BRITISH 70s rock legend, Dave Cousins, has died on the age of 85.

The founder, guitarist, and singer of the English people and progressive rock band, The Strawbs reportedly handed away yesterday.

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Information of his dying was introduced through Cousins’ official Fb web page, citing his “lengthy sickness”.

The assertion learn: “It’s with profound disappointment that we’ve got to announce the passing of David Joseph Cousins on the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury, peacefully following an extended sickness, at present, Sunday 13 July 2025.

“We’ll all want to rejoice the lifetime of this unbelievable singer-songwriter, relation, colleague and / or particular pal presently.”

Followers have been inspired to hearken to their favorite songs by the rock legend, in addition to what Cousins would consult with as a “glass of vino collapso” (wine).

It added: “We ask you to affix in remembering a beautiful, proficient man, whose life has touched us all.”

Cousins was born in 1940, and based the band initially often called the Strawberry Hill Boys in 1964.

An obituary devoted to the completed songwriter, band frontman and impartial native radio entrepreneur learn: “Born right into a working-class household in West London, David had a novel, various and distinguished profession. 

“He was one of the crucial distinctive singer-songwriters to emerge from the British scene within the Nineteen Sixties earlier than changing into a pioneer of impartial native radio within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties.”

Cousins first met fellow Strawbs member, Tony Hooper, on his first day attending the Thames Valley Grammar College in Twickenham.

After faculty, he created a skiffle group with Hooper and two different pals name the Gin Bottle 4, earlier than going off to the College of Leicester.

There, Cousins majored in Arithmetic and Statistics, while being closely concerned within the pupil music scene.

Cousins then based the College People Society, in addition to being president of the Jazz Membership that ran within the basement of the College students’ Union’s constructing.

The Gin Bottle 4 finally developed into the Strawberry Hill Boys, as cousins grew to become famend for his quick banjo-picking, inimitable vocal model, and haunting compositions.

The Strawbs moved from people into progressive rock after first being signed to A&M information and releasing album “All Our Personal Work” which was recorded in 1967.

The have since launched 23 studio albums, with the newest in 2023.

Their best-known single was “A part of the Union” which reached quantity two within the UK Singles Charts in February 1973.