R.I.P.

Manny Charlton, Guitarist Who Produced Early Guns N’ Roses Demos, Dead at 80

“When Manny joined, he was the first guy to suggest writing songs of our own. We’d never even thought of it ’til then.”

Manny Charlton, a founding member of the legendary Scottish rock band Nazareth, has died. The guitarist’s death was announced by his grandson, who posted to Facebook the caption “RIP Grandad” without sharing details. The news was confirmed by Nazareth bassist Peter Agnew, who founded Nazareth alongside Charlton, singer Dan McCafferty, and drummer Darrell Sweet in 1968. “When Manny joined, he was the first guy to suggest writing songs of our own,” Agnew told Classic Rock magazine. “We’d never even thought of it ’til then, because they employed you as a human jukebox.” Charlton played on 17 of Nazareth’s albums, shredding charting songs like the rock ballad “Love Hurts” and Everly Brothers cover “Hair of the Dog” before departing for a solo career in 1990, but not before he produced some of Guns N’ Roses’ earliest demos at Axl Rose’s behest. The tracks he oversaw would eventually become the band’s debut album, Appetite for Destruction.