hear that we can fit into two hours. We also do a lot of things that aren't on any of the records by adding things and segues and instrumental parts, so I always have to come up with new stuff. It's quite a challenge. I have to write new things for the tour every year, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. But I got sidetracked in the studio, recording. Now, I'm actually a performing musician, and I have to tell you, it's much more fun." When asked the same month about a potential release date of the album, Scholz said, "Who knows? I'm only 70. I figure I've got 30 years."

Spaceship
One of the themes of Boston's album covers is the presence of a guitar-shaped spaceship, ostensibly a generation or colony ship carrying the city of Boston inside a clear dome, with the city's name emblazoned across the front. The original spaceship was designed in 1976 by Paula Scher and illustrated by Roger Huyssen with lettering by Gerard Huerta for Epic Records.

Appearances
Boston – Two long lines of guitar shaped starships flee a planet that is breaking apart. The ships all have blue flames coming out of the bottom.
Don't Look Back – The Boston ship is flying low or perhaps hovering over a grassy, crystalline planet. The ship has searchlights on.
Third Stage – The Boston ship is headed towards a large flat spaceship resembling a bank of pipe organ pipes over a blue planet.
Walk On – The Boston ship is shown crashing through a rock outcropping.
Greatest Hits – The Boston ship is flying low over a planet with turquoise rocks and a turquoise tower in the distance.
Corporate America – The Boston ship is flying towards Earth and the United States.
Life, Love & Hope – The Boston ship is flying in space, near a nebula.

Their spaceship also appeared on their tours in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and early 2000s in the form of a giant lighting rig and accompanied on stage by their giant pipe-organ set piece, which is known to Boston insiders as Bertha because of its sheer size.

Innovation and style
Boston's genre is considered by most to be hard rock and arena rock, while combining elements of progressive rock into its music.

Boston founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter Tom Scholz's blend of musical styles, ranging from classical to 1960s English pop, has resulted in a unique sound, most consistently realized on the first two albums (Boston and Don't Look Back). This sound is characterized by multiple lead and blended harmonies guitar work (usually harmonized in thirds), often alternating between and then mixing electric and acoustic guitars. The band's harmonic style has been characterized as being "violin-like" without using synthesizers. Scholz is well-regarded for the development of complex, multi-tracked guitar harmonies. Another contributing factor is the use of handmade, high-tech equipment, such as the Rockman, used by artists such as Journey guitarist Neal Schon, the band ZZ Top, and Ted Nugent. Def Leppard's album Hysteria was created using only Rockman technology. Scholz's production style combines deep, aggressive, comparatively short guitar riffing and nearly ethereal, generally longer note vocal harmonies. A heavier, lower, and darker overall approach came in the next two albums (Third Stage and Walk On). The original track "Higher Power", on the Greatest Hits album, exhibits a near Neue Deutsche Härte and almost techno influence with its sequencer-sounding keyboards, a sound most fully realized on Corporate America'''s title track.

Tom Scholz also credited the late Brad Delp with helping to create Boston's sound with his signature vocal style. Delp, who was strongly influenced by the Beatles, was well known for his extended vocal range, shown on hits such as "More Than a Feeling".

Band members

Current members
Tom Scholz – lead and rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, percussion, backing vocals (1976–present)
Gary Pihl – rhythm and lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1985–present)
Curly Smith – drums, percussion, harmonica, backing vocals (1994–1997, 2012–present)
Jeff Neal – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2002–2012, 2014–present)
Tommy DeCarlo – lead vocals, keyboards, percussion (2007–present)
Tracy Ferrie – bass guitar, backing vocals (2012–present)
Beth Cohen – keyboards, vocals, rhythm guitar (2002, 2012, 2015–present)

Discography

Studio albumsBoston (1976)Don't Look Back (1978)Third Stage (1986)Walk On (1994)Corporate America (2002)Life, Love & Hope (2013)

Compilation albumsGreatest Hits'' (1997)

References

External links

 
1976 establishments in Massachusetts
Epic Records artists
Hard rock musical groups from Massachusetts
MCA Records artists
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical groups from Boston
RTZ (Return to Zero) was an American rock band that featured Boston band members Brad Delp and Barry Goudreau. The band was formed in the early 1990s.

History
RTZ began as a collaboration between Boston members Brad Delp and Barry Goudreau around 1989. The original 1987 demo of "Face The Music" (featuring Fergie Frederiksen on vocals) was later made available for download at BarryGoudreau.com. Goudreau and Delp were both part of the original Boston line-up and after Goudreau's departure from the band, they stayed in close contact with Delp contributing to Goudreau's solo album and also to a lesser degree on the Orion the Hunter album.

Around 1989, Delp was on hiatus from Boston and looking to get active in writing again.  He contacted Goudreau about a possible collaboration and RTZ was formed.  Goudreau and Delp brought in keyboardist Brian Maes who was part of the Orion the Hunter touring band, drummer Dave Stefanelli and bass player Tim Archibald.  Maes and Stefanelli had previously worked with producer Nick Lowe in England and Archibald's band New Man had released an album on Epic.

Delp and Goudreau landed a deal with Giant Records and the first RTZ album, titled Return to Zero, was released in 1991. A video was produced for the first single "Face the Music". The band soon hit the road and Delp gave Boston his notice. After touring the US extensively, a video was prepared for the single "Until Your Love Comes Back Around" penned by keyboard player Brian Maes.  The single was very successful and reached #1 in several markets, #26 in the U.S.  Two other tracks, "There's Another Side" and "All You've Got" also got airplay, with the latter reaching #56.

RTZ felt that the band was not getting the attention it deserved by the label and asked to be released from their contract.  As RTZ began to shop for a new label, Delp decided to leave the band and would eventually reunite with Boston for the Walk On tour and to assist in the writing of the associated album.  The other band members decided that it would be impossible to replace Delp and decided to end the band.  The Return to Zero album went out of print until April 2013, although the band later released other material. There were still enough recordings left over from the original recording sessions to create another album.  Barry searched for a new label and eventually found MTM Records.  The recordings were released on September 28, 1998, and the album was titled Lost.

In 2004, Lost and Found was released.  It features previously unreleased music from the band.  In 2005, RTZ released two CDs simultaneously, Lost in America and Found in America under band member Brian Maes' Briola Records label.  The album contains all the same material that was released on Lost, including the song "Dangerous", which was only available on the Japanese release of Lost.  Found in America contains the same material that is on their 2004 release Lost and Found, but includes a bonus live version of the song "Return to Zero".

The Delp and Goudreau album was also released in 2004, and was included as a bonus CD in Lost and Found. It featured RTZ but was released under the name "Delp and Goudreau" and involves a different style of music from RTZ's albums.

In 2007, the band reunited (though with former Boston member Sib Hashian on drums) to release a single called "Rockin' Away". Written in 2006, it celebrated the 30 year anniversary of Boston, and is also an autobiography of Brad Delp's music career. Following Delp's suicide in 2007, the band reunited again to release the single "Set The Songbird Free" as a tribute to Delp, with Maes on vocals. They also performed at the Brad Delp "Come Together" tribute concert in 2008.

This entire line-up (with Hashian on drums, and without Delp) also makes up most of the members of the band Ernie and the Automatics which formed in 2006.

Discography

Studio albums
 Return to Zero (1991)
 Lost (1998)

Compilation albums
 Lost and Found (2004)

Singles

See also
 Boston (band)

References

American rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Bradley Edward Delp (born June 12, 1951 – March 9, 2007) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, who was the lead vocalist for the American rock bands Boston and RTZ.

Early life
Delp was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, on June 12, 1951, his parents were French-Canadian immigrants. He was raised in Danvers, Massachusetts.

Musical career
In 1969, guitarist Barry Goudreau introduced Delp to Tom Scholz, who was looking for a singer to complete some demo recordings. Eventually Scholz formed the short-lived band Mother's Milk (1973–74), which included Delp and Goudreau. After producing a demo, Epic Records eventually signed the act. Mother's Milk was renamed Boston, and the self-titled debut album (recorded in 1975, although many tracks had been written years before) was released in August 1976. Delp performed all of the lead and all backing harmony vocals, including all layered vocal overdubs.

Boston's debut album has sold more than 20 million copies, and produced rock standards such as "More Than a Feeling", "Foreplay/Long Time" and "Peace of Mind". Delp co-wrote "Smokin'" along with Scholz, and wrote the album's closing track, "Let Me Take You Home Tonight".

Their next album, Don't Look Back, was released two years later in August 1978. Its release spawned new hits such as the title track, "Party", and the ballad "A Man I'll Never Be". As they did with "Smokin'", Delp and Scholz collaborated on "Party", and Delp penned "Used to Bad News".

After the first two Boston albums, Delp sang vocals on Barry Goudreau's self-titled solo album, released in 1980. Scholz's perfectionism and a legal battle with their record company stalled any further Boston albums until 1986 when the band released Third Stage. Delp co-wrote the songs "Cool the Engines" and "Can'tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love" for the album, and both songs got significant airplay.

Though probably best-known for the soaring vocals and range of his "golden" voice and for singing all harmony parts on every song, Delp was also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, harmonica and keyboards. He wrote or co-wrote songs for Boston, RTZ, Orion the Hunter, Lisa Guyer, and other artists.

In 1991, Delp and Goudreau formed a band called RTZ. After Boston released the album Walk On in 1994 with Fran Cosmo on vocals, Delp and Boston reunited later that year for another major tour. Delp continued to record vocals on several albums and projects, including new tracks for Boston's 1997 Greatest Hits compilation and their 2002 release Corporate America.

From the mid-1990s until his death in 2007, Delp played in a side project when he had time off from Boston – a Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice. During this time, Delp also co-wrote and recorded with former Boston bandmate Barry Goudreau, and in 2003 released the CD Delp and Goudreau.

Personal life
Delp was married and divorced twice, and had two children by his second wife, Micki Boone, who had been a flight attendant on tour with Boston. Boone’s sister, Connie, subsequently married band member Goudreau. Brad and Micki married in 1980 and divorced in 1996. He was a vegetarian for over 30 years, and contributed to a number of charitable causes.

Suicide and aftermath
Sometime between 11:00 pm on March 8 and 1:20 pm on March 9, 2007, Delp committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his home on 55 Academy Avenue, in Atkinson, New Hampshire. He left various notes scattered from his car to the interior of his home. The Atkinson police discovered his body on the floor of his master bathroom after his fiancée, Pamela Sullivan saw a dryer vent tube connected to the exhaust pipe of Delp's car. Two charcoal grills were found to have been placed in the bathtub and lit, causing the room to fill with smoke. A suicide note was paper-clipped to the neck of his T-shirt, which read the same as a character's note from Twin Peaks: "Mr. Brad Delp. 'J'ai une âme solitaire'. I am a lonely soul." Delp left four sealed envelopes in his office addressed to his children, his former wife Micki, his fiancée, and a couple who were not named by the media. He was 55 years old. The following day, Boston's website was temporarily closed down, the webmaster having replaced their homepage with a simple black background and white text message: "We've just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."

Delp's cause of death was ruled a suicide. The reason for Delp's suicide has been the subject of contradictory news reports and various lawsuits. A series of interviews conducted by the Boston Herald alleged that lingering hard feelings from Boston's disbandment in the 1980s and personal tension between Delp and bandleader Scholz drove the singer to commit suicide. Scholz denied these claims but lost the defamation suits he filed in response. Court documents from the trials detail Scholz stating that Delp was plagued by personal problems. Boston Herald attorneys pointed to testimony from former Boston members, other local musicians, Delp's doctor, and Delp's friends, including Meg Sullivan (his fiancée's sister), many of whom say the singer disliked Scholz, desperately wanted to quit the band, and felt tormented by his role as middleman in an ugly conflict between Scholz and former band members. All of this was summarized in a 140-page statement filed by the Herald in April 2012.

Additional sworn testimony by Meg Sullivan revealed an additional explanation for Delp’s suicide: Delp was housemates with Meg, fiancée Pamela's sister, for two and a half years before his death. On February 28, 2007, Meg discovered a hidden camera planted in her room. After Meg confronted him, Delp admitted to planting the camera and later wrote a series of emails pleading for forgiveness. Todd Winmill, Meg's boyfriend, implored Delp to admit his wrongdoings to Pamela on March 3. After promising to tell her in a few days, Delp purchased the grills and tubing he later used to commit suicide. Pamela found his body on March 9 in the room where several notes were written by Delp, one of which read: "I have had bouts of depression and thoughts of suicide since I was a teenager … [Pamela] was my 'ray of sunshine', but sometimes even a ray of sunshine is no substitute for a good psychiatrist."

On October 16, 2007, Barry Goudreau released one final song with Delp on vocals, titled "Rockin Away". Written and recorded in the summer of 2006, co-written with Goudreau, it is an autobiography of Delp's musical career. According to "America's Music Charts", the song reached #20 on the rock charts in January 2008.

On what would have been Delp's 61st birthday, June 12, 2012, Jenna Delp, Delp's daughter and president of the Brad Delp Foundation, released an MP3 on the foundation website of a "never before released" song which was written and recorded by Delp in 1973. It also was announced the foundation intended to release a complete album of Delp's solo work at some point in the future, which would encompass a span of 30 years of previously unreleased material written and recorded by Delp and his closest friends.

On November 25, 2015, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts found in favor of the Boston Herald and Micki Delp in a defamation lawsuit brought by Scholz. In its ruling, the court said that statements attributing Delp's suicide to Scholz were "statements of opinion and not verifiable fact and therefore could not form the basis of a claim of defamation." On February 23, 2016, Scholz filed a petition for certiorari asking the Supreme Court of the United States to allow his defamation lawsuit to proceed. On June 6, 2016, the Supreme Court declined to review the case.

Discography

with Boston
Boston (1976)
Don't Look Back (1978)
Third Stage (1986)
Corporate America (2002)

with Barry Goudreau
Barry Goudreau (1980)

with Orion the Hunter
Orion the Hunter (1984)

with RTZ
Return to Zero (1991)
Lost (1998)
 Lost and Found (2004)

with Delp and Goudreau
Delp and Goudreau (2003)
"Rockin' Away" (2007)

with Mark "Guitar" Miller
Whatcha Gonna Do! (2008)

Guest appearances
Keith Emerson - Best Revenge - Playing For Keeps (1982)
Bruce Arnold - Orpheus Again (2010)

References

External links

 
 
 Brad Delp Foundation

1951 births
2007 deaths
American rock singers
American tenors
Boston (band) members
American people of French-Canadian descent
Countertenors
People from Peabody, Massachusetts
Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning
Suicides in New Hampshire
Singers from Massachusetts
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
People from Atkinson, New Hampshire
2007 suicides
20th-century American male singers