Alan Longmuir death: Bay City Rollers star dies aged 70

Multi-instrumentalist founded the band in 1965

Alan Longmuir, founding member of Scottish pop band The Bay City Rollers, has died aged 70.

He died in hospital “surrounded by loved ones” after being flown home from Mexico, where he had contracted an illness, according to reports.

Liam Rudden, writer and director of I Ran With The Gang, a long-running show about the musician, said: “Having worked closely with Alan for the last seven years I am devastated by the news he has left us.

“Alan was one of the most gentle, generous and kind-hearted people I have ever known. He touched the lives of everyone he met with a smile that made them feel special, insisting that despite his amazing adventures in life he was still just “a plumber from Edinburgh“.

Longmuir was born on 20 June 1948 at the Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion Hospital in Edinburgh. The son of a Co-op undertaker, he was brought up in the family’s flat on Caledonian Road where he was surrounded by music from a young age.

It was “no surprise” when he became a musician, Longmuir would say in interviews, as his aunt was a “great pianist” and his father played the accordion. “There was always music around as I grew up,” he would explain.

He discovered rock and roll aged 10 when he saw Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock, and would go on to found the band that would become The Bay City Rollers aged 17, in 1965, together with his brother Derek, cousin Neil Porteous, Nobby Clarke and Dave Pettigrew.

Beloved as the “Tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh”, The Bay City Rollers – initially known as The Saxons – went on to become one of the biggest pop bands of their time.

They had a hit with “Remember (Sha-La-La-La)” in early 1974 before releasing a string of hugely successful songs including “All Of Me Loves All Of You”, “Shang-a-Lang” and “I Only Want To Be With You”. Their cover of Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio’s “Bye Bye Baby” enjoyed six weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1975 and sold a million copies. They also scored a US No 1 with their song “Saturday Night”.

The band went through several lineup changes during their career, with Longmuir replaced in 1976 by rhythm guitarist Ian Mitchell. His departure caused so much hysteria among fans that it prompted questions in the House of Commons about how one pop star could have so much influence over young people.

Longmuir returned to the group in 1978 and last played with them in a 2016 series of reunion concerts. He is survived by his wife Eileen, step sons Nik and Kyle, sisters Betty and Alice, and his brother Derek, along with his son Jordan by his first wife Jan.