Len Garry, a former band member of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, has died at the age of 84.
Garry played alongside Lennon and McCartney—and briefly George Harrison—in The Quarrymen before the band became The Beatles. He contracted tubercular meningitis in 1958, which required hospitalization for seven months and forced him to leave the band.
His daughter announced his death in a Facebook post, revealing that he had died at home surrounded by his loved ones. “I love you Dad and I will miss you Dad for the rest of my life,” Jane Garry wrote.
McCartney, 83, shared a heartfelt message for his onetime bandmate on Facebook.
“My dear old mate from the Quarrymen, Len Garry, has passed away. He was a lovely guy and I’m sad to see him go but glad that we had so many fun times together. Rest in Peace Len, Love Paul,” McCartney wrote.
Fellow Quarrymen member Rod Davis said Garry was “a great singer who was well loved,” and that he had received condolence messages from people in Ireland, Italy, and Germany.
In 2022, Garry told Uncut about a phone call he received from McCartney following Lennon’s murder in 1980—despite not having seen each other since 1963, McCartney called Garry to ask how he was doing.
“I told him I was absolutely devastated,” Garry said. “There were no other words for how I felt. The fact that he called me up was a really nice touch.”
Garry had been a classmate of McCartney and Harrison during his high school years, and Lennon for just six months in primary school.
He played a tea-chest bass for The Quarrymen during some notable performances, including their debut at The Cavern Club, before his illness forced him to quit.
He also remembered being in the room when Lennon and McCartney first met.
“I remember Paul coming along that night at St Peter’s Church Hall, picking up a guitar—I didn’t even know he was left-handed—and playing a couple of chords. I think he was trying to audition for us,“ Garry recalled in the 2022 interview.
”John always wanted someone to support him, no matter what he did, and Paul came along at the right time. It wasn’t just about playing guitar together or singing, it was about composing as well," he added.
In 1994, Garry reunited with some fellow Quarrymen members to commemorate the band’s 40th anniversary. Garry sang vocals and played guitar for the band’s subsequent UK tour and studio albums, which poked fun at The Beatles, including Get Back—Together and Grey Album.
Several of the band’s original recordings and demos were released in 1995 as part of The Beatles’ Anthology 1 album.
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