THE J. GEILS BAND Leader / Guitarist JOHN WARREN GEILS JR. Dead At 71
April 12, 2017, 7 years ago
Guitarist J. Geils, born John Warren Geils Jr., has died at age 71, reports Billboard.com.
Geils was found dead in his Groton, Massachusetts, home. He had lived in the town for 35 years. Groton police said officers responded to Geils' home around 4 PM, ET Tuesday (April 11th) for a well-being check and found him unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"A preliminary investigation indicates that Geils died of natural causes," police said in a statement.
As leader of The J. Geils Band, the group had 17 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 10 top 40-charting hits. The band's biggest single, "Centerfold”, spent six weeks at #1 and "Freeze-Frame" peaked at #4.
Geils formed The J. Geils Band in 1967 with Danny Klein, Magic Dick Salwitz, Stephen Jo Bladd and Peter Wolf (later Seth Justman joined) while studying mechanical engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. They released 11 studio albums before breaking up in 1985. The group would reunite on and off over the years following.
Read more at Billboard.com.
